Is Anxiety Controlling Your Life?

Are you missing out on family gatherings and social activities because of anxiety?

Do you lay awake at night worrying, instead of sleeping?

You feel like you have a lot on your plate. You are overwhelmed and worry that you will never catch up.  This causes a knot in your stomach that doesn’t go away. You’re exhausted, but you can’t sleep. So you lie in bed while things go around and around in your head. Family and friends tell you to relax, but you can’t seem to turn it off. This just makes you worry more. You feel like you have tried everything so things start to feel hopeless.

Do you want to learn how to relax or put things to the side so you can enjoy your life?

Anxiety is Extremely Common

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)*, more than 40 million people in the United States struggle with anxiety. Even though it is so common, many people think that they are the only ones that “just can’t handle it.”

Anxiety at its core is a healthy, necessary emotion. At first, it can seem like something small or just temporary. You tell yourself, “I’m just going through a lot right now. When ‘this’ is over, everything will be fine.” Then when ‘this’ is over, there always seems to be something else. When anxiety starts affecting your life, relationships, sleep and social enjoyment, it is time to get help.

Anxiety comes in many different forms. Some people struggle with a general anxiety. This can cause you to feel anxious and worry excessively. The worry seems constant and all encompassing. You also feel like you can’t turn your brain off and never get a break to take care of yourself.

Other people struggle with social anxiety that affects them when they try to leave their house or go to a crowded store. You may avoid social activities or family gatherings. This can cause you to miss very important events in your life, which can result in you feeling even more isolated and alone. Anxiety can also take the form of panic attacks, phobias, hoarding or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

The good news is that with the help of an experienced anxiety therapist, you can find relief and feel in control of your life again.

Anxiety Treatment Can Help You Get Your Life Back

My practice offers a safe and supportive environment focused on building a therapeutic relationship with you. Therapy can be extremely effective for anxiety treatment. In our first few sessions, we will create a unique plan focused on the goal of decreasing your anxiety symptoms. This plan will be specifically tailored to meeting your individual needs. We will determine what triggers or patterns may be affecting your anxiety and develop concrete steps towards learning and implementing skills to decrease your anxiety symptoms. For example, if you struggle with anxiety at work, we may break that anxious thinking or those harmful self-beliefs into pieces so you progressively get less anxious and more productive. Treatment for anxiety is most effective when you are actively involved in creating your plan and working towards change along the way.

I have many years of experience working with clients that struggle with anxiety symptoms. Although I pull from many different techniques to meet the needs of the client, three therapeutic approaches that I use most often for the treatment of anxiety are Mindfulness/Relaxation, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and EMDR Therapy.

Mindfulness/Relaxation:

Anxiety is a physical reaction to what is going on in your head. Because of this, it is physically impossible to experience anxiety while in a relaxed body state. So, through learning specific mindfulness and relaxation techniques, you will be able to decrease your anxiety symptoms to a manageable level, or stop them completely. These strategies are specifically designed to get you out of your head and into your body. This will help you focus on what is going on around you and to feel more present in the moment.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT):

CBT looks at how patterns in your thinking may be negatively affecting your emotions and behavior. So, as an anxiety therapist, I will suggest skills to help change these negative patterns that could be making your anxiety symptoms worse. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on providing concrete steps to improve a specific issue. For example, if you struggle with falling asleep, we may focus on creating a routine to decrease anxiety at bedtime or skills to fall back to sleep if you wake up frequently throughout the night.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR):

Although EMDR was originally designed to work on traumatic memories, it has also been found to be effective with anxiety, phobias and panic disorders. EMDR is designed to lessen or even eliminate any immediate response to a specific trigger. So, if seeing a crowd of people causes you anxiety, EMDR would attempt to reduce the sensitivity to that trigger. This will then also reduce your anxiety.

For more than 10 years, I have been helping clients struggling with anxiety. They have seen great improvements in their lives, whether they are looking to return to work, go out socially, enjoy dinner with family/friends and have more energy from improved sleep quality. I can help you create the life you want to live.

“Marcia is a professional-she knows what she’s doing and she does it extremely well. I have never hesitated to refer clients to her. She has my trust and most importantly, the deep trust of her clients. Rare do you find a therapist talented with both children and adults but Marcia is that multi talented, full spectrum person. I am proud to be her colleague and feel confident in her abilities to help you.”

AnnMarie Boyd, LISW

Clinical Social Work/Therapist

Common Concerns about Anxiety Treatment

“How long will it take to feel better?”

Treatment for anxiety, like therapy in general, is very individual. The duration of treatment depends on how much anxiety you are experiencing at the beginning of treatment, if you attend sessions regularly and how much you practice the skills in between sessions. Another important consideration to the duration of treatment is what “being done” looks like to you. Everyone’s idea of what they want to accomplish in therapy is unique. So, sometimes your end goal can affect your timeline. This is also something that we work on in therapy and if you’re not sure right now, that’s okay too.

Aside from the idea of “being done”, another way to look at it is “how long until I start feeling better”. Therapy is a process and change develops over time. The “really starting to feel better” part doesn’t usually take as long as people think. Many clients will report feeling a significant decrease in their anxiety within 3-4 sessions.

“What if my anxiety is all in my head?”

Anxiety is not like a broken arm where someone can show you a broken bone on an x-ray. So, it’s common for people to think that it’s not real. However, anxiety symptoms are a very real thing. When significant, it can feel paralyzing because it seems like it’s taking over your body.

Our body creates anxiety for a purpose. It isn’t all in your head. Many times, clients feel frustrated because “other people don’t get anxious like me.” Everyone’s alarm bells are wired differently. Once we find out how your alarm bells are wired, we can rewire them so you are not as sensitive to those same triggers.

“What if I’m too anxious to come to counseling?”

I understand if leaving the house or coming to office appointments makes you feel anxious. If that is something that you struggle with, I offer online video sessions. If you would like to be seen in the office but are worried about your anxiety, I can teach you skills that will help decrease your anxiety so you feel more comfortable attending sessions. Often times, client may do 1-2 sessions online and then will feel comfortable enough to come to the office. Also, many clients find that their anxiety with coming to therapy really disappears once they make a connection with their therapist, often within a couple sessions.

Enjoy Your Life Free from Anxiety

If you have any questions about anxiety treatment or would like to schedule an appointment, please call or contact me.

I also offer a free no obligation, 15-minute consultation and respond to all emails and voicemails within 24 hours. I look forward to hearing from you!

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