Counseling Services for Anxiety

What is anxiety?

Fear and anxiety are a normal response to stress. These natural emotions help us detect danger or threats and serve as an alarm system to protect us from danger. Unfortunately, the fear system can become overactive, making us feel anxious when there is no real danger or threat. This can lead to chronic anxiety.

Anxiety may look like…

• Persistent worry

• Ruminating on the same thoughts over and over

• Feeling nervous and jittery

• Feeling on the edge and irritable

• Difficulty sleeping

• Difficulty concentrating

• Avoiding situations, places or people

How your body might react to anxiety…

• Increased sweating

• Racing heart

• Difficulty breathing

• Flushing of skin

• Heart palpitations

• Trembling, shaking or muscle twitching

• Nausea or diarrhea

How counseling will help…

Counseling focuses on coping skills, identifying triggers, and exploring the causes of the anxiety.

Identifying situations, relationships, or events that provoke the anxiety will lean itself to a detailed plan on how to manage these triggering situations in the future. You and your therapist will also explore the roots of the anxiety to ensure long-lasting symptom relief.

For example, Sue experienced severe anxiety when she drove on the freeway. Her therapist taught her ways to stay calm and helped her to identify situations that escalate her anxiety. She also realized her anxiety was related to a car accident in her childhood. Once this memory of the car accident was successfully reprocessed through EMDR, she had no difficulty driving on the freeway.