Anxiety

Effective, Compassionate Help for Anxiety

When You Are Serious About Getting Better

When Your Mind Just Will Not Stop!

You cannot stop yourself from overthinking, worrying, assuming the worst.

Do you get terribly anxious most of the time? Is it difficult to relax and just enjoy life?

Is stress getting to you?

Do you have an overwhelming fear of people, of being rejected, of losing control, of life?

Is social anxiety killing your social life?

Are you afraid of being judged, of failing, letting down others?

Feeling nervous, distressed, tense all the time?

Are you having Panic Attacks? Those can be very scary, and then we can develop a fear of the attacks in addition to what we were worried about in the first place that led to the attack.

Are you having health issues as a result of your stress? Heavy Heart rate, rapid breathing, upset stomach and GI issues?

Cannot sleep?

Trouble concentrating? Do you feel like your memory is not working well and you can’t pay attention well?

Tired all of the time?

Feeling spiritually lost? Having an existential crises, wondering what life is all about?

Regardless of other issues you might need help with that brought you to this page, I bet anxiety is also lurking, if not overtaking you. People may come to me for various specific problems - Relationship issues, personal failings, or traumas from others - but anxiety and depression are often there also.

You Are Not Alone in Being Anxious

Anxiety, and depression are referred to as the common cold of mental health. You do not have to be “mentally ill” to have a problem with anxiety. In fact many people are just born with their brains working overtime. You might be hard wired to be more anxious. It is not just a simple problem with you being too weak or mentally broken in any way.

I personally do not usually refer to anyone who is significantly anxious as mentally ill. Almost all of us will go through a time in our life when we get anxious, and many will feel this way for an extended period of time.  I have had times with significantly anxiety in my life, and battled less severe, yet still intense anxious moments.

You Need Support, Validation of Your Feelings, Effective Strategies, and Hope.

The most healing event can occur by being heard and accepted, even with your feelings of weakness, being overrun, and all. There should be no shame in facing the dark parts inside of you, and it is best to do so with a full doctoral level psychologist who is professionally trained. I have over 25 years experience helping people cope with the most dire situations. I will work hard to understand your unique views on your life’s circumstances, relationships, and your self-esteem.

My clients feel that I genuinely care and that I am going through the struggle with them. But after I listen to them and take the time to fully understand them, I must then begin to give them specific strategies, which then bring hope. We first have to look to see if I can help them change their circumstance to get what they are needing. However, sometimes, things are beyond out control. I will try to help them see that regardless of how hard their circumstance is, they can learn to be content and find peace in their storm.

I like to see therapy as the client and I working as co-detectives to uncover the hidden thoughts in our minds that are secretly controlling our problem behaviors. I am not the expert on you. Only you know you. Although each of us can not always see the forest for the trees. That is where I come in.

I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) while doing therapy to help my clients understand themselves better. It is the most commonly used, most researched, and most beneficial form of therapy out there. I have been learning about it since I was 15 years old, studying relationships. It is a clear, simple way of seeing our problems, and the solutions we need.

We should not think of ourselves as worthless or hopeless.. My job is to help you learn to be content, but in a deeper, longer-term way. I am not here to judge or scold. I am here to help you see what is working in your life and what is not, and to help figure out how to get you to that place of happiness, for both you and your partner.

So, How Can I Help?

There are many good therapist out there. First of all, just go get help. We all need someone to talk to at times.

However, some therapists will just listen and that is all. Others will jump straight to telling what you should do too quickly.

You need someone who can listen to you and really hear you, but then give you advise and education when needed. I will be direct and tell you if I think what you are doing or how you are seeing your situation is not the best way to handle your situation. But know that I will do this as nice and lovingly as possible!

You need someone who will not jump to conclusions and judge you. You need someone to genuinely care and walk with you through your pain.

However, you need more than just that. You need someone who can give you a framework for organizing your life, your thoughts, your emotions.

