Anxiety & Social Anxiety Therapy

Anxiety

Is anxiety taking over your life? Does it feel like you can’t control it no matter how hard you try? Have you already tried therapy but found it ineffective? If this sounds like you, I’m confident I can help. My practice offers the most effective forms of treatment, to get the relief from anxiety that you deserve. When it comes to treating anxiety disorders, research shows that therapy is usually the most effective option. That’s because anxiety therapy - as opposed to anxiety medication - treats more than just symptoms to the problem. Often, these are the symptoms of anxiety:

• Nervousness, restlessness or being tense
• Feelings of danger, panic or dread
• Rapid breathing or hyperventilation
• Increased or heavy sweating
• Trembling or muscle twitching
• Weakness or lethargy
• Difficulty focusing or thinking clearly about anything other than the thing you’re worried about
• Insomnia
• Obsessions about certain ideas, a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Anxiety surrounding a particular life event or experience that has occurred in the past, a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder

Therapy can help to uncover the underlying causes of your worries and fears, learn how to relax, look at situations in a new, less frightening way, and develop better coping mechanisms and problem-solving skills.  

Social Anxiety

Do you experience intense anxiety or nervousness when faced with social situations? Do you fear being judged or criticized by others? Are you always worried about making mistakes, looking bad or being embarrassed in front of others? If you answered yes to any of the above, you may have social anxiety disorder. While it is normal to feel nervous in some social situations, people who experience daily social anxiety tend to avoid everyday interactions that cause them significant fear, anxiety, self-consciousness, and embarrassment because they fear being scrutinized or judged by others. People with Social Anxiety Disorder often experience significant distress in the following situations:

• Being teased or criticized
• Being the center of attention
• Being watched or observed while completing a task
• Having to say something in a formal, public setting
• Meeting people in authority, such as important people or authority figures
• Feeling insecure and out of place in social situations
• Embarrassing easily
• Meeting other people’s eyes

Social anxiety disorder is a chronic mental health condition. Learning coping skills in therapy sessions can help you gain the confidence you need to improve your ability to interact with others. If you feel you may have anxiety or social anxiety disorder, I encourage you to contact me today.