3 Ways Therapy Can Help Anxiety
Understanding how therapy actually works and how it can help you can be a confusing process – and the portrayal on social media and television doesn’t help! It is my hope that by the end of this post you will have practical ways and a better sense of how therapy can help you relieve your symptoms of anxiety.
Relaxation skills
In the beginning of therapy, you will brainstorm with your therapist different relaxation skills to find ones you can realistically incorporate into your daily life. These skills are crucial in being proactive in managing our anxiety and telling the body it’s okay, you are safe, and you are allowed to chill out for a bit. These skills also develop confidence that you are capable of managing distressing, uncomfortable feelings and can find a sense of control. Examples of skills include walking, deep breathing, connecting with a friend, petting your cat (cough…or dog…) or meditation. The most important thing is finding a skill that works for YOU.
Here are a few resources if you’re ready to get started on your own (click on the link for more information) -
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT works to identify patterns in your thinking and possible misinterpretations in how we see the world and ourselves. You will learn how to identify any negative, unhelpful thoughts that create anxious feelings and your behavioral response connected to that thought and feeling. You will notice that it is less about events in our world that crease anxious feelings, rather our unhelpful thoughts connected to the event. It might sound a little confusing now, but I will start to make more sense with practice.
Click here to read more about CBT.
Exposure Therapy
Avoidance is the hallmark of anxiety. This totally makes sense; I mean who would CHOOSE to feel anxiety or panic? It’s uncomfortable! While it may help at the moment, it is counter-productive in relieving our uncomfortable anxious feelings in the long term. Exposing ourselves to the scary thing while incorporating learned distress tolerance skills (see #1) helps the thing become less scary and empowers us to realize we can get increase our sense of control. Heck yes!
I hope this brought you some more understanding and clarity of how anxiety therapy can help you. We’ll talk soon!
Ready to get started? I’m ready to help!
Disclaimer: the information provided in this blog post is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or a substitute for professional consultation. If you are experiencing emotional distress, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional.
