Is Anxiety Interfering With Your Life?

Are you having trouble engaging in social events because of persistent anxious thoughts? Do your relationships suffer from communication issues because you are not as present or focused as you should be? Does it feel like anxiety has taken control of your thoughts and actions?

Perhaps you are overwhelmed because you constantly worry about what could go wrong. Maybe your daily activities have become difficult because you are spending a lot of time seeking reassurance, doing research on Google, avoiding, and ruminating on things you cannot control.

Anxiety Symptoms Can Present In Many Different Ways

People with anxiety may experience trouble breathing, an increased heart rate, sweating, trouble sleeping, poor appetite, trouble with focus and concentration, and gastrointestinal problems. Though, everyone has a different experience with how their anxiety manifests itself.

Perhaps you are struggling with unexplained headaches, depression, and panic attacks. Or you may be battling an internal conflict you cannot cope with on your own.

Living with anxiety can feel like you’re always on edge waiting for something bad to happen. Seeking treatment for anxiety provides you the opportunity to rid your mind of worrisome, fearful thoughts and achieve a relaxed state of mind.

Nearly Everyone Experiences Anxiety At Some Point In Their Life

According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults (19.1% of the population) aged 18 and older every year. ¹

Anxiety is a normal human emotion that everyone feels when under immense stress or faced with potential danger. For example, people feel anxious about taking their driver’s test or flying in a helicopter for the first time. However, a problem arises where anxiety becomes recurring and debilitating. Often, anxiety can control the decisions people make.

Societal Pressures Are A Major Contributor To Anxiety Symptoms

The truth is that societal and environmental pressures place enormous emphasis on unrealistic standards. These standards cultivate feelings of shame and guilt about who people are and where they’re at in life.

For many, it has become increasingly challenging to feel "enough" in a culture that puts a lot of value on having it “all together.” The pressure and stress to achieve near-impossible goals in work and personal life can, in time, result in increased anxiety and even depression.

Social media in this day and age can also do more harm than good. It often causes people to compare their lives to others and potentially leads them to believe they are not keeping up, aren’t wealthy enough, or living up to their full potential.

Those continuous feelings of inadequacy and self-consciousness can easily develop into anxious and repetitive thoughts. This can drive individuals to constantly seek validation. And when they don't receive it, they feel unworthy.

Regardless of how common anxiety is, you can recover and experience relief from your symptoms. Counseling with The OCD & Anxiety Center gives you the perfect opportunity to identify what may be contributing to and maintaining your anxiety symptoms and help you achieve peace of mind.

Treatment Can Help You Learn To Manage Your Anxiety

We understand that it can be difficult to have a conversation about your anxious thoughts, unhealthy behaviors, and negative stressors that trigger anxiety. However, having a compassionate therapist allows you to feel comfortable expressing your thoughts and concerns about your anxiety in a space that is non-judgmental and focused solely on helping you heal.

What To Expect During Anxiety Therapy Sessions

Our anxiety treatment sessions are focused on identifying symptoms and finding out what could be contributing to and maintaining them. We can help you achieve peace of mind and live a life where your anxiety is managed.

Learning various skills and techniques that can help you identify triggers and get relief from anxiety symptoms is a vital aspect of treatment. Our sessions are very skills-based and goal-oriented. Often, each session builds on the previous sessions.  You will learn a variety of cognitive and behavioral skills to help you overcome anxiety and manage stress better.

For example, you may learn how to identify and adapt stuck thinking and reduce behaviors that may make anxiety worse in the long run. Additionally, we encourage you to include supportive loved ones in your treatment so they know how to respond to your anxiety in a healthy manner.

This is an opportunity for you to learn and practice strategies with your therapist to lessen anxiety.

Anxiety Treatment Approaches

Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) are the most common approaches we use in anxiety treatment.

CBT is the most effective treatment that is used to target irrational, stuck thoughts and behavior that maintains anxiety. For instance, cognitive restructuring is a skill employed in CBT that aims to assist you in overcoming anxious thought patterns and turning them into ones that are more accurate and healthy, and less likely to exacerbate anxiety. By using this strategy, you can confront your anxiety triggers rather than avoid them.

ERP is a type of CBT that entails deliberately exposing yourself to thoughts or circumstances that make you anxious in a premeditated manner. The idea is to have you experience the anxiety-inducing situation while preventing your regular reaction, such as compulsive behaviors and avoidance behaviors. This process allows you to learn how to handle these situations rather than reinforcing various fears and behaviors.

DBT allows you to learn various skills for emotional management and regulation. It is a type of CBT that effectively teaches you how to tolerate distress.

ACT is a type of CBT that enables you to label anxious thoughts without judgment—which can help you recognize and detach from them. Additionally, it teaches you how to stay present. Mindfulness Training is an effective skill we use in ACT. These techniques help you to acknowledge or accept what you cannot change and then move forward by focusing on what is within your control.

The treatment methods we use at The OCD & Anxiety Center, along with the proper skills and techniques, can help you to learn to relax, quiet your thoughts, and live a peaceful life that is not controlled by an anxiety disorder.

Maybe You Still Have Some Concerns About Anxiety Treatment…

Does therapy even work?

CBT and exposure-based therapy are the most effective treatments for anxiety disorders. When administered properly therapy will begin to work for you. Sessions build on each other and are very goal-oriented. You should be able to notice progress in a relatively short amount of time.

Therapy is too hard. I can't do it.

Our therapists will work with you to develop a treatment plan to address your anxiety that is structured and skills-based. Our goal is to help you feel successful, therefore, we can work at a pace you are comfortable with. We will practice with you in the session so that you know what to do at home. To provide more support, we can also increase the frequency of sessions.

How is this different from other anxiety treatment that I have tried?

At the OCD & Anxiety Center, our goal is to teach you how to manage your anxiety when it pops up. We can work with you outside of the office, in an environment where anxiety happens as well. The methods we use have proven to work successfully in the past with many clients. With our help, you can be a success story, too, learning to relieve your anxiety symptoms and restore your peace of mind.

You Can Become A Calm, Relaxed Version Of Yourself

If constant worry and anxiety are holding you back from living the life you truly yearn to live, treatment with The OCD & Anxiety Center provides the tools you need to manage and recover from anxiety. To discuss further concerns or schedule an appointment, please call us at (630) 522-3124 or email us at info@theocdandanxietycenter.com.