Insight Counseling & Care
Anxiety Therapy
Anxiety Therapy
Have Stress And Anxiety Stretched You To Your Limits?
Is the constant pressure to excel at school, perform at work, or manage family responsibilities wearing at your peace of mind? Are you having trouble controlling negative, intrusive thoughts that only serve to fuel worry and fear?
Perhaps you avoid certain situations or activities that require you to step outside of your comfort zone, so it feels like you’re missing out on life.
Or maybe you’re thinking about anxiety therapy because, somewhere along the way, you were wounded emotionally or physically, and that experience continues to compromise your sense of safety.
Anxiety And Stress Can Affect How You Think, Feel, And Behave
Stress creates a chain reaction of fear, worry, and anxiety that ultimately impacts every area of your life. You may be so restless or keyed-up all the time that you experience muscle tension, problems sleeping, or trouble concentrating—as if your mind just draws a blank sometimes.
Having to be on guard all the time while waiting for the worst to happen probably leaves you feeling tired and irritable. Self-doubt and negativity are likely sabotaging your relationships. You may even worry about having panic attacks in otherwise ordinary situations or familiar environments.
The truth is that anxiety can rob you of your sense of control, but there is a way to step out of the shadow of fear and start living again. At Insight Counseling and Care, we’re here to help you manage negative thoughts, improve your perspective, and tackle anxiety at its root so you can stop worrying and start living.
Anxiety Numbers Are Increasing Nationwide
Because anxiety is the body’s natural response to stress and danger, it’s not inherently a bad thing. However, when a person’s nervous system gets stuck in overdrive, stress and worry can become dominating forces in their life. When that happens, anxiety disorders can take root.
It’s currently estimated that within the last year, 19.1 percent of the US adult population experienced some form of anxiety disorder. (1) Because many people struggling with an anxiety disorder begin to show symptoms in their youth, early detection and treatment are crucial. Left unaddressed, stress, self-doubt, and worry grow, following children into adulthood.
Some Factors That Contribute To Anxiety Aren’t Always Obvious
Of course, genetics, family mental health history, and exposure to stressful environments or negative life experiences can foster the development of anxiety. However, other factors play a role as well:
- being a shy or highly sensitive person
- experiencing a new culture or place for the first time
- balancing an intense work environment with family life
- being solely responsible for the care of elderly family members
All of these forces can make it even more difficult to manage anxiety. And because most people don’t even know what triggers their symptoms, overcoming anxiety can be a relentless battle without the support of a therapist.
Thankfully, it is possible to finally identify, understand, and even heal what’s causing your pain. Our compassionate and highly trained anxiety disorder specialists at Insight Counseling and Care are determined to help you find a way to live with less fear and a greater sense of calm, confidence, and inner peace.
Anxiety Therapy Can Help You Step Out Of The Shadow Of Fear
If you’re like most people who are trying to figure out anxiety on their own, reaching out for help probably isn’t easy because you’re already dealing with so much.
However, working with an anxiety counselor gives you access to skills and support that can take a lot of the weight off of healing yourself. Therapy also offers you effective ways of coping with the stress of life, changes in your environment, and painful experiences from the past.
Instead of waiting for your feelings to pass, avoiding situations that make you nervous, or turning to substances to make yourself feel better, anxiety therapy can provide you with enduring relief. You’ll learn how to process experiences and regulate your emotions. And you can challenge, reframe, and refocus your thoughts/self-beliefs into a more optimistic perspective.
What Can You Expect In Anxiety Therapy Sessions?
In our first session, we’ll start by learning a little more about your story: When did anxiety become an issue? How are you currently coping? What are some of your goals for anxiety treatment? Then we can begin identifying triggers, normalizing everyday challenges, and exploring and altering unhelpful thinking patterns that may fuel anxiety.
In counseling sessions, we’ll look for ways to increase activities that lessen anxiety, such as exercise or meditation, to avoid self-medication. At the same time, we’ll teach you stress management and relaxation techniques to help you quit smoking, reduce/eliminate caffeine consumption, or merely take better care of yourself. We can also work on improving sleep hygiene and eating habits to add a more holistic element to anxiety therapy.
How Do We Approach Anxiety Treatment?
Our anxiety therapists at Insight Counseling and Care use an integrative, eclectic approach to the healing process, utilizing a broad range of evidence-based and holistic treatment methods. For instance, an integrative experience could involve Temperament Therapy (TT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety.
Temperament Therapy helps you understand the unique way that you’re wired. It explores why things affect you the way they do and identifies how you can best utilize your strengths. CBT, in contrast, brings attention to unhelpful thinking habits that fuel negative behaviors. In that way, developing self-awareness (TT) and challenging negative patterns (CBT) work in tandem to create sustainable change.
We also draw from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for anxiety. These equally important tools can help you improve emotional resilience, heal core wounds/issues, and create positive shifts in how you think, feel, and view yourself.
So regardless of how you may feel at this moment, psychotherapy for anxiety truly can change how you live your life. With help from our compassionate anxiety disorder specialists, you can identify triggers and unhelpful thinking patterns while learning how to finally relax and breathe. It may take a little work, but it is possible to feel happier, safer, and more at ease in this world.
Perhaps You’re Considering Anxiety Counseling But Still Have Concerns…
What does the first session look like?
In our first session, it’ll probably feel like you have “dumped off years of stuff” by unpacking your experiences. Even then, it may not seem like you have enough time to tell all of your story. After all, you’re trying to relay and contextualize a lifetime of thoughts, feelings, and memories. So while the first session can feel “emotionally heavy,” the intensity will likely change after a couple of sessions and require less exploration of the past and more processing and looking forward.
I have battled anxiety for so long…I’m not sure therapy will help!
We’re here to walk alongside you each step of the way no matter how long it takes. That said, our goal is to help you find the quickest way to heal using anxiety treatment methods that are proven to create positive results.
We’re also going to show you how to make shifts within your internal environment that help you cope with what’s going on externally. Our counselors are here to help you set realistic goals, develop self-awareness, and gain skills for managing and even overcoming anxiety in the long run.
Will medication be necessary for my anxiety when I begin therapy?
Medication isn’t always appropriate for everyone, however, it may provide additional support for those with a chemical imbalance. Ultimately, we believe that therapy—whether in combination with medication or on its own—is the strongest catalyst for change.
Even so, at Insight Counseling and Care, we’ll look at nutritional alternatives, lifestyle changes, and other natural solutions that could facilitate the healing process without medication. When we meet, we can discuss your options together so you can make the best decision for your needs.
It Is Possible To Live With A Greater Sense Of Peace
If you are tired of fear and worry overshadowing your life, our anxiety disorder specialists at Insight Counseling and Care want to help you discover a lighter, freer way of being. Please call 908-669-9080, Email Us, or visit our Booking Site to set up your free, 15 to 20-minute consultation and learn more about how our in-person and online anxiety therapy services can help you.
(1) https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder