recognizing stress & anxiety
treating anxiety can feel impossible on your own and if left untreated can negatively impact your physical health, relationships and quality of life.
if you suffer with symptoms of anxiety it is important to seek treatment for anxiety. most anxiety disorders get progressively worse if left untreated and limit your life and potential.
you could benefit from anxiety/stress counseling if you feel or experience:
nervous feelings
fear
feeling doomed
irritability
restlessness or racing thoughts
stress
lack of concentration
poor sleep
feeling negative about yourself others and/or your life
hopelessness
feeling on-edge
unrelenting tiredness and sadness.
worry
“incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.”
Anxiety treatment
The preferred treatment for anxiety includes medication, psychotherapy or both.
Medication alone with help suppress symptoms but will not cure an anxiety disorder.
The anxiety therapy of choice is cognitive-behavioral therapy.
In cognitive-behavioral treatment for anxiety, you will learn and practice the skills and strategies to help you cope with the thoughts and behaviors that perpetuate the symptoms of anxiety.
She has been educated and trained by mental health masters in the field of CBT, ACT and other evidence-based psychotherapeutic treatments for anxiety.
Laurie offers Offering in-state the option of Telehealth or Telephone consults. The comment she has heard from hundreds of clients after the treatment of anxiety is “Wow, I feel so much better now!”
signs and symptoms of anxiety typically include:
at least a six month duration of symptoms
relentless worry that is difficult or impossible to control
irrational fears and sense of dread or impending doom
please know:
you are much more than a label of anxiety
you don’t have to live this way
you are stronger than your feelings of anxiety
she has the training and experience to help you feel, do and cope better
call or email today to schedule an appointment
laurie’s top five skills to cope with anxiety
breathe and slow down: breathe deeply from the bottom of your stomach. make every movement deliberate. slow your rate of speech and gait. focus on one thing at a time.
shift your attention: divert your attention to a simple task that requires full concentration. count the number of different candy bars at the checkout line, recall the name of your pets, friends or teachers throughout your life, identify the bass line in a song on the radio.
be here now: focus on each of your major senses, one at a time. notice sights and colors.
close your eyes and focus on each sound, even ambient noise. become aware of the position of your body.
see if you can identify the feeling in your hands that lets you know you are alive.
reality check: how bad is it? how bad is it really? will you live through this, even if it is uncomfortable, undesired or unwanted? have you considered other than the worst-case scenario?
also identify the best and most likely scenarios.
know that this is only a feeling.. it is not comfortable but it will subside and eventually pass.
observe your thoughts: notice, without judging, the thoughts your mind produces when anxious.
remember these are just thoughts created by uncomfortable feelings, not factual information.
watch as your thoughts come and then recede away, like waves at the beach.
