You may look fine on the outside, but internally you are struggling to make it through the day. You're dealing with high amounts of stress, your worry keeps you up a night and you have difficulties saying nice things to yourself.
If you constantly overthink or overanalyze, compare yourself to others, have a fear of failure, strive for perfection, and engage in people-pleasing tendencies and negative self-talk, you may have high functioning anxiety.
Individuals with high functioning anxiety are fairly great at living with their anxiety and they appear to function reasonably well. They are successful, excel at work and life, and have a typical type A perfectionistic personality. Although individuals with high functioning anxiety may seem to be well-put together, they are often suffering internally. They may have a need for reassurance, dwell on the negative, have racing thoughts and find it difficult to say "no."
If you experience intense feelings of impending doom, fear or anxiety and this is becoming increasing impossible to control or manage, you may be experiencing another form of anxiety such as generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder.
Individuals with generalized anxiety disorder often experience excessive worry about everyday life events. They might constantly think about school, work, relationships, health or finances. Although it is typical to worry about these things, people with generalized anxiety disorder feel extremely worried or nervous with very little or no reason to feel this way, and they often experience difficulties controlling their anxiety.
Whether you appear to experience an obvious disruption or impairment in your daily living functions, or you are able to hide your intense feeling and symptoms from the outside world, you are suffering and could use some help. With anxiety treatment, you can feel better and learn to cope with your anxiety in ways that feel healthiest for you.
If you experience a few or more of the following symptoms of anxiety on a daily basis, therapy for anxiety is the right support system for you:
Constantly overthink or overanalyze
People-pleasing and difficulties saying "no"
Tendency to dwell on past mistakes
Nervous habits such as nail-biting, hair twirling or leg shaking
Excessive worry and difficulty expressing emotions
Mental fatigue
Rumination or constant thoughts of “What if…?”
Procrastination followed by intense periods of crunch-time work
Tendency to compare self to others
Need constant reassurance
Inability to relax and enjoy the moment
Always expecting the worst
Feel intimidated by, or constantly worrying, about the future
Racing thoughts or inability to turn off thoughts
Negative self-talk
Perfectionistic tendencies
Overachieve, overwork or overdo things
Desire to constantly keep busy
Excessive and intrusive worrying that makes it difficult to concentrate
Feeling easily agitated, aggravated or annoyed
Racing pulse, sweaty palms, shaky hands and dry mouth
Restlessness, feeling on-edge or an urge to move
Easily fatigued or overtired with low energy or a strong desire to sleep
Excessive irritability, frustration or anger
Muscle tension
Trouble falling or staying asleep
Panic attacks -- a sudden episode of intense fear or anxiety and physical symptoms
Avoidance of social situations
Frequently cancels plans
Extreme fear about specific things
Anxiety can have a strong impact on your ability to function and your overall mood. It can be intense, persistent or excessive, and heightened worry, stress or fear can be all-consuming and debilitating.
I specialize in counseling women, young adults and highly sensitive persons who are experiencing life challenges due to heightened anxiety.
I am an integrative therapist and I incorporate several evidence-based treatment models into the therapeutic process. Here are the most common approaches used in anxiety treatment:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Compassion-Focused Therapy
Psycho-education
Holistic Therapy
As a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, I have received specialized training in treating every person as a whole, and I help clients heal by taking the entire human being and their life experiences into consideration for assessment and treatment purposes. The goal of anxiety therapy is to help you strike a balance in taking care of yourself, so you can effectively tackle and manage your anxiety in a way that works best for you.
Academic demands - applying to college or grad school; pleasing teachers and parents; keeping up with peer achievements; overwhelming workload
High expectations - after school sports; part-time job; work pressure; community events; home expectations; maintaining social lives
Pressure to succeed - good grades; getting into a prestigious college; planning a future career; maintaining a career; financial success
Social / peer pressure - bullying; relational aggression; romantic relationships; establishing and maintaining friendships or social connections
Identity exploration - exploring gender identity or sexual orientation; lack of family or community support
Family discord - chaotic home; strained relationships; sibling rivalry; marital issues; family illness; blended families
World events - school shootings; natural disasters; acts of terrorism; global pandemics
Social media - comparison of self to others; social status; feeling the need to be available or engaged
Traumatic events - death of a family member; significant illness; accidents; emotional or physical abuse
Significant life changes - starting a new school; moving; changing jobs; marriage new parents; parental divorce; blended families
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) & Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are therapeutic approaches that are commonly used in anxiety treatment. These are evidence-based approaches that encourage you to take charge by implementing strategies and techniques that allow you to effectively manage your stress and anxiety.
These psychotherapy approaches aid you in understanding the thoughts and feelings that influence your behaviors, and how these behaviors impact your life in certain ways. You gain skills and techniques that assist you in being more in control of how you think, feel and react.
I incorporate CBT, DBT and ACT strategies into our therapy sessions to guide you in identifying and processing the connections between your emotions, thoughts and physical experiences. The goal of anxiety therapy is to help you break free from self-defeating thoughts, beliefs and behaviors, so you can learn to cope with your anxiety and manage it in ways that feel healthier for you.
Interested in Learning More About Anxiety?
Read my blog for more information about anxiety including helpful tips and coping techniques
