Anxiety Treatment

You’re tired of struggling with the feeling of inescapable doom.

At first, it started as a nervous thought. A little worry that morphed into a negative thought cycle. Now, you are held back by that tight knot in your chest telling you “you can’t do this”. You can’t even sleep through the night anymore. If you had a nickel for every time you played the “what if game”, you would be able to pay back your student loans plus interest. You just want three minutes of peace. But, even that seems like asking for too much. Maybe, it’s time to explore options for anxiety treatment.

Anxiety Counseling Can Help Quiet The Noise

A little bit of anxiety or stress can be healthy. This is our body’s response to situations that are perceived as dangerous. So, if you’re in the middle of the woods and see a bear, you want your body to experience anxiety. Why? Because it’s a dangerous situation. And, you probably don’t want to get mulled by a bear. Anxiety would tell us that it’s time to run or to pretend that we’re bigger than the bear. Of course, depending on the bear. However, we’re not always in the woods. Sometimes, we’re in a classroom about to give a presentation. Sure, it’s okay to be nervous in situations like that. But, it becomes a problem when it is starting to impact your ability to live life to its fullest. This is where our anxiety counselors can help. Starting anxiety counseling with an experienced anxiety therapist can help. Whether you’re struggling with social anxiety, feel paralyzed by fear before tests at school, or find yourself avoiding things due to anxiety, anxiety treatment can provide you with support while isolating the source of your anxiety.

 Symptoms of Anxiety

We all have different experiences and backgrounds. Because of this, we all react to situations differently. Our anxiety counselors are aware of this, too. Throughout our experience providing anxiety counseling, we’ve worked with people experiencing many different anxiety symptoms. With this in mind, we have seen common themes of anxiety symptoms while providing anxiety treatment. Here are some common anxiety symptoms we’ve seen in anxiety counseling:

• Feeling tense. It’s almost as if your body is a giant knot.

• Impending sense of doom or panic. You’re not quite sure when it will happen, but so many bad things will happen at any moment.

• Increased heart rate, sweating, and rapid breathing. Like you’re constantly running a marathon.

• Feeling weak. Regardless of how hydrated or fed you are.

• Trouble sleeping. You feel exhausted all day, but you’re wide awake the second you lay down.

• Excessive worry. Over nothing and everything at the same time.

These are only a few of the common symptoms of anxiety that we’ve seen. To learn about other symptoms of anxiety, check out a helpful blog one of our clinicians wrote!

Our Anxiety Therapists Can Help

Facing your anxiety can feel really scary.  You’re worried you’ll feel overwhelmed. Dealing with your anxiety means admitting that you’re not okay, right? Yes, it’s scary. However, it’s important to know that your anxiety therapist is here to support you.  Our anxiety counselors won’t ask you do to something they don’t think you’re capable of. We will individualize our approach based on your unique fears, symptoms, values, and preferences. We believe in providing treatment that helps you find freedom from anxiety quickly. So, all of our anxiety therapists are trained in anxiety counseling interventions that are supported by research.  What does this mean? We’ll provide you with anxiety treatment that really works!

Aspire Counseling’s Approach to Anxiety Therapy

Anxiety counseling usually starts with your anxiety therapist asking questions about when you feel anxious. What your anxiety “triggers” are. In addition, what situations you try to avoid because they exacerbate your anxiety symptoms too much. And, what’s helped you cope so far. What’s more, we will also help provide resources for coping with this anxiety. The first real step in anxiety treatment is to find ways you can cope. This includes mindfulness, grounding techniques, and self-care. The next step in anxiety treatment usually involves some form of exposure.  In some cases, this means exposure to your anxious thoughts. 

Creating Goals in Anxiety Counseling

You might be wondering why goal setting is important in anxiety counseling. Think about a road trip to the Grand Canyon. The goal is to get to the Grand Canyon, right? To do so, we need to create a plan. For this plan, we have to figure out who’s driving, who’s bringing snacks, and who’s creating the playlist. On top of that, we also need to have navigation to get there. Sure, having a goal of getting to the Grand Canyon. But, we won’t be successful unless come up with a step-by-step way of getting there. See the connection? Working with an anxiety therapist in anxiety counseling is no different. Your goal is to alleviate your anxiety. And, to reach this goal, we have to a plan. Your anxiety counselor will work with you to create goals that reflect your values

CBT for Anxiety Treatment

We may use Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) to talk about the racing thoughts that feed your anxiety.  CBT is helpful because it allows us to see the connection between our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Oftentimes, these components interact with each other in the pattern of a triangle. You’ll see that they each have an impact on the other.

Exposure Therapy in Anxiety Counseling

In addition, we often incorporate exposure therapy when it will help our client. Through this approach, we use exposure where we carefully and intentionally have you place yourself in the exact situations where you feel anxious.  The purpose of this approach is to teach our mind and body that certain people, places, or events actually aren’t that scary. Because, if you think about it, you used to be able to partake in the things that make you anxious currently. So, we know that you’re capable of doing it.  Yes, facing the very things that make you anxious sounds scary. But, when done carefully, it can be the most effective way to treat anxiety.

What is Holding You Back from Beginning Anxiety Treatment?

We know meeting with an anxiety therapist in person may seem overwhelming. So, we also offer online anxiety counseling so you can receive support from the comfort of your own home. In fact, a study from the Journal of Anxiety Disorders proved that online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is just as effective in treating anxiety and depression as in-person counseling. Think about where you see yourself in 6 months. With how things are going right now, will you get there? Don’t let anxiety hold you back any longer. See if anxiety treatment with Aspire Counseling could benefit you!