Therapy For Anxiety
Are you feeling worried all the time? Do you feel on edge or easily agitated? Have you had a panic attacks in the past? Do you feel a restlessness that often makes it hard to sleep? According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, approximately 18.1% of adults are affected by anxiety disorders per year. While the ADAA considers anxiety to be highly treatable, they report that less than 40% of folks who may benefit from treatment actually pursue it.
Anxiety is a very common issue. There is no reason to be ashamed if you find yourself having chronic anxiety, worry, or panic attacks. In my approach to therapy I help clients develop insight into the emotional processes that often contribute to anxiety. I find that often, folk’s anxiety improves by learning some very easy-to-learn skills and having the space to talk it out in therapy. Please contact me for a free consultation if you have any questions about getting help for anxiety.
How I Work With Anxiety
Although different from depression, anxiety has some overlapping qualities. In treating anxiety, I like to frame therapy as a process that will help you develop skills in order to manage anxiety. Our goal is to help you feel confident that you will be able to manage your anxiety as you learn new skills and practice them in and outside of therapy. In many cases this confidence can actually reduce your anxiety over time.
Our First Task Is To Establish Your Baseline
In order to evaluate our progress in therapy, we need to get specific as to exactly how anxiety is showing up for you. Typically this is done in the beginning of therapy as part of our initial assessment. From this information, I will help you set specific therapy goals related to your symptoms so that we can track your progress in therapy. Once we agree on these goals together, we can move to the next phase of therapy.
Methods I Use
The most important thing in therapy is that you develop a positive, trusting relationship with your therapist. Whether that is me or another therapist, research shows that this is the greatest predictor of success in therapy. I am committed to forming a caring, warm and collaborative bond with you as your therapist. It is so important to me to tailor the therapy experience to you, and I welcome feedback from you along the way.
Similar to depression, many times folks with anxiety have difficulty identifying and expressing their feelings. When our feelings build up and don’t get expressed, they may show up as anxiety. Additionally, our feelings are an expression of our emotional self-care system—they are connected to our emotional needs and limits. I help my clients learn to recognize and express their feelings in their significant relationships. I regularly find that when clients refine their skills around recognizing and expressing their feelings, they feel an increased sense of confidence in their relationships. These skills can help reduce the frequency that our emotions get built up, and show up as anxiety.
Mindfulness is a practice of meditation that helps us learn to observe our experience without reacting. It is a great practice for anxiety, because often anxiety includes difficulty with “unhooking,” from our thoughts. When we are unable to observe our own thoughts, we are more likely to get caught in repetitive unhelpful thoughts. Mindfulness meditation can help us learn to let these thoughts pass through us, without needing to react so strongly. These days, there are a number of meditation apps that make it easy to learn mindfulness meditation. As a long time meditator, I can help you guide you through developing a meditation practice and troubleshoot it with you if you get stuck. I also frequently incorporate iRest guided meditation into my therapy with clients. iRest is an evidenced-best meditation that has shown to have positive benefits for those with anxiety, depression, and trauma and works very similarly to mindfulness.
Sometimes I will suggest art or other expressive methods such as sandplay. Art is a great method for therapy, because it is a “right-brain,” activity. Our emotions are typically thought to relate to this part of our brain. Art gives powerful way to express our non-verbal experience, and no you don’t have to be an artist! I sure am not!
Do I Really Need Therapy For Anxiety?
If your anxiety is impacting your ability to live the life you want to live, then it is highly likely you could benefit from therapy. It’s possible that you can learn to manage your anxiety without therapy, however having the guidance of a trained professional can help you make progress that is hard to make on our own.
I May Need Help, But Therapy Is Expensive…
I may be biased, but in my book learning the skills to be more at ease, happier, and to experience more emotional well-being are worth it. Trust me, I get it. A huge part of being a therapist (to me) is that I have also received a substantial amount of therapy for myself. I know the cost may seem restrictive, however I might ask you to think about the big picture— and your long-term well-being. What might your future self say about your investment? Please contact me below if you have any questions about this.
How Long Will This Take?
As a therapist it would that be unethical for me to guarantee anything, and the truth is each case is different. In my experience we should know within the first few months or so if therapy is helping for those who experience anxiety on the milder end. Folks with longer standing or more pervasive anxiety issues may need more time in therapy. Think of it like this: our mental patterns are active most of every day. The more often we experience one pattern, the more likely it is to repeat. So in order to learn new patterns and start to undo old ones, we need to repeat the new patterns consistently over time in order to achieve sustainable change.
This is part of why it is so important to set concrete goals at the beginning of therapy. This is what helps us determine your progress. I will monitor your progress with you and check in about what seems to be working best as we go along. Whether it is with me, or another therapist, please know that HELP IS AVAILABLE! Things can get better.
Contact me for a free consultation about anxiety…
Call today for a free 20 minute phone consultation!
scott@scottmenasco.com
(415) 449-7953