Anxiety

Therapy for Anxiety

Life is stressful, always busy, but it’s gotten to the point where it feels like too much. Worry has become out of control and made life miserable. Panic makes it hard to breathe and your heart races. Insomnia is the usual sleep routine. Anxiety makes us feel like we want to run away, and can also be paralyzing. You are not alone. It is estimated that 18 percent of people experience serious anxiety. The good news is that therapy for Anxiety works. You can feel better!

Anxiety can affect people in different ways, here are a few:

The Worrier

Wendy is on edge all the time. She tries to concentrate on one thing, but her mind is always off worrying about something else. “Will I be late? Am I forgetting something? Did I say the wrong thing – are they going to think I’m nuts? Am I eating too much? Do people think I’m fat? I am never going to get a promotion, I can’t even talk in front of people. I must be crazy!”

For people like Wendy, the worrying is all the time – about everything. Often, people don’t even know that worrying is a part of anxiety. It feels like it’s necessary.

The world is full of bad things, mistakes and accidents – we must be prepared! Could it be possible not to worry?! The answer is yes. Worrying does not have to take over your whole life. A little bit of worry here and there is okay. But when it strains relationships, gets in the way at work, keeps you up at night, disrupts fun activities, then Anxiety is a problem.

Therapy for Anxiety provides tools to reduce worry, learn how to manage it, and help you control your thoughts so that worry doesn’t ruin your life.

Panic

Some people experience anxiety in the form of Panic Attacks. Panic is a set of physical and psychological symptoms that can be debilitating. Panic can also develop into a chronic problem and create a lot of distress. For many people, like Patrick, it comes out of the blue for no reason.

Patrick was a successful young professional and enjoying life. He was doing well at his company and had just gotten a promotion. He had fun with friends on the weekends. One day in a meeting, he started feel strange. His hands felt numb and he couldn’t breathe. Suddenly his heart was beating fast, pounding. Then an overwhelming feeling of dread. “Am I going to pass out?” He’d never felt this way, it was scary. He went home, saying he thought he had the flu. He was miserable for a few hours but eventually felt better.

A week later he had another attack. This time it was worse and Patrick felt like he was going to die. He went to the emergency room and they ran tests. The doctor said he was fine and that it looked like Panic Disorder. This seemed unreal “how could something that feels this bad not be something physically wrong with me?” Eventually, after fearing another panic attack for weeks, he found a therapist who helped him with practical techniques. He started feeling better and life returned to normal.

Panic Disorder makes you feel miserable, but it is treatable, and many people don’t need medication. Therapy for Anxiety works! Don’t keep suffering! Call me at (720) 315-0123 today to start counseling.

Social Anxiety

Social anxiety causes many problems – it is more than just being shy. People with social anxiety go through life with a lot of distress. Talking is uncomfortable, and there is often isolation and loneliness.

Sally was always nervous around people. When she was young, she was scared to go to school. Later, she was always afraid to ask the teacher questions. In high school, she had a few good friends, but was never outgoing. She did well in college, but group projects were difficult.

As an adult at work, Sally avoids eye contact in the hall to avoid conversations. She lets calls go to voicemail. She waits days to talk to her boss about things that are important.

Sally often feels detached, even with a small group of friends. It seems like everything is easy for everyone else. She feels self-conscious and wonders if she has anything interesting to say. Sometimes she laughs at the wrong time or says odd things out of the blue. She never really feels comfortable. Sally waits for others to call and worries they don’t want to be around her.

Relationships have been few and far between. Sally either tries too hard to get people to like her or acts like she doesn’t care – and ends up alone.

Life doesn’t have to be this way! Therapy for social anxiety can make being around people easier. There are techniques for calming yourself down and ways make talking to people easier.

Therapy can teach you new communication skills. It also can help you think differently so that social occasions aren’t as scary. Counseling also helps to work through hurt and pain from past situations.

Therapy for Anxiety Works

I work with people who struggle with worry, panic, phobias, social anxiety, OCD and PTSD. I use what is called Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (or CBT) which has been extensively studied.

Trauma from past abuse is a common theme for many people with anxiety. Therapy works to stop trauma from having a negative effect on your future.

Counseling is also helpful for people who are adjusting to new situations – a recent move, a new job, the end of a relationship, dealing with difficult coworkers, or coping with stress after car accidents.

Sometimes we worry and stress for no reason, we worry about everything. Usually people will say this is how they’ve always been. This is Generalized Anxiety, and it is treatable!