Anxiety Counseling
Is Anxiety Draining Your Life?
Do you feel constantly nervous, on-edge or tense?
Is it hard to fall asleep at night because your mind races with excessive worries and concerns?
Are you fearful that something bad could happen and feel a strong desire to plan, prepare and control your surroundings?
Have you opted out of social events, job opportunities, and other activities because your anxiety is too intense?
Anxiety is an emotion we all experience but for some, it can be an agonizing struggle. You may be on-edge with a mind full of amplified worries and fears and an unrelenting feeling of dread. Headaches, tightness in your chest, upset stomach, tension and a rapid heart-beat can be overwhelming sensations that are distressing and pull you out of the present moment. To manage these feelings, you may have tried various calming strategies, only to feel defeated when the angst doesn’t lessen. In your efforts to get relief, your relationships and priorities can become increasingly strained. You want the anxiety to ease up but the more you try, the worse it seems to get. In some cases, the discomfort intensifies and can even lead to excruciating panic attacks.
Everyone Experiences Anxiety
If you are relating to this struggle with anxiety symptoms, you are not alone. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety disorders affect up to 40 million adults (roughly 18 percent of the U.S. population) and are the most commonly diagnosed and treated conditions in the U.S.
While anxiety is pervasive, there are countless different causes and types. Often times, people are overcome with worries about finances, major life transitions, job performance, parenting, dating, career direction, marital issues, family dynamics, fertility issues, loss, and wanting to fit in, just to name a few. Others might feel anxious about having a panic attack in a public area, where they can’t escape. This may cause them to stay home and avoid situations that could trigger these fears. While still other people might find unyielding stress just from taking care of their day-to-day activities. All of these situations can feed in to intense feelings of anxiety and distress and are common reasons why people seek counseling.
Anxiety Counseling Can Ease Your Pain
Therapy for anxiety can help transform crippling unease into an opportunity for profound growth. Whether you are contending with social anxiety, panic attacks or more generalized symptoms, therapy can provide you with practical knowledge that allows you to embrace your natural experiences and develop the confidence you need to move forward.
My approach is tailor-made and draws on empirically supported therapies that are designed to bring acceptance, compassion and awareness to your anxious thoughts, feelings and memories. Together, we will explore the methods you’ve tried in the past to alleviate worry and uncover why those tactics were unsuccessful. In my practice, you will learn new ways to relate to your anxiety and not more of the same anxiety management or symptom reduction strategies you may have heard of or tried before.
If you’ve been coping with high levels of anxiety for a long time, chances are you tend to avoid potentially triggering situations. When you remove yourself from activities on a regular basis, you remain at a distance from what you really want and need. In counseling, we will process and develop awareness around unhelpful actions and develop workable solutions that promote energy toward helpful and life-enriching changes.
Along this journey you will also learn to notice, name and show compassion to the worries and fears that rotate in your mind. Often, when we ruminate over concerns, we get caught up in them and our stress increases. You will learn how to create mindful distance from these thoughts, so you are able to self-soothe, be present and regain self-confidence.
Ultimately, my aim is to help you create a healthy relationship with anxiety so that it no longer takes you away from living a purposeful life. In working with me, you will explore life areas that are important to you, identify how your struggle with anxiety disrupts them, and then pursue meaningful actions that align with your values. When you learn how to live harmoniously with anxiety and no longer use all of your energy to escape it, a beautiful thing occurs—you no longer carry the burden of self-doubt, and you are able to reconnect and pursue your deepest, most significant values.
Although you could benefit from anxiety counseling, you may still have some questions or concerns…
What if talking about my anxiety just makes it worse?
If you are seeking treatment, of course you don’t want the problem to worsen. The benefit of anxiety counseling is that you don’t have to go through this alone, and we will work at a pace that feels comfortable for you. I will support and guide you as you unravel and recreate your relationship with anxiety. And, I will often check-in with you about your progress and experience with counseling. These check-ins allow us to regularly adapt our work to fit your needs.
Most people who go through anxiety treatment discover feeling more at peace and able to effectively process their fears. No problem is too big, and I have helped hundreds of individuals overcome challenging life situations, internal experiences and crippling stress.
I don’t want anyone to know I’m in counseling.
If you don’t want people to know that you’re seeking out treatment, rest assured that our sessions are 100 percent confidential. Everything said in the office stays in the office. If you ever encounter me outside therapy, I will not address you unless you address me. If you prefer to keep things confidential, I honor and respect that decision.
How long will I have to be in therapy to see results?
Each person who comes to us is different. Therefore, it’s difficult to approximate how long therapy will take. Some people experience positive changes within the first few sessions.
If you are ready to commit to the therapy process, amazing, life-changing results are possible. Through sessions with me, you can learn to embrace your natural experiences, show yourself kindness, develop deeper connections to yourself and those around you, rekindle your passions and develop a sense of confidence and empowerment.
Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Control Your Life
If you would like to learn more about anxiety counseling or our approaches, please contact me for a free 15 minute phone consultation. I serve all Virginia residents included, but not limited to Northern, VA and Richmond, VA.