Anxiety Counseling

Has Anxiety Taken Over Your Life? Do you lay awake at night unable to stop racing thoughts? Are you unable to stop worrying? Do you feel persistently nervous or uncomfortable?

Living with anxiety can be a painful, limiting, frustrating and sometimes even frightening experience. Maybe you feel constantly worried or consumed with stress and dread. Your sleeping and eating patterns may be dysregulated or you might find it difficult to concentrate and complete everyday tasks. Some people are prone to anxiety, while others experience heightened anxiety during or following a trauma or major life transition.

Anxiety is one of the most common mental illnesses in the U.S., affecting 48 million adults (roughly 19.1% of the U.S. population), according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). With the increasingly stressful events over the past few years, symptoms of anxiety are on the rise. Many people alleviate anxious discomfort by avoiding situations or people that trigger these symptoms. However, avoidance tactics can become habitual and make things worse. Chronic isolation can negatively impact your ability to complete everyday tasks, leave your home, sustain healthy relationships, and maintain a positive sense of self-worth. At times, individuals use substances (drugs/alcohol) and/or addictive processes (sex, work, etc.) to decrease or attempt to eliminate anxiety, which can lead to a dependence on a substance or process. While it is common for many people to experience stress and worrisome thoughts, anxiety becomes a problem when it affects your ability to function normally. If anxiety is causing persistent problems in your life, such as poor sleep, racing thoughts, feeling consistently on edge or in panic, seeking anxiety treatment may be critical to your wellbeing.

My practice is process-oriented, and solution focused. I utilize cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT), a goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a direct, practical approach to problem-solving. Using CBT, I can also help you identify any negative thinking patterns and shift into more positive and realistic ways of thinking. In sessions, we can explore your worldview, how you think about yourself and work toward changing patterns of thoughts or behaviors that keep you stuck. I can provide you with effective tips and techniques that can help to keep you calm and grounded when experiencing anxiety.

I will be honest—in some situations, total elimination of anxiety is not possible. With that being said, our sessions can help you decrease your anxiety by practicing the tools I will provide you to cope in situations that trigger an anxious response. Although your anxiety may never fully dissipate, we can figure out ways to manage it so that you are comfortable. Healing habitual behavior is a process that requires a lot of work, but together we can begin to understand what coping mechanisms work and do not work for you.

I am happy to discuss your specific needs, anxiety treatment and answer any questions you have about my practice. Please feel free to call me at (520) 326-5761 or email me at ssticken@live.com.