Therapy for Anxiety
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Find Balance, Peace, and Presence.
Is anxiety ruling your life? Ready to take back control and experience peace of mind?
Are you constantly overthinking, every single thing?
Obsessive or intrusive thoughts taking over?
Consider yourself a professional worrier?
Struggling with concentration, restlessness, or panic?
Terrible case of the “What ifs” or “should haves”?
Do you worry like your life depends on it?
On the outside you appear to have it all together, but on the inside it's a different story. Life feels like it’s passing by at lightning speed and you are missing it, like you’re not participating in your own life.
You wonder how the heck you got here? What happened? Leaving you feeling lost, stuck, or broken. Maybe you have even distanced yourself from others, withdrawing from activities you once enjoyed, or possibly avoiding new experiences.
Peace and balance are closer than you think, anxiety therapy can help get you there.
Therapy for Anxiety can help you…
Gain valuable insight to identify what drives your anxiety, panic, and worry.
Create an individualized action plan that works for you.
Grow confidence and courage to pursue change and growth opportunities.
Explore and redefine what you want in life, not what others expect of you.
Learn and implement mindfulness techniques that are realistic and easy to integrate.
Develop skills to manage anxiety so you can thrive in your career and relationships.
Together, we will identify triggers, develop tools, and work towards your goals.
You don’t have to live like this, you can break out of the anxiety trap!
Find freedom from excessive worry, analysis paralysis, and chronic anxiety. Your mental health matters, now more than ever.
FAQs
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Therapy is a time that you set aside to work on problem areas in your life. It is a space where you can feel seen and heard as you develop a therapeutic relationship of trust and safety with your therapist. I will facilitate the healing process by providing tools, skills and activities that help get to the root of the symptoms that are causing distress. We will work collaboratively to create attainable goals and explore techniques that work for you as an individual. You are never required to disclose information you are not comfortable with; this is your time. I serve as eager and open-minded therapist, highly motivated to get you feeling better as soon as possible.
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I believe that you get out of therapy what you put in. Length and frequency of therapy varies greatly based on individual needs. In my experience, people gain the most from therapy when they integrate the information and skills daily. I recommend starting therapy on a weekly basis whenever possible or bi-weekly at the least. After some time when clients are feeling more confident, spreading sessions out to monthly can help with accountability and be a nice way to check in. At that point we celebrate wins and address remaining barriers or other life challenges that present themselves.
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Anxiety disorders are very treatable. Most clients who suffer from anxiety are able to at least reduce, if not eliminate, symptoms after several (or fewer) months of psychotherapy, and many patients notice improvement after just a few sessions.
Research continues to show that telehealth or online therapy is just as effective as in-person therapy sessions. Online therapy is convenient, flexible, and private. Whether you are in a large city or in a small rural town, you can access therapy from the comfort of your own home. Save time and money by skipping the drive to your appointments. Fitting therapy in your schedule has never been easier. You can schedule before work/school or even during lunch. Stay cozy in your pajamas, with your dog or cat on your lap, and a hot cup of tea all while focusing on your mental health and wellbeing.
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First, finding the right therapist for you is most important. And trust me, I know how difficult finding a therapist can be. It can be overwhelming, but you have already made it this far. The next step is to schedule a free consultation with me. We will chat over video or phone to determine suitability. It’s a no obligation way to make sure you feel comfortable, and I have the right skillset for your needs. We will then begin the journey of getting you the relief you need and the results you dream of.
Anxiety can show up in many ways. Sometimes the struggle has been there as long as you can remember, while other times anxiety is a result of a transition or change in your life.
Types of Anxiety Disorders
● Generalized Anxiety Disorder
● Adjustment Disorder
● Social Anxiety Disorder
● Panic Disorder
● Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Types of Therapy I utilize
Therapy will be uniquely tailored to work for you individually. It’s not one size fits all. I pull from a large variety of modalities and evidence-based models in order for you to have the best success. Two modalities that are particularly helpful for anxiety are ACT and CBT. I have included some information here if you would like to read about these modalities in more detail.
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT targets experiential avoidance, which is the avoidance of emotional states, thoughts, and physiological experiences that are considered negative, unpleasant, or unwanted. Experiential avoidance is considered a normal human response that both client and therapist are likely to exhibit.
From an ACT perspective, experiential avoidance is problematic for several reasons: (1) It does not actually get rid of the unwanted thought, emotion, or experience; (2) failed attempts to avoid negative internal experiences can result in an increased sense of failure and perceived “brokenness,” and (3) efforts to remove discomfort take tremendous amounts of energy that interfere with pursuing a value driven life. As activities decrease, clients’ daily life and identity become increasingly defined by their negative experiences.
