Therapy for Anxiety

Anxiety is not meant to be felt every day. It can cause chronic health problems to worsen like high blood pressure, gastrointestinal complications, and migraines. It can limit our potential success at work, cause friction in our relationships, and deter us from engaging in the world. If this way of living life is an exhausting, frustrating, and isolating way to live, there are treatment options that our team can explore with you.

The over-triggering of the anxiety response is thought to be caused by an increase in sensitivity in the amygdala and hippocampus, which are two parts of the brain that are responsible for storing memories, emotions, and deploying the fight/flight/freeze response. This sensitivity makes it hard for the brain to distinguish between threatening and neutral situations. The never ending loop of anxiety takes a heavy toll on the body and the mind.

When the tolerance to handle anxiety disappears we try to cope. Avoidance, addiction, and alternative thinking are a few ways people cope. The issue with these self-made coping strategies is that they work. This reinforces them in our mind as effective without appreciation for the impact in the long-term. Avoidance of anything that causes anxiety impacts our relationships, confidence, and actually increases our fear of our environment. Addictions are a numbing strategy. Alternative thinking is our mind’s attempt to change the thoughts we have about ourselves to fit the anxiety narrative rather than challenge them. This can lead to distorted thoughts and unhealthy beliefs about who we are.