Anxiety Counseling

Anxiety can feel extremely emotionally and physically draining. Your body responds to your anxious thoughts and worries by dumping stress hormones (like adrenaline) into your bloodstream. This in turn raises your heart rate and blood pressure, makes you feel jittery and nervous, causes sweating, and a host of other physical symptoms. It’s the classic “fight or flight” reaction to danger. Stress hormones are helpful if you are trying to avoid physical danger, but when your body is responding to anxious thoughts, it feels horrible. When you are experiencing these symptoms on a daily basis you can start to feel hopeless that anything will help you feel better. Engaging in counseling can help you to start your journey out of chronic anxiety.

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You are Not Alone

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We all assume that everyone else is doing okay. We isolate ourselves with our anxiety and don’t tell others about it, thinking we are the only one. Here is a secret: most people who are struggling with mental health issues are keeping quiet about it too! You are definitely not the only one.
 

Facts:

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• Anxiety is extremely common. During the pandemic rates have increased to between 28 to 37% of the population.

• Depression and anxiety escalate during COVID (apa.org)

• 50% of the US population will have a diagnosable mental health condition over the course of their lives. I’ve actually never met a person who didn’t have something diagnosable going on at some point in their life; but we will leave the statistics to the statisticians! 

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The bottom line is you are not alone, and you are in good company! The good news is that with the help of a compassionate and knowledgeable therapist you can begin to feel better. When people participate fully and put effort into therapy, with time, emotions and stress become more manageable. They begin to feel more engaged and purposeful in their lives. 

 

You Can Take Your Life Back

 

There are multiple therapeutic strategies that can be helpful in dealing with anxiety. I meet each client “where they are” without pre-conceived ideas about what their goals should be or a pre-packaged way of addressing their concerns. When working with me you will have a sense of being deeply understood and heard. This is rare in our society and can be so healing when it is experienced. Often people mention that they have never had the opportunity to tell their whole story.  
 

In Counseling With Me You Will Have the Opportunity to:

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• Feel supported and understood,

• To develop a better understanding of the causes and genesis of your anxiety,

• Examine and replace negative thought patterns and beliefs that you may have about yourself,

• Learn to set boundaries,

• Learn that it’s okay to say “no” to things you don’t want to do,

• Learn and apply strategies to manage and reduce anxiety and regulate emotions,

• Learn to identify stressors, and

• Learn how mindfulness can help with anxiety, and

• Examine any trauma you may have experienced.

 

My approach in therapy is very creative and holistic to fit the needs of each client. I use a strength-based and solution focused approach with clients and am always looking for what is going well in a client’s life and/or finding times in their lives when they solved similar problems. I look for strengths to use as the building blocks for solutions to the problems they currently face. I frequently offer suggestions, strategies, podcast episodes, and applicable books to supplement counseling sessions.

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I have a Masters Degree in Social Work focusing on mental health. I have been helping people with anxiety and other mental health conditions for 16 years. I draw on my training, many years of clinical work, and life experience to understand the struggles that my clients go through and to provide skillful, empathetic, and effective treatment.

 

That Sounds Great but……
 

• “I should be able to handle this myself. Asking for help means that I am weak.”

  • Humans aren’t meant to handle their problems by themselves; we are social creatures. Starting therapy is not evidence of weakness. Being willing to work on yourself shows incredible strength and courage!
     

• “My anxiety isn’t that bad. Other people have it harder than me.”

  • This is not a competition. Suffering is suffering.
     

• “I can’t afford counseling” or “I don’t have the time”.

  • Can you afford not to? Participating in counseling has the potential to improve your mood and your overall feelings of well-being. When our mood is improved, we are better partners, parents, employees, students, and friends.

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How Do I Get Started?
 

I offer free 15-minute consultations so you can get a sense of how it might be to work with me. The consult also gives me an opportunity to learn more about your situation and to determine if I think I can be helpful. 

Give me a call at 607-414-0640 to set up a free consult or send me an email through the contact form

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Thank you! I look forward to meeting you!

Janice