You need someone you can relate to, and a tried and true system - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - to teach you how to become aware of the deep and contradictory thoughts that are in your mind that can lead you to such negative emotions and self-defeating behavior.

What Makes Me Qualified to Help with Anxiety?

Earlier in my career, for over 20 years, I worked in health care settings, working with high functioning people who were dealing with severe stress and a complete loss of independence. Needless to say, these people suffered with strong levels of depression and anxiety. I learned a great many strategies to help them fight their depression and anxiety. While I am not working with that population anymore, I still use those same strategies to help others. 

These strategies include not just CBT, but practical applications which will ultimately help you to accept and make the most out of whatever situation you find yourself in. To not just cope with your anxiety but to thrive in your life and, *gasp*, actually enjoy it!

 

Concrete, Simple Strategies to Beat Anxiety

I try to help my clients as quickly as possible. I could make more money if I slowed down the process and took as long as most therapists do, but I cannot help it. I want to help you as quickly as possible. To do otherwise is to make you suffer more than is necessary, which seems immoral to me.

Thus, I tend to use a psychoeducational approach to teach my clients how to move forward with their life with more confidence.

Teaching about the nervous system’s fight or flight response is a critical first step. Well, second step. I first have to listen to your unique story and get to know you as a person and start to build this genuine real relationship. Every one is special and unique. Then, I will teach the fight or flight system and what your body is naturally trying to do when you start up with your “Oh no! thoughts,” as I like to call them. You body’s autopilot actually works against you in helping you cope with your problems. We have to learn how to take manual control away from your instincts.

The second, but more involved, strategy involves learning that you can choose how you think in certain situations. Everybody’s thoughts will be unique, given their situation, but there are certain thoughts, and styles of thinking, that most people tend to use that get them into trouble.

Sometimes I have to work with my client to identify the specific little thought that is irrational, or overly dramatic, or unhelpful and then how to get rid of it. There may also be other thoughts that the client may not be taking into account that we need to introduce in your mind, that will help get you to a better place.

Maybe You Want to Be Anxiety?

The challenge is that in many cases, part of us likes being anxious. What? That sounds wrong doesn't it? Who wants to be anxious? Of course, most of us hates feeling this way and definitely do not want to feel anxious. However, there may be a part of us, those deeper thoughts, that wants to be anxious for a certain purpose. Therapy can help you figure out what's your brain is trying to accomplish by staying anxious. The most common, though basic, reason is you want to stay anxious so that you will stay safe. If you let go of anxiety and enjoy life, it is like lowering down your guard, which could lead you vulnerable to attack.

There is a happy medium and a solution to this conundrum. I can help you can learn to be safe and so lower your guard and enjoy life and enjoy the people around you, and yet still feel safe and secure.

Many people are just born anxious. Their brains just work faster than others and they can't get them to slow down or turn off. That is not your fault. However, what you do with this energy it is something that you can learn to control. The specific content of your thoughts that lead you to worry can be managed, quite effectively actually. Even in very tough situations, I can help you to gain control. It is not just a medical issue that has to be treated with medicine only. Medicines might sometimes be useful, but for any type of anxiety or depression, you have to address the specific thoughts and how you deal with those things. There is not an easy fix here, but there can be a substantial permanent fix.

Regardless of how biological your anxiety starts off as, for most, the condition has been learned. This is not to say that you're to be blamed for your anxiety, but going through tough situations, rough childhood, trauma, heck, high school and early breakups alone, can be very difficult situations that will teach us to be anxious. This is all good news though, as it means that you have hope, since you can re-learn and have potential to overcome, stronger and happier.

Tell Me Your Story. I Will Listen and Care

Let's Go On a Journey Together to Help Get a Grip on Your Life,

And To Learn How to Use Your Faith to Find True Contentment...

To Find Peace in Your Storm.

Tell Me Your Story. I Will Listen and Care

Let's Go On a Journey Together to Help Get a Grip on Your Life,

And To Learn How to Use Your Faith to Find True Contentment...

To Find Peace in Your Storm.