Anxiety

Importantly, anxiety is an emotion and is not a problem in and of itself.  The points below refer to anxiety when it is a problem.  That is, when you experience fear in the absence of something to be afraid of.  For example:

• Having uncontrollable worries about daily life issues represents an excess of anxiety
• An anxiety disorder can include having fears of your emotions themselves or of losing control of your emotions
• Experiencing anxiety about becoming ill that interferes with your quality of life
• A preoccupation with fears of losing a loved one, which can represent excessive anxiety
• Frequent worries of being embarrassed or humiliated, evaluated harshly, punished, abandoned, or rejected are linked to OCD and social anxiety
• Chronic feelings of inadequacy & failing, self-criticism or perfectionistic tendencies and fears of making mistakes or disappointing others can lead to intense feelings of anxiety and can also be linked to OCD and social anxiety
• Pervasive anxiety can lead to physical tension, restlessness, or difficulties relaxing and staying calm
• If you experience anxiety described above, you likely also endorse feeling overwhelmed or burnt out

•  Provide you with a compassionate therapeutic relationship so that you can explore distressing thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and relationship patterns associated with your anxiety and stress
• Help you to understand and change the emotional, behavioural, cognitive, and relationship factors that might contribute to and maintain heightened anxiety
• Collaboratively set your treatment goals with you to ensure treatment is relevant to your concerns and needs
• Help you to develop healthy coping strategies to deal with anxiety and stress
• Challenge the beliefs about yourself, other people, and the world that maintain the anxiety cycle
• Help you to build a greater sense of confidence and competency by challenging you to experience the emotions that cause discomfort
• Help you to understand and change your response to anxious thoughts, sensations, and emotional reactions, and alter behavioural patterns related to obsessions and compulsions
• Access and explore emotions and needs associated with anxiety and stress
• Provide psychoeducation to help you develop skills to feel more resilient and secure self (self-soothing skills, emotion regulation skills, distress tolerance skills and mindfulness skills)