Has Anxious Thinking Replaced Your Sense of Peace And Control?

Do you find yourself unable to control your anxious thoughts? Is it often difficult for you to slow down and focus on the task at hand? Are you struggling with worries or concerns that  may escalate into fear and panic?

Perhaps you struggle with muscle tension, stomach aches, headaches, nausea, panic, and irrational thinking. Or maybe your inability to relax has caused irritability, mood swings, or sleep difficulties. Your relationships may be suffering from mutual feelings of frustration or burning on a short fuse. As a result, you may have begun to avoid situations that once brought you joy, due to social anxieties that seemed to have developed out of nowhere. Perhaps your preoccupation with worries and anxious thinking have become so distracting, that they are interfering with your ability to be present with those around you. 

As these symptoms persist, your sense of control may have started to dwindle. Your obligations might start to fall by the wayside because you cannot seem to focus on what’s important. And eventually, it could feel as though peace of mind is too far out of reach and a sense of tranquility is impossible.

Symptoms of anxiety, while common, are disruptive. They can negatively impact how you make decisions or relate to others, creating cycles of discomfort and counterproductivity. And while you may believe that there is no other way to process your thoughts and emotions, anxiety treatment is available to help you reframe your thinking.

One In Five Adults Struggles With Anxiety 

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety affects 40 million people in the U.S. alone. As such, anxiety is the most common hindrance to optimal mental health among American adults. The stress of politically and economically uncertain times can increase the risk for developing anxiety problems. We feel a climate of stress around us and it impacts our ability to see clearly as we begin to make decisions out of fear rather than peace or acceptance. 

In feeling the burden of both internal and external pressures, it is easy for us to turn to things that can numb or distract us from our anguish. In some cases, this looks like a growing dependency on drugs and alcohol, increased eating, social isolation or other self-destructive behaviors. In other cases, we may think that turning to anxiety medication is the answer to our problems. 

While medication and other forms of temporary relief can be a beneficial quick fix, it’s very likely that once we stop using those kinds of remedies, our symptoms will come back to create problems in our lives. In the situations where anxious thoughts and feelings return and persist, it is likely that we will begin to feel defeated by and disconnected from our minds as they continue to send us into a spiral of panic and discomfort. 

However, relief exists in the form of therapeutic treatment that can not only help you to understand the science of your thoughts and feelings but can also provide lasting tools to mitigate the detrimental repercussions of your anxiety.

Treatment Can Help To Explain And Relieve Your Anxiety

Therapy offers a setting in which you can explore your thoughts and feelings with an expert who understands the scientific processes behind them. In our sessions, you will be gently encouraged to confront some of the uncomfortable aspects of your thinking patterns in a nonjudgmental, confidential environment. 

I have found that the calm atmosphere I facilitate in session allows my clients to explore their anxieties, verbalize their fears, and get to the core of what is causing their discomfort. If we can start by minimizing the control that anxiety holds over you in the session, then we can begin the work of applying those same calming and comforting techniques in your everyday life, outside of the therapeutic setting. 

So much of mental distress stems from a lack of understanding about what is actually happening inside the brain and body when anxious thoughts occur. I find that scientific explanations often help people feel less  frightened by their anxious thinking and provide a pathway for wellness while creating solutions to the problems caused by anxiety . Understanding the brain’s response to anxiety is the first step in conquering its hold over you. Working together, we will develop a solid understanding of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors while cultivating techniques to change your negative beliefs around them.

Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), as well as methods for relaxation, deep breathing, and mindfulness, we will step outside of your thoughts, along with the behaviors that develop out of them, so that they do not contain the power to create feelings of fear and panic that they once did. Over time, you will learn to recognize when worst-case-scenario thinking is taking over and stop it in its tracks. Engaging in treatment creates an opportunity for you to lean into and accept your anxious thinking, instead of constantly avoiding it, so that you can begin to see that you are the one who is in control of your life, and not your anxiety. 

Any fear has the potential to be less scary if we can confront and learn more about it. Anxiety is no different. Fortunately, therapists and counselors are trained to help with the process of confronting the uncomfortable feelings and sensations caused by anxiety. 

With my guidance, treatment will give you the chance to feel better, more hopeful, and see clearly that you are more powerful than your anxiety.

Perhaps you are considering anxiety treatment but still have questions…

I think I may have anxiety, but what do I need therapy for? Can’t I just take medication?

Research has shown that CBT methods are extremely helpful in reducing anxiety symptoms. While anxiety medications can also be effective, there is strong likelihood of the symptoms recurring once the medication is stopped. If you decide you want to take medication, however, combining it with talk therapy is more likely to offer you a better outcome of treatment and better likelihood that anxiety will not recur. Therapy and counseling are the best way to develop a toolbox that can provide you with lifelong skills and techniques to reduce the effects of anxiety before they pose problems in your life. 

I am worried that by confronting my anxiety I will feel worse than I already do. 

If you are gently guided through the process of anxiety treatment, in a safe and compassionate atmosphere, you will benefit more from confronting your anxiety than avoiding it altogether. I believe that once you confront and verbalize your fear, it will maintain far less power over you. Furthermore, if you can understand the scientific explanations behind your thoughts and feelings, you will feel less controlled by them, eventually coming to accept that anxiety is both normal and temporary.

I am not sure I want to invest the time and money required for anxiety treatment. 

By choosing to go to therapy for your anxiety, you are not committing to a lifetime of counseling. Rather, like any other pain in need of relief and rehabilitation, you are investing now to spare yourself from costly problems in the future. I am confident that once you will see the immense benefits of treating your anxiety, you will find the investment worthwhile and the process to be less daunting than you might think.   

You Can Achieve Peace Of Mind With Anxiety Treatment

If anxiety is impeding your ability to focus or find peace of mind, treatment with a skilled and compassionate therapist or counselor can help you to understand and dismantle anxious thinking. To learn more about my approach, visit my about page and contact me for a free consultation today! 

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