Anxiety Relief & Stress Reduction
Anxiety Has Many Faces, All Painful
No matter what it looks like for you, anxiety feels horrible.
It makes the simplest things seem impossible. It’s exhausting.
Let’s look at three distinct faces of anxiety.
Constant Worry Ruled Amy’s Life
When Amy started therapy, her thoughts were racing, and she couldn’t turn them off. The constant chatter in her head – second-guessing and rehashing every detail, every interaction – was too much!
She rarely slept well; her thoughts got louder as the world got quieter. The frantic worry could turn to anything.
“Did I make a fool of myself in that meeting? Is the plane going to crash? Why did he look at me like that?”
Amy would fight for reassurance, attempting to shut down the fear – scouring the Internet, talking with family or friends, looking for some nugget of information to relieve her brain. Once she found a small nugget, though, it never lasted long.
Her anxiety moved along, found its next target, and started up again.
Chris Was Always Edgy, Restless, and Angry
Chris’s husband sent him to therapy. He was tired of his irritability; he didn’t like the way he kept snapping at their son.
Chris agreed he was out of control. He also told me he couldn’t concentrate at work or home and was worried all the time. And he was jumpy, edgy, and restless.
Chris wasn’t sure when or why he’d gotten to this point and didn’t know what to do about it.
Most days, he fell into bed as early as he could, sometimes right after work. He was always exhausted. And he wanted to rest, feel some relief, and start over again fresh the next day. But it never helped.
Emily Lived a Life of Dread
Emily came to therapy with an overwhelming feeling of dread. It didn’t matter whether there was something difficult going on for her.
She could be on top of the world, but the dread was there. It was as if something horrible was waiting for her around every corner. Running sometimes helped, but the feeling always came creeping back.
Looking back, Emily remembered her feeling of dread that started in high school when her parents divorced. But the divorce had been final for years.
Why did she still feel this way?
So Much to be Concerned About
Amy, Chris, and Emily had all experienced stressors leading up to their anxiety. Routine everyday stressors that they had not been able to resolve.
Amy’s lifelong friend had moved to another state. She had other friends, even close friends, but she felt the loss acutely.
Chris’s coworker had left for another opportunity. Chris was assigned responsibility for a portion of their workload while the firm completed a national search – he was also on the committee searching. Chris had been working non-stop for several months.
For Emily, her parents’ divorce had been the initial stressor. It had rocked her world during high school. Although she thought she’d gotten over it, supporting a friend through their own messy separation and divorce had reignited things for her.
These are the types of stressors we encounter all the time.
Now, Even the World Seems Unhinged
So much about the world is disturbing right now – living through a global pandemic (words I never thought I would be saying), climate crisis, and the impact on the planet, including once-in-a-lifetime weather events, incredibly divisive politics, social injustices. There’s more, much more.
You can’t escape it. You wouldn’t want to anyway; staying informed feels important and responsible. But there’s a cost, a toll you pay. There’s an impact on your emotional well-being even if you’re lucky and relatively privileged. It’s no wonder you feel anxious.
It may seem impossible to confront your stress and anxiety with all that is going on, but it is more important than ever.
Amy, Chris, and Emily got help and changed their lives. You can, too.
Therapy for Anxiety Can Transform Your Life
Therapy is not about eliminating the stressors that create your anxiety; it’s about learning to relate differently to them and yourself.
In therapy, we will work together to understand the underlying causes of your distress.
We will identify the triggers that propel your anxiety day-to-day and how your thinking and behaviors contribute to stress, sustaining it.
You will learn specific, empirically backed tools to manage your anxiety now and approaches that will decrease your stress levels over the long term.
Get Your Life Back
No matter what anxiety looks like for you, it is robbing you. Anxiety is in the way, interfering with your ability to enjoy and engage in the full wonder and joy of life.
Amy, Chris, and Emily reached out for help and received relief from their anxiety.
You can receive relief, too. Contact me today!