Anxiety
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of fear or uneasiness that can be brought on by a variety of different things. Like all of our feelings, anxiety is a natural part of being human that we all have. It can help us respond to stress and prepare for what may come in the future. One of the most common complaints from individuals seeking therapy is overwhelming anxiety, and in our modern world anxiety is a complex feeling that can quickly become less than helpful. Anxiety becomes a problem when it gets in the way of us living happy and fulfilling lives. In the brutal landscape of early man amongst all the other living things around us anxiety ensured that we were aware of where our next food source, or safe place to sleep would be. In today's digital landscape it is not as helpful to feel like we are being chased by a tiger when we have a school or work deadline approaching, or if we have to interact with those frustrating in-laws.
How do we treat Anxiety?
Treatment for anxiety can take as many forms as there are causes for anxiety, however the common factors in therapy remain relatively constant. Utilizing therapy for the treatment of anxiety means creating a workshop in which we can lay out clearly the interaction between, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that lend to these distressful feelings. With a clearly mapped workspace we work together to create strategies of change. By challenging inaccurate assumptions, taking multiple perspectives to expand our understanding of a situation, and subverting automatic negative perceptions we can reprogram the thinking process. By building and practicing mindfulness tools we can better understand and let go of painful feelings. Finally by creating behavior change strategies and engaging in behavioral activation tools we can develop a different relationship with how we respond to the world inside us and around us when confronting anxiety in daily life. This practice ultimately comes down to conditioning our bodies and our mind to react differently when approached by those things that cause anxiety. No matter what is causing you anxiety, there is hope for change.