Anxiety can feel like an all encompassing force that can hover over many areas of your life. It can influence how you think, how you physically feel, and how you act. Your anxiety can get in the way of your work performance, your relationships, and stop you from the things you enjoy. Anxiety can even hold you back from reaching your goals, and achieving your best.
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A cycle of non stop negative thoughts.
You wake up, and instantly your thoughts are raring to go. You’re at work, and those bastards follow you there. You lay in bed trying to go to sleep, and there is no escape there either. Damn, brain shut off already! These are not just neutral thoughts, or happy, sunshine puppy, and rainbow thoughts. These are negative thoughts you wish you could run away from. See if the list of negative thoughts below seems familiar to you. They’re what I like to call the “greatest hits,” as they are super common. I’ve heard them a million times from my clients over the years.
Common anxious thoughts.
“My mind is constantly going 100 mph.”
“I don’t feel present in my life.”
“I am always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“I feel like I am going crazy!”
“I don’t feel like myself…”
When you experience anxiety, negative and irrational thoughts can flood your mind and feel overpowering. They can run through your head on a constant loop, like a hamster wheel, leaving you feeling frustrated, exhausted, and irritable. You might have even noticed taking out some of that irritability on your loved ones or co-workers, and then feeling guilty afterward.
Common anxious thoughts.
“My mind is constantly going 100 mph.”
“I don’t feel present in my life.”
“I am always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“I feel like I am going crazy!”
“I don’t feel like myself…”
When you experience anxiety, negative and irrational thoughts can flood your mind and feel overpowering. They can run through your head on a constant loop, like a hamster wheel, leaving you feeling frustrated, exhausted, and irritable. You might have even noticed taking out some of that irritability on your loved ones or co-workers, and then feeling guilty afterward.
The dreaded worst case scenario.
Anxiety is worrying about the future, with the expectation that something terrible will happen. You might have noticed that your anxious thoughts can spiral off on their own and end up in the worst case scenario. Pay attention and try to recognize how many of your negative thoughts start with the phrase “what if.”
Questions that start with “what if” cause endless worry.
A question that begins with the phrase “what if” usually will presume that something terrible is right around the corner. You can become one of those negative Nelly psychics and predict the worst for yourself. This, of course, makes you feel out of control. A question that starts with “what if” is a terrible seed that sprouts more endless worry.
You end up in multiple worst case scenarios where it’s hard to see a future without a scary ending. All this leads to you feeling fearful, nervous, and possibly even in panic. If your anxiety gets too high, you can start avoiding things you need to do, or enjoying things you loved doing.
Anxiety is an as*hole and goes on the attack mentally and physically.
Anxiety can wreak havoc not only on your mind but your body too. People who experience anxiety often complain about not feeling physically well. The physical symptoms that are a result of anxiety trigger a vicious cycle of distress. You start feeling nervous that something could be seriously wrong with your health. You begin to get overly worried about having shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and notice any slight physical symptom that seems off.
People suffering from physical symptoms of anxiety frequently end up at their doctor’s office for multiple check-ups. They can even find themselves in an emergency room, looking for an answer to what’s wrong with them and for reassurance, only to get test results back, revealing there is nothing medically wrong.
Physical symptoms of anxiety.
Below are some physical symptoms that people often experience when they are going through anxiety. Some people experience one or two symptoms, while others can struggle with multiple at a time.
- Feeling drained of energy, almost as if you have just run a marathon
- Feeling muscle soreness and muscle tension in your body
- Having a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, or just plain old fun insomnia
- Experiencing chest pains or tightness in your chest
- A decrease in appetite (even the thought or smell of food can really be awful to some)
- Stomach discomfort (nausea or diarrhea, yay!)–clearly I am kidding, this is no bueno
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Accelerated heart rate or heart palpitations (this one causes many people to go the ER)
- Dizziness or feeling light headed
You can learn how to move past anxiety.
In counseling, you can learn how to get control of your anxiety. Get the tools so that it stops attacking your mind and body. I am not the kind of therapist where you will just vent about your feelings. That’s what you have your friends and family for! The best part is you don’t have to pay them. So you definitely should not be paying a therapist to vent to.
In our online sessions, I am not going to tell you to go get a teddy bear. There will be no drum circle or singing kumbaya. We certainly won’t spend 30 counseling sessions diving deep into your childhood. None of those things have been clinically proven to be productive when it comes to treating anxiety. Personally, I only like to use evidence and research based therapy approaches when it comes to helping my clients give anxiety the middle finger.
The approach that has had outstanding success is called cognitive behavioral therapy. Sure that name sounds intimidating and complicated but, I promise I will explain it to you. My job is to make your life easier. And to help you have more fun. One thing my clients say frequently is that there is way more laughter than tears in our sessions. Even though I think half the time they are laughing at my cheesy jokes, rather than laughing with me…
Solution focused approach to counseling for anxiety.
I want to arm you with solution focused techniques to overcome your anxiety and stress. During our sessions, I will teach the techniques you need to start kicking anxiety in the butt. Then on your own, you will begin applying these effective techniques into your daily life. I will break them down in easy steps, and together we’ll create a routine so you have the greatest chance for success.
I want you to think of me as a personal trainer that you have hired to get your mind into the best shape possible. Like a personal trainer, I will teach you specific techniques you need to whip your “brain muscle” into shape. I will be your partner to cheer you on and give you support every step of the way. I will also be direct and call you out to hold you accountable, helping you work steadily towards your goals.
Solution focused approach to counseling for anxiety.
I want to arm you with solution focused techniques to overcome your anxiety and stress. During our sessions, I will teach the techniques you need to start kicking anxiety in the butt. Then on your own, you will begin applying these effective techniques into your daily life. I will break them down in easy steps, and together we’ll create a routine so you have the greatest chance for success.
I want you to think of me as a personal trainer that you have hired to get your mind into the best shape possible. Like a personal trainer, I will teach you specific techniques you need to whip your “brain muscle” into shape. I will be your partner to cheer you on and give you support every step of the way. I will also be direct and call you out to hold you accountable, helping you work steadily towards your goals.
If you start to doubt yourself, I will be there to remind you that “you’ve got this!” because you deserve to break free from the cycle of anxiety. I have had my private practice specializing in anxiety since 2013. I developed a 3 part therapy system based on cognitive behavioral therapy to help my clients get relief from feeling stuck in anxiety. Please visit my website pages explaining how my 3 part counseling system can benefit you and how cognitive behavioral therapy works.
You deserve to get the techniques you need to become the happiest and healthiest version of you.
Schedule a free 20 minute phone consultation, or your first counseling session.