Is Anxiety Impacting Your Life?
Most of us have experienced anxiety at different times in our lives. For instance, just before a job interview or speaking in public. Having some anxiety during those times is common and even normal.
However, if you are living with anxiety that you believe is beyond what most people experience, maybe it’s time to consider anxiety treatment.
Do you struggle with anxiety daily?
Do you avoid certain things because they cause you excessive worry, which then grows into excessive fear and dread?
Anxiety can be overwhelming. Your mind can ruminate, thinking about certain things over and over, like maybe embarrassing yourself or becoming so anxious you make a scene.
Because of anxiety, you may have become so focused on avoiding anxious feelings, you could be missing out on social events or meeting friends and family. These are things that make life worthwhile. Thus, you may feel isolated and alone because of anxiety.
Questions You Can Ask Yourself to Decide if You Should Seek Anxiety Treatment:
Are you exhausted and drained, yet you still can’t sleep at night because of the constant worry and fear about every aspect of your life?
Do you believe that you are more stressed out, worried or nervous than most people you know?
Are you constantly thinking about your interactions with others and ruminating over what you should have or could have said or done differently? Do you worry about what they think of you?
Are you going out of your way to avoid situations that cause anxious feelings?
Has your life become rigid and small because you avoid engagements to avoid anxiety?
Perhaps you had a panic attack and you worry that it could happen again.
Are you so fatigued you just can’t manage relationships?
Perhaps you’re not able to feel present in your life, in this moment, with the people and things that are important to you because your mind is continually racing about so many other things.
Most People Struggle with Anxiety at Different Times in Their Lives
Anxiety disorders are fairly common in adults and children. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 25% of adolescents, between the ages of 13 to 18, experience anxiety and among adults 18% will experience anxiety. In fact, anxiety is the number one reason people seek counseling.
Research suggests that although there are many types of anxiety disorders, most are driven by similar underlying processes. The majority of people who suffer from anxiety are able to reduce or eliminate symptoms and many patients notice improvement after just a few sessions.
When Should You Seek Treatment for Anxiety?
When anxiety interferes with daily life.
You dread nonthreatening day-to-day activities, like riding the bus, talking to a coworker, going to meetings or speaking with a group of people.
When anxiety impacts job performance, school work, relationships and severely limits your life, it is time to seek therapy.
Left untreated, anxiety can become worse.
The good news is that you don’t have to live with anxiety. Anxiety is highly treatable with excellent results.
But I feel anxious just thinking about anxiety counseling...
Of course you do! Just thinking about talking to a stranger about a personal issue like anxiety can be overwhelming. So how do you get past it? I invite you to set up a free 30 minute phone consult. We can talk, you can get to know me, ask questions and then decide if you would like to set up an appointment. I would be delighted to talk with you and discover who you are and what you would like to do with your life once we move past this anxiety thing.
What Would Anxiety Therapy Be Like?
The first session of anxiety therapy begins with a 2 hour RRT session. Many times there are underlying causes for anxiety. Things that have happened in the past. Things that are held at an implicit level that you are not cognitively aware of, that continue to cause feelings and thoughts that are not to your advantage.
RRT uses the brain’s own natural processes (Memory Reconsolidation) to heal trauma and clear the mind of those things that may be causing anxiety. As a Certified Rapid Resolution Therapist, I will lead you through the process.
The second session you learn about anxiety, body sensations, fight or flight responses- why they are triggered (in this exercise besides learning a lot, you will laugh- and you will also feel great power over anxiety- and relief).
In the third session there is a homework assignment- a game that you play, as you go through your day, accumulating points. The game helps you see anxiety in a different way.
That’s three sessions and that may be all you need. We check in to see where you are and how you are doing at this point and what else we need to do from there….If there is anything else that needs to be done.
I understand that anxiety is unique to each person and the experiences they have had in their lives. Thus the reason why some people need more sessions and some people need less. Either way, we work through it. I am with you every step of the way.
I am too Busy to Spend Time in Anxiety Counseling...
Anxiety actually takes up a lot of your time and energy. Rapid Resolution Therapy/Memory Reconsolidation is the approach I use for anxiety. It is considered brief therapy- 2 to 6 sessions. Investing in yourself for anxiety therapy may be the greatest step you have taken for a healthier longer life. Think how phenomenal your life could be if you didn’t have to worry about anxiety and could spend that energy elsewhere on the people and things you love. Wouldn’t it be great to move past anxiety?
If you experience anxiety you may recognize that your fears and thoughts are unreasonable. However you are unable to eliminate them.
How Can Anxiety Counseling Help with Friendships and Romantic Relationships?
It takes a lot of energy to have anxiety. Constant worry and stress over little things, as well as, big things leaves you drained. It’s like a computer program running in the background, draining energy. Think how phenomenal your life could be if you could focus that energy other things that are important to you: Like learning communication skills and being able to express your needs in relationships with your partner, friends and family. You would have the energy to be excited to do the things you may have avoided in the past: dance lessons, kick-boxing, career and all that things that make life more enjoyable.Will I Think it was Worth it to go to Anxiety Treatment?"
It will be like taking your life back. You will no longer debate and question whether you should attend events because you no longer worry about anxiety becoming intense. You won’t have to go to counseling once a week for months on end. RRT is brief therapy 2 to 6 sessions. You won’t have to learn coping skills that you have to practice to become proficient. RRT engages your very powerful mind, which can move you past the place where you were stuck. RRT is brief but enduring therapy and it is backed by recent neuroscience.
RRT/ Memory Reconsolidation Therapy heals your unresolved emotional trauma and produces successful treatment outcomes that result in lasting recovery which will provide you with the ability to transform your life.
Anxiety Treatment can help you eliminate the fear of anxiety and gain control over anxiety.
Don’t let anxiety limit the things you do with your life.
You can move past anxiety and put it behind you.
You have a life to live.
Why not be happy?
I invite you to set up a free 30 minute phone consult.
I look forward to speaking with you soon.
“My childhood wasn’t the best. I knew it affected my self-esteem and my ability to trust people. My RRT session has helped me realize that it’s over and done and doesn’t have to effect the rest of my life. I can move on and look forward to the future.”— CL
“Cathy is a gem. A truly compassionate and grounded therapist with a big heart for her clients. She puts you at ease and points you in the direction you want to go. I felt relief and a positive shift after being with her. ”
— Celeste Labadie, LMFT
About the Author
Cathy Austin is a Nationally Certified Counselor and graduate of University of Colorado, Denver. She currently owns a private practice in Wheat Ridge, CO. Cathy is a trauma informed counselor who specializes in PTSD, Trauma, Sexual Trauma, Anxiety Treatment. She is certified in Rapid Resolution Therapy and Trauma Informed Care.
