Counseling for Anxiety

Anxiety serves a helpful purpose in our lives: it heightens our awareness in threatening situations and protects us from harm.  Sometimes, however, anxiety can feel out of control.  

The following is a list of symptoms someone may experience if they are experiencing anxiety.  Symptoms from different anxiety diagnoses (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder) are included here.

• You may sometimes fear that you are losing control.
• You may worry about death.
• You may experience panic attacks (e.g., heart racing, sweating, chest pain, or feeling of choking).
• You may feel nervous or on edge a lot of the time.
• You may have trouble relaxing or being in the present moment.
• You may feel restless or have a hard time sitting still.
• You may experience tightness in your muscles that you believe may be related to anxiety.

Counseling can help you better understand your anxiety (e.g., where it is coming from, how it might be protecting you) and also how to regulate your emotions so that your anxiety has less power over your life.  I have found that mindfulness-based therapy techniques are particularly effective in helping clients gain control over their anxiety.