Are Fear, Stress, and Anxiety Running Your Life?
Have you noticed an increase in your symptoms of anxiety since COVID-19?
Are there days when it feels like you are at your breaking point?
Does your mind replay the same thoughts over and over again until you are mentally and physically exhausted?
Do you focus on what could potentially go wrong so much that you aren't enjoying your day to day life?
While others may think you’ve got it all together, you’re screaming on the inside “why can’t anyone see how much pain I’m in?” Pain from overthinking every little detail, comparing yourself to others, perfectionism, wondering if you’re doing things right. It’s affecting your work, your sleep, your relationships, your health…and let’s not even talk about when you last made time for yourself (without guilt).
Worry and anxiety can leave you frustrated, scared, emotionally depleted, and physically drained. You may be having a hard time relaxing or feeling at ease—even in ordinary circumstances. Or maybe you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders and have a sense that the sky may fall down at any moment. You’re hard on yourself, expecting way too much, and becoming your own worst enemy.
Everyone Experiences Some Anxiety
Everyone experiences anxiety at one point or another. It’s a NORMAL part of life. In fact, some level of anxiety can be beneficial in certain circumstances. But when that anxiety persists for weeks, months, or even years, it can have profound effects on your mental, physical, and emotional health and negatively impact one or more areas of your life.
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety brings more people, nearly 18.1% of the population, into therapy each year in the United States than any other mental health issue. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that “31.1% of U.S. adults experience any anxiety disorder at some time in their lives.”
Left unchecked, anxiety often worsens over time and can become ingrained in patterns of behaviors that leave you wondering if you’re doomed to live a life of overwhelm, frustration, and self-doubt. Negative thoughts can become ways of thinking. Physical symptoms can lead to more serious health issues.
The good news is that with anxiety treatment, many people learn the tools to lower their stress levels, quiet their anxious thoughts, and get back to living a joyful, fulfilling life.
Anxiety Therapy Can Help You Regain a Sense of Power and Joy In Your Life
Learning what triggers your anxiety is an essential part of healing. Many people often think that anxiety comes out of nowhere, but it often can be traced to events, memories, thoughts, feelings, underlying beliefs, and behavior patterns. Whether the initial trigger for your anxiety symptoms happened decades ago or just last week, anxiety therapy can help you learn to change, grow, and loosen the grip anxiety has over you.
In our sessions, we’ll address your individual needs, concerns, and goals. My first objective is to help you feel safe and validated in your own experience of anxiety, which is unique to you. We’ll start by exploring what your anxiety looks like. We’ll then tailor an approach with proven strategies to help you calm your body and quiet your thoughts, which is the foundation of anxiety counseling. I use a combination of tools and techniques to help you understand the connection between your thoughts, feelings, and actions, which leads to identifying and disarming your anxiety triggers. We’ll also use a strengths-based approach to identify and strengthen your ability to positively cope with stress.
While it is possible to get great results in a short period of time, it can also be beneficial to explore the root causes of anxiety, which often come from childhood and/or unprocessed traumatic events. Even if you have done some therapeutic work before, it is not uncommon for the same type of issues to come up again, ready to be healed at a deeper level. One phrase I find myself saying to clients often is “healing is not a one-time event but rather a lifelong journey.”
You may not believe you can work through your anxiety because it has been a part of who you are for so long. But I will challenge you to trust the process, which may seem like one step forward, two steps back at times. Growth doesn’t come from doing what you’ve always done but rather from doing things differently. This involves a commitment to change and, even bigger, a commitment to yourself.
With that trust and commitment, you will be able to make small shifts that make a big difference. You will gain insights into yourself that can lead to positive and lasting healing and change.
Perhaps you are considering anxiety treatment but still have some questions or concerns...
One of my favorite quotes is “You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it,” by Wayne Dyer. If thinking your way out of anxiety worked, you would have done it already. We all need a little help sometimes, and it’s worth speaking to a professional with a proven track record of helping individuals overcome anxiety. If you still are concerned about the investment, ask yourself this: “What is NOT treating my anxiety costing me?” Chances are by the time you start looking into therapy as a solution, it’s cost way too much already – relationships, jobs, health, to name a few.
Think of anxiety counseling as an investment in yourself and your emotional well-being. By developing and strengthening healthy coping skills and getting support, you are setting yourself up for the life you deserve to live without the pain and suffering you are currently experiencing. This can also set you up to move through future challenges more quickly and easily.
In all my years as a therapist (nearly 20), I have yet to hear a client who has committed to therapy say that they were worse off after our sessions. In fact, most of my clients say they feel better in the first session knowing they have a safe place to get help. While the therapeutic process can bring up some discomfort as you talk about difficult memories, thoughts, and feelings, the goal of therapy is to heal old wounds, decrease distressing symptoms, learn new skills, and increase life satisfaction and happiness.
I get it. It can feel like a daily struggle just to get out of bed, take care of yourself, take care of others, work, and get everything done before it starts all over again. However, sometimes, in an effort to “keep up,” we put our emotional well-being last. We say things like, “Someday I’ll have the time.” Unfortunately, not making time for yourself can lead to increased anxiety, stress, and burnout. Therapy, both the time and money spent, is an investment that pays off in the long run. Investing in your mental and emotional health now could be the best decision you make toward feeling happy and fulfilled in the future.
You Can Free Yourself from Your Anxiety
If you’ve read this far, my guess is that even if you’re nervous about therapy, you’re ready to at least have a conversation about it. I invite you to book a free 15-minute phone consultation so we can talk, ask each other some questions, and decide a good next step for you (even if it’s not working with me). Click on the BOOK FREE CONSULT button to schedule and learn more about online anxiety therapy in the Phoenix, AZ metro area and throughout Arizona.
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