Anxiety
It’s been stealing your life long enough. It’s time to get it back!
You can’t write it off anymore as “just stress.”
The racing thoughts…
The excessive worry…
The feelings of panic and dread…
Living like this just isn’t sustainable. You’re exhausted!
Your health, work, and sanity are slipping.
You’re having trouble getting to sleep at night.
Understandably, you’re having trouble focusing on the job. Unfortunately, others are starting to notice.
Then, there are the sweaty palms, the racing heart, and the gastrointestinal problems. You now know the location of every clean restroom on your drive to work!
That extra drink in the evening isn’t helping. Neither is staying up later and later… or scrolling on a screen to avoid your own mind.
Anxiety is treatable. You’ve come to the right place!
Anxiety can be situationally triggered or hardwired into your nervous system as a “default setting.” Even if you have a biochemical propensity for anxiety, you can learn new ways of responding to what shows up.
Whether you experience constant worry about everyday activities, your symptoms are restricted to social settings, or panic attacks have been putting your life on hold, I can help.
We will transform how you respond to anxiety, which will change your life!
We’ll do it in a counter-intuitive way.
Instead of avoiding the discomfort of anxiety (“Don’t look at it, or it’ll only get worse!”), you’ll learn to pay attention to what happens in your body with curiosity and a willingness to soothe your physiology.
Instead of avoiding your emotions, you’ll acknowledge them. You’ll feel the difference between the moments that require you to act immediately and opportunities to act out of your values despite your fears.
Instead of getting swept up and carried away by your anxious thoughts, you’ll start giving them the very little credit they deserve; you’ll see them for the disreputable news source they are!
Of course, you could try replacing every irrational thought with a more rational one. Some therapists suggest that. And if that works for you, go for it! Replace every “should,” “must,” and “have-to.” But if you have tons of these thoughts daily, that gets exhausting.
You’ve probably never thought of anxiety like this…
What if it’s something inside us clamoring for our attention, and it uses scary thoughts to get it?
What your anxious voice tells you is not Truth with a capital “T.” It starts with a seed of truth but spins it into something sensational.
In therapy, you’ll learn to treat your anxious voice like some TV station you would hear but mostly ignore if it were playing too loudly in the living room of someone else’s house.
Chemistry and the power of thought…
We can change our biochemistry by exercising, eating well, using an appropriate medication, and changing our responses to our thinking.
If you’ve ever gotten a “runner’s high,” you changed your chemistry. Calmer and less stressed out after a workout? Ditto.
The same thing applies to thinking: Stress hormones and corticosteroids flood your bloodstream if you have a scary or stressful thought. Telling ourselves negative messages consistently leads to high-stress hormones and chronic stress levels.
It’s not what other people say as much as what we say to ourselves that matters.
Experiencing praise from people we respect or love leads to dopamine release – not just because they think we did well but because we say to ourselves, “I must have done a good job.”
There’s a lot we can’t control…
… like how we’re hardwired or all our life circumstances.
But we can learn to manage how we respond. You can learn to moderate your self-talk and treat yourself with compassion, kindness, and respect. You can change your chemistry and, ultimately, experience less anxiety.
I’ve been helping anxious folks like you for over two decades. Let me help you, too!
You don’t have to suffer alone. Don’t wait for it to get better. Call today for a free 15-minute consultation: (704) 741-0692.