Do you live your life shrouded in constant anxiety?

• Do seemingly small things spiral your anxiety out of control?

• Do you struggle to think about the future without freaking out?

• Do you experience panic attacks or anxiety attacks?

• Do you experience physical effects of anxiety like shortness of breath?

Life is full of uncertainties. Learning to navigate the uncertainties of life without getting lost in fear is a skill that comes naturally to some people, but others struggle with. If you suffer from anxiety then you know what it's like to feel like life is just too much to bear, and navigating the simple tasks of life like working, taking care of your health, and taking care of your mental health can become overwhelmingly burdensome. For some people, anxiety can get so bad that they have trouble getting out of bed and facing life at all.

Many of my clients come to me with a pervasive anxiety that makes functioning in their day to day lives difficult. Anxiety can be triggered by a number of factors, for some people fear about health and dying weighs heavy on their minds, for others financial worries take center stage, and for others they struggle with an existential anxiety that feels like they don’t know what exactly is wrong but they live in constant fear. Whatever form your anxiety takes, if it's left untreated it can cause severe problems in your life.

Anxiety can take many forms

Anxiety can manifest in a number of ways in different people. Generally people who suffer from anxiety notice a combination of physical and cognitive effects which can manifest in a number of ways. Anxiety can cause:

• Pervasive fear

• Endless, looping thoughts

• Panic attacks

• Tightness of breath

• Physical pressure in the chest area

• Avoidance of activities that may trigger anxiety

• Obsessive thinking about potential negative outcomes

• Breaking down crying

When people experience physical effects, they notice physical tension, pressure, or discomfort in the body, usually centering around the chest area. Physical effects of anxiety can spiral out of control leading to panic attacks if left untreated.

On the cognitive side, anxiety can lead to looping or obsessive thoughts which never seem to end. Anxious thinking is irrational and repetitive where the anxious person will try to think their way through or out of a problem they are experiencing, but they find they can’t seem to resolve the fear.

Going to therapy for your anxiety involves getting to the root of the problem

Speaking to a skilled and compassionate therapist is often the first step towards effective treatment of anxiety. If you’re trying to do this all on your own, you are giving yourself a severe handicap. Trying to think your way out of your anxiety disorder is like trying to think yourself out of a prison made of thoughts. Many people find they can’t do it on their own.

In therapy for anxiety, there are two major processes that will happen. First, we will give you immediate tools and techniques to calm yourself down in the face of acute panic and anxiety, and second, we will explore the root cause of the anxiety to help you alleviate the deeper rooted issues that are leading to the anxiety in the first place.

In order to halt the anxious process, there are a number of tools and techniques that can be used. Most people find that these tools help some, they don’t get rid of the anxiety completely, but used at the right time and in the right combination, most people they can find some relief. These tools include:

• Breathing techniques

• Tapping techniques (or bilateral stimulation)

• Cognitive behavioral exercises

• Lifestyle changes

• Medication

Once you have a few immediate tools to help you feel like you can take the edge off of your anxious thoughts, we need to take a deeper look at why you are anxious in the first place. Anxiety may feel irrational, but most of the time, anxiety is a sign that there are deeper issues at play in your life. For some people this means that aspects of their life like their job, their relationships, or their financial life are in need of change and causing severe stress. In other situations, past experiences from childhood or adolescence are weighing on your mental health - the things you thought you put to rest in the past may still be having an influence on your mental health today.

Whatever the cause of the anxiety, talking to a compassionate and supportive therapist can help you feel heard, understood, and less alone. As a relationally focused therapist, I am interested in creating the conditions for a supportive and therapeutic relationship to blossom. In this relationship it is my hope that you feel a sense of safety and support that allows you to build the resilience to go on living in a way that feels more stable, grounded, and embodied than before.

Some common concerns about therapy include…

“I don’t want to go to therapy because I’m afraid you will make me take medications”

First, I am not a medications provider and I do not have the ability to prescribe medications, so any discussion of medications would be in the context of a potential referral to another clinician. Medications can be an effective treatment for anxiety, but I support each client's right to determine the course of treatment that they see as best for themselves. I absolutely believe that it is possible to treat anxiety effectively without the use of medications and I will support your decisions and autonomy about this issue.

“Talking about my problems only makes things worse”

Sometimes when we feel anxious about things it can feel easier to just avoid the trigger and avoid the topic altogether in our lives. Some people live effectively for years of their life without fully facing the issues that are going on under the surface. I would say that while talking to a therapist may involve some discomfort, especially in the beginning, getting to the root of your problems and finding a new way to live in your life with less constant dread is often worth the temporary discomfort of facing your anxiety. In addition, the therapeutic process goes at your pace, so if you need time to warm up to the idea of talking about hard things, we can go slow and steady.

“I’ve tried CBT and it didn’t work for me” 

CBT is a manualized treatment of anxiety that many people have tried. In my experience it can be somewhat effective at reducing some aspects of anxiety. My approach to therapy is a little different, I am a relational and depth oriented therapist meaning I am interested in forming a real and authentic professional relationship with you first and foremost. Within the context of our relationship many therapeutic things can happen, some of which may involve techniques like CBT, but we will try to have an authentic experience in relationship which provides safety, support, and comfort, in a way that many people describe as “different” from other experiences they might have had in more manualized treatments.

Schedule a free phone consultation

Reach out today to schedule a free and confidential phone consultation. On this call we can discuss any further questions you might have and explore the possibility of us working together. I offer therapy for anxiety, as well as trauma therapy, couples therapy, addiction therapy and therapy for depression at my office in Santa Cruz, and online in California. 

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