- 1457 Jordan Ave, Crofton, MD 21114
Anxiety Therapy In Crofton, MD
Do You Wake Up In The Middle Of The Night With Your Mind Racing, Unable To Go Back To Sleep?
- Do you usually jump to the worst-case scenario in any given situation?
- Do you feel like you’re constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop?
- Do you frequently check news headlines and feel your anxiety levels rise as you do so?
- Do you often refuse invitations because you get anxious just thinking about going?
Human beings have the capacity to make plans for the future, which is obviously a good thing. This ability to plan ahead can have a side effect, though: anxiety. If you’re looking ahead to what you’re going to do in the future, you have hopes for how it will turn out. What happens if it doesn’t go the way you hoped?
Is Anxiety Ever A Good Thing?
A moderate level of anxiety isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For instance, it can prompt you to make contingency plans in case things don’t go the way you’d envisioned. Studies have shown that a low level of anxiety can be helpful when performing in front of an audience.
When anxiety increases beyond a certain point, though, it becomes problematic. If you are afraid to do something unless you’ve planned for any possible situation, there’s a good chance you won’t do it at all. If your anxiety increases beyond a certain point, it will start to negatively affect your performance.
The good news is that therapy can give you tools to handle anxiety symptoms in the moment and to change the thoughts that trigger them.
Many People Experience Problematic Levels of Anxiety
Per the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 19.1% of US adults (more than 40 million) have an anxiety disorder[1]; these disorders are the most common mental health issue in the US. Everyone feels anxious sometimes, but anxiety disorders go beyond that; they interfere significantly with a person’s everyday life. The most common anxiety disorders in the US are generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and phobias.
Where Does All Of This Anxiety Come From?
Our society is tailor-made for anxiety. We have 24/7 access to news from around the world, and news agencies are much more likely to report on negative events than positive ones. We are bombarded by images in the media that suggest we have to meet impossible ideals physically and in our lifestyles. It’s hard to resist doom-scrolling, and once you start, it’s even harder to stop. There’s always another article to tell you that if you don’t do x, y, or z, bad things will happen. Anxiety feeds on itself and makes it hard to escape that thinking loop.
It can be hard to tell other people that you’re feeling anxious—even considering talking about it can be a source of anxiety. And you’ve probably had well-meaning people tell you “Just don’t worry about it!” to which you might respond “How can I just stop worrying? You make it sound so easy, and it’s not!”
While it doesn’t help when people tell you to just stop worrying, there is hope. Anxiety is highly treatable with the help of a compassionate, experienced therapist.
[1] https://www.nami.org/types-of-conditions/anxiety-disorders/
Effective Anxiety Therapy Addresses Both The Symptoms And The Roots Of Anxiety
Therapy is extremely effective in helping clients with anxiety. CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) is one of the anxiety disorder treatments that can help you to challenge your negative beliefs, and just as anxious thoughts can be self-perpetuating, so, too, can calm thoughts (with enough practice). EMDR, IFS, Brainspotting, and sandtray therapy go beyond the surface level of anxiety and pull it out by the roots.
When we work together, I’ll encourage you to log your anxious thoughts, making note of the settings and circumstances in which they tend to come up. Over time, you’ll start to recognize patterns to your anxiety. When you are more aware of those patterns, you’ll recognize your anxious thoughts more quickly and easily and will be better able to respond to them effectively as they arise.
I will also give you techniques and strategies to use to stop anxiety spirals. Among other things, I’ll offer you coaching on how to use mindfulness to let go of anxious thoughts. I’ll demonstrate ways that breathing and grounding exercises can release anxiety. I might even share some unusual tips. For instance, did you know that Warheads candies can interrupt panic attacks?
These are some of the ways that you can deal with the symptoms of anxiety. We don’t have to stop there, though! I’ll also help you to discover the origins of your anxious beliefs so you can, as I often say, “reset your brain to factory specifications.” Ultimately, we’ll work together to process the experiences, traumas, etc. at the root of your anxiety so that you can lessen the frequency of anxious thoughts and quickly let go of them when they happen.