Has Occasional Stress Turned Into Constant Worry Or Dread?
Are racing thoughts about the future impacting your ability to manage responsibilities, concentrate on tasks, make empowering decisions or engage with loved ones? Perhaps stress has started to manifest physically as sweating, heart palpitations, digestive issues, joint pain, insomnia, disordered eating and more. Maybe you began to experience these sensations after a recent distressing event, such as an accident, termination from your job, the death of a loved one, a break up, a move or another life transition. Maybe you are worried about an important deadline, or you are struggling about the state of the world. Or, perhaps you’ve been struggling with worry and self-doubt for as long as you can remember. As these anxiety symptoms worsen, you may feel as though you’re facing an unsolvable problem. Regardless of the severity of your symptoms or how long you’ve been dealing with them, you may desperately want to let go of stress and anxiety and focus on what you truly want.
Living with anxiety can be a frustrating, all-consuming and even frightening experience. You may wake up from poor night’s sleep with your heart racing, already worrying about everything you have to do throughout the day. At work, at home, in your relationships and during the quiet hours of the night, it may feel as though many sources of dread are colliding, causing confusion and chaos in your mind. Perhaps frequent worry has become so severe that it’s impacting every part of your life, including your physical health. If you feel nervous all the time or have difficulty concentrating, making decisions, justifying getting out of bed or leaving your house, you may desperately crave a healing path to relief.
Anxiety Is Very Common In Our Culture
If you are struggling to cope with stress, fear, panic or dread, you are not alone. Collectively, anxiety disorders, which include generalized anxiety, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias and social anxiety, are among the most commonly diagnosed mental health conditions in America, affecting roughly 18 percent of adults.
While some people are predisposed to anxiety and grapple with it throughout their lives, others develop it while going through periods of heightened stress. In the Bellevue area especially, with corporations like Amazon, Microsoft and other computer and gaming companies setting an example of “success” that is too often defined by hectic schedules and high income, it’s common for folks to work long hours and feel persistently behind. On top of your busy routine, you may be overwhelmed by unwanted or unexpected circumstances in life. Divorcing, changing careers, having a baby or coping with the loss of a loved one can cause heavy feelings of stress and grief that can spark an anxious cycle. If those emotions remain unresolved, pent-up anxious energy can become trapped in your body, putting more strain on your nervous system and making it increasingly difficult to calm down.
Although technology is supposed to make life easier, increased efficiency has also increased the pressure to do more. At work and home, you may be met with unrealistic expectations. When you go online, you may see images of happy, accomplished people and feel as though you’ve fallen short of an ideal. And, with continued distress in the news, feeling positive about yourself and the world around you may seem impossible—or even irresponsible. Regardless of the pressures you face, at this point, your anxiety may feel unbearable. The good news is anxiety counseling can help you develop the insight and tools needed to feel balanced, fulfilled and whole.
Anxiety Therapy Can Heal Your Mind, Body and Spirit
Anxiety therapy can be incredibly effective in helping you develop and employ useful tools that replace stress responses with relaxation responses. My approach to anxiety treatment is holistic and different than most practitioners. Elsewhere, anxiety is most commonly treated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is a methodology of changing your thinking in order to change your mood and behavior. However, if you’ve been in anxious cycle for quite some time, the stress built up in your system may be severe, requiring more than an attitude adjustment. With mindfulness meditation and energy psychology and energy medicine, it’s possible to identify stress triggers, learn how they affect your body and develop the insight, perspective and tools needed to heal and grow.
In a secure space, outside the stressors of everyday life, you can openly express your concerns and desires and receive guidance tailored to your personality, resources and goals. First, we will work to release pent up distress and restore your physiological system back to a more natural, relaxed state. Once you feel comfortable and calm in session, we’ll explore which aspects of your life cause prolonged stress and bring clarity and healing to those areas. You’ll come to learn both current triggers and past experiences that have led to heightened stress and anxiety. We will also develop a map of where you would like to go from here. By identifying, balancing and integrating all important areas of your life—including feelings, desires, thoughts, relationships, physical health and your spirit—you can create a higher level of self-awareness and focus on what brings you peace and joy.
Although we will explore your concerns and desires deeply, I don’t believe that life is lived in a therapy room. Each observation and technique we discover is designed to be integrated into your everyday life. It is your responsibility to use your newfound skills outside of our sessions in order to experience profound transformation, optimism and growth. I believe it takes more than insight as to why you are anxious to finally escape the automatic pattern of anxiety and worry. I am a national trainer in energy psychology and energy medicine, a trained EMDR therapist and a licensed marriage and family therapist with 25 years of experience. I’ve studied anxiety treatment from many perspectives and believe that my approach is incredibly effective. Although we live in a world that invites us toward anxiety time and time again, it’s possible to experience healing and relief.
You may still have questions about anxiety therapy…
With my hectic schedule, I’m afraid I don’t have time to get anxiety help.
With everything going on, it may feel as though there’s never enough time to complete all of your tasks, let alone take care of yourself. However, the schedules we create are based on how we prioritize. If your mental health and physical health are suffering, I encourage you to prioritize your wellbeing.
Taking just an hour out of your week to work with a qualified anxiety therapist can provide you with effective stress management techniques that lead to increased relief and resiliency. If your anxiety remedies are no longer serving you or you can’t figure out how to control anxiety, therapy is an investment that can help.
I’ve been to anxiety therapy before, but nothing worked.
My approach to anxiety treatment is energy psychology and energy medicine and EMDR, which is different than most. With over 25 years of experience and specialty training in energy psychology, I know there are effective ways to treat anxiety other than CBT. Over the years, I’ve studied many ways to relieve stress and anxiety and continue to educate myself all the time. I do believe my approach can help you integrate relaxation responses into your everyday life and find relief.
I’ve heard that anxiety counseling can be expensive.
It’s true that treatment for anxiety involves an investment of your time, energy and money. However, I invite you to consider the worth of living happily and healthily. As someone who struggled with anxiety earlier in life, I know that the looping cycle of thoughts generally doesn’t go away on its own. Moreover, based on both personal and professional experience, I believe that holistic therapy is the most effective way to create lasting, positive change. By integrating all of the facets of your being, you can begin to release negative tension and truly live, which is worth the investment.
You Can Feel Relaxed and Fulfilled
If you are suffering from stress or anxiety, I invite you to contact me or call (425) 681-1170 for a free 15-minute consultation. My offices are located in Bellevue and Issaquah, WA. I’m happy to speak with you about how energy psychology and medicine can help you overcome anxiety.