The goal of ACT is not to reduce the presence of unwanted internal experiences. Instead, the goal is to help clients hold space for their past experiences. This is referred to as psychological flexibility. The goal is for clients to acknowledge their negative internal experiences and pursue a meaningful life regardless. ACT accomplishes this with the following six core processes:
Contact with the Present Moment: Clients are first introduced to mindfulness to reconnect with the present moment. This builds the foundation for increased exposure to avoided thoughts and emotions.
Acceptance or Willingness: Willingness refers to being open to one’s full experience, even if that experience is anxiety provoking. This does not mean that the client likes or wants the anxiety, rather that they accept its presence and create space for it. By taking a willing stance, clients can move forward with important activities in the face of anxiety.
Connection to Personal Values: Often clients’ lives have become so dominated by avoidance that they have forgotten their own personal values. A significant goal of ACT is help clients reconnect with their personal values and to create discrepancy between stress-driven behavior and behavior that is driven by values.
Committed Action: Even when clients are aware of their personal values, their behavior may still be driven by past negative experiences. Committed action focuses on establishing clear goals to begin moving in the direction of one’s values. In ACT, clients use their most important values to guide personal goals that become the basis for a value driven life.
Defusion: Through mindfulness practice, clients become aware of unpleasant thoughts that get in the way of them reaching their values-based goals. Defusion strategies help clients learn to acknowledge their thoughts as just thoughts, not necessarily to determine if they are true or untrue, but to detach from the thoughts and move forward. Defusion strategies allow clients to create distance from unpleasant thoughts to continue committed action in the face of anxiety.
Observing Self: Finally, clients learn to utilize their skills to take a broad overview perspective of their life. This helps clients moving forward to see unpleasant experiences of the present moment in the broader context of life by connecting with the deeper self across time. This connection with a constant sense of self promotes improved psychological flexibility and makes the experience of present anxiety less scary.
Psychological flexibility also reinforces the idea that willingness changes moment to moment, and it empowers clients to be mindful and accepting of varying degrees of motivation. For example, an activity they feel eager to do today may not be something they feel excited about once they get there. By not judging this as a “success” or “failure,” clients instead learn to be mindful in the moment, helping them to choose their next goal or use a new skill to keep moving towards a value driven life.
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CBT is a blend of cognitive and behavioral therapy treatments that were developed in the 1960s by Aaron T. Beck.
This type of psychotherapy is based on the belief that our thinking controls our experiences. In other words, how we think (cognition), the way we act (behavior), and the way we feel (emotion) are all connected.
CBT aims at overcoming self-defeating behavior, which ultimately leads to recurring episodes of depression and anxiety. CBT can work on its own or in combination with other types of therapies. Most importantly, CBT teaches various hands-on ways to deal with stressful situations.
CBT is suitable for almost all types of mental and emotional health issues. Although, it’s more typically used to help treat the following:
-Anxiety and mood disorders
-Various disorders, such as PTSD, eating, or panic disorders
-Depression
-Anger management
-Chronic fatigue
-Certain phobias, such as agoraphobia
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Goals
CBT has proven to be effective in allowing us to take charge of our lives, rather than letting external forces manipulate us. One way it’s proven its success is that it sets realistic goals.
We will collaboratively design various tasks to be completed between session. These tasks are an opportunity to modify thought patterns as well as establish healthy, practical coping methods.
CBT can help achieve many goals such as:
-Recognize that you’ve become stuck in a pattern of unhealthy thought patterns
-Turn negative thoughts into positive, more realistic ones
-Make the right choices in difficult situations
-Have faith in your ability to make good choices
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Sessions
The beauty of CBT is that it doesn’t stick to one formula and try to apply it to everyone. It’s flexible and easily customizable. Here’s a general outline of what you can expect to happen in a CBT session:
-Check the overall mood
-Review events of the previous week and identify negative thoughts
-Talk about the assigned ‘task’ including which goals were met and which weren’t
-Discuss how to reshape thinking patterns that may be contributing to the problem
-Set a new set of goals for the upcoming week
-Assign a new ‘task’
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Pros and Cons
We’ve seen how CBT is effective and can be useful in treating many mental health issues. Yet, as with everything, it has its benefits and drawbacks.
Pros
-Is considered to be short-term compared with other forms of therapy
-Works great in cases where medicine, like antidepressants, doesn’t work by itself
-CBT techniques are available in different formats, such as self-help books, group therapies, and apps
-Teaches practical coping methods that you can apply in everyday life, both during and after treatment
Cons
-Isn’t suited for those with learning difficulties or complex mental health issues
-Doesn’t delve into past problems or traumas, which could be the underlying cause of the problem
If you're struggling with anxiety, I can help you develop the skills and tools to overcome it.
Heather Srncik, LCSW
You don’t have to keep struggling alone.
I can help you break free from those fears, doubts, and worries so you can set sail with your life.