Anxiety Therapy
Have Anxiety And Worry Taken Over Your Life?
Do you struggle with a deep, persistent feeling of dread that you fear will never go away?
Do you often sense that something is wrong, but you can’t quite figure out what?
Have your feelings of unease impacted your behavior and daily habits in ways that you aren’t happy with?
At times, you probably feel doomed to live like this for the rest of your existence, thinking that you’re beyond help or that this is just a typical way of life. However, therapy could help loosen anxiety’s grip on you, giving you more freedom from this unease.
What A Life With Constant Worry Looks Like
Ultimately, you may feel like you aren’t functional in the way you wish to be, day to day. Feelings of guilt about letting your family down or not thriving in the workplace could also be factors, creating shame and sadness. All of those heavy emotions might also prompt you to overindulge in unhealthy food, alcohol, or other substances in an attempt to self-medicate and numb yourself.
Other common signs and symptoms of anxiety include:
● Lightheadedness, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath.
● Difficulty sleeping, muscle tension, body aches. and overall fatigue.
● Pressure in your chest, dizziness, and a fear of fainting.Muscle tension and body aches.
● Regularly isolating yourself and canceling plans with family and friends.
● Panic attacks, including the feeling of not being able to breathe, pressure in your chest, dizziness, and a fear of fainting.
All of these anxiety symptoms can have a serious impact on your entire well-being, that’s why therapy can be so important. It helps you find your way back to who you were before, allowing you to be happier, more productive, and more engaged in life.
Many Of Us Live High-Pressure Lives That Can Trigger Anxiety
Approximately 5.7 percent of US adults experience an anxiety disorder in their lives at some point, (1) and some of the common contributors of anxiety can be traced back to thought patterns learned in childhood.
Those patterns may be based on traumatic experiences like living in an abusive home, being in an accident, or developing medical issues, but they can often develop due to a high-pressure living environment. Someone may report that they had a "good" childhood, but after discussing their memories they realize that the expectations placed on them to succeed have taken a toll on their current adult mindset.
Children may be pressured to earn good grades, get accepted into a good school, perform well in sports, and meet other demands of parents or caregivers. As adults, we often place these same demands and expectations on ourselves which can lead to thoughts of not being good enough, triggering old fears, anxiety symptoms, and even panic attacks.
Even if we didn’t experience a challenging childhood, adults can develop anxiety due to many factors such as a stressful environment - at home, work, school, etc. Sometimes we don’t know anxiety has built up in our lives until we experience an anxiety attack that seemingly “came out of nowhere.”
Anxiety Can Make Us Feel Alone And Isolated
In our society, we often don’t talk about anxiety, encourage treatment, or even consider asking for help as an option. That’s especially true in communities of color, where taboos surrounding mental health care dismiss anxiety as laziness or weakness.
In Hispanic culture, symptoms can be considered an "Ataque de nervios" (nervous attack), which should be magically resolved if the person simply gets up and goes to work instead of taking time to care for him or herself
There is a lot of work to do to improve access to and change the stigma of access to anxiety therapy, especially in communities of color, but judgment-free help is available. =
Have Questions? Contact Me
Therapy Can Help Free You From The Grip Of Anxiety
Toltec Therapy Services provides a space to freely discuss your anxiety, including what you are currently experiencing and what you hope to change in the short and long term. While it might have been difficult for you to open up to family or friends about your mental health struggles, you may find it easier to open up to a therapist about how your anxiety has impacted your life.
As a counselor, I believe we must heal our inner child to address the anxiety issues we face here and now, without placing blame or judgment on the circumstances. Understanding why we feel and think the way we do, as well as why we react to our daily lives the way we do, is key to healing and managing anxiety.
What Anxiety Counseling Sessions Look Like
In counseling sessions, I will provide you with psychoeducation on what anxiety and panic attacks are. We will look for obvious and not-so-obvious triggers that may involve revisiting experiences from your past, going as far back as your childhood. The long-term goal of treatment is to equip you with as many tools as needed to better manage your anxiety whether you dealing with panic attacks, social anxiety, or generalized symptoms.
Taking a holistic approach, I look at a variety of factors that might play a part in healing your anxiety. You can expect a focus on your mental, physical, and even spiritual health. As far as spiritual health goes, it's important to note that I would never push any specific choices on you, but we could discuss whatever your spiritual beliefs are if that helps you.
Treatment Methods For Transforming Your Thinking About Anxiety
I offer both in-person and online sessions, utilizing several trusted modalities for anxiety counseling:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety involves learning how to identify negative thoughts that might be triggering your symptoms.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) provides an opportunity to identify the signs your body gives you when you’re experiencing intense emotions and learn how to regulate those reactions. This process also involves mindfulness techniques like deep breathing and meditation.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for anxiety enables the reprocessing of painful or problematic memories to decrease your physical response to anxiety. As an EMDR therapist, I have been officially certified through the EMDRIA.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps you understand what you are dealing with, accept your anxiety symptoms as your current reality, and then to move forward with your life anyways. For instance, accepting that what you are struggling with is only anxiety could help disarm your fears of what you believe will happen to you during a high anxiety moment or panic attack.
Working with an anxiety therapist enables you to dismantle the belief that your thoughts are facts. It teaches you that all of the thoughts and emotions that manifest from anxiety are temporary, and no matter how bad it is, you will endure and find room in your life to heal and grow. With the right tools, skills, and therapeutic support, you can be happier and more productive sooner than later.
You Might Still Have Questions About Anxiety Treatment…
Does anxiety always need to be treated with medication?
While medication is oftentimes helpful, it does not have to be the first line of defense. Anxiety can be treated with talk therapy, with medication and talk therapy combined, but not usually with medication alone. Medication can treat the symptoms but not the behavior or thought patterns that trigger your anxiety and/or panic attacks.
Are high levels of anxiety genetic?
Most researchers conclude that anxiety is genetic, but it can also be influenced by environmental factors, so it’s possible to have anxiety without it running in your family. You are more likely to experience anxiety and panic attacks if you experienced trauma in your life, or if you have any physical issues that can create anxiety, like thyroid conditions, or if you have anxiety in your family history, especially your immediate family. (2)
Even if I sought therapy, would this ever end?
Through therapy, this period of struggle in your life can definitely improve. While anxiety may not go away entirely, you can reach a level where you can manage your symptoms constructively and productively. Anxiety does not need to determine your quality of life; that is your job.
Let Anxiety Therapy Open New Doors To Happiness For You
Counseling with Toltec Therapy Services can allow you to talk about your anxiety and feelings in an open-minded and healing environment. Reach out for a free, brief consultation at (760) 834-9008 to discuss how therapy could transform your life.
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