BEING AND BECOMING COUNSELLING AND WELLNESS SERVICES

Anxiety Therapy

Therapy that equips you with strategies to manage anxiety effectively, allowing you to regain the freedom to start living again.

Anxiety Therapy can help you:

LIVE A FULL LIFE

FEEL MORE AT EASE

INCREASE YOUR CONFIDENCE

Are you tired of anxiety dictating what you can and can’t do?

We all experience anxiety, but for some it can become overwhelming. You might feel consumed by worry, constantly thinking about what could go wrong. Or maybe you experience anxiety as distressing physical sensations like difficulty breathing, muscle pain, headaches or digestive issues. These experiences may make you want to avoid the things that cause you anxiety, but as you do, your life gets smaller.

We are here to help.

What is Anxiety?

“Anxiety is a mental and physical reaction to perceived threats. In small doses, anxiety is helpful. It protects us from danger, and focuses our attention on problems. But when anxiety is too severe, or occurs too frequently, it can become debilitating” (Therapist Aid LLC, 2017).

Components of Anxiety

  • Anxiety may cause any of the following physiological responses:

    • Increased blood pressure

    • Rapid heart rate

    • Fast or shallow breathing

    • Digestive issues

    • Dizziness

    • Sweating

    • Restlessness

    • Shaking

    • Chest pain

  • Anxiety may impact your thinking. These are some common thinking patterns associated with anxiety:

    • Worry

    • Catastrophic thinking (i.e., imagining the worst case scenario)

    • “What If” thinking (i.e., imagining all the possible things that could go wrong)

    • Rumination or post-event processing (e.g., replaying an event over in your head and scrutinizing what you said or did)

  • Anxiety is often accompanied by the following emotions:

    • Dread

    • Fear

    • Panic

    • Nervouness

    • Irritability

  • People often engage in behaviours aimed at helping them manage their anxiety:

    • Avoidance of things that cause anxiety

    • Turning to strategies to cope with or distract from the experience of anxiety (e.g., turning to food, alcohol, or drugs; checking with the use of TV, social media or internet)

    • Always keeping busy to avoid having to feel or think about things that make you anxious

    • Difficulty making decisions

    • Over-planning or preparing for situations

    • Planing for all possible scenarios

    • Trying to control your environment or those around you to manage your anxiety.

Find peace and regain the fullness of your life.

Anxiety Therapy May Help When:

  • You are experiencing excessive worry

  • Anxiety causes you significant distress

  • You feel unable to relax

  • Anxiety causes chronic muscle tension or digestive issues

  • Anxiety disturbs your sleep

  • Anxiety is impairing your ability to function (e.g., you have difficulty focusing or doing your job, school work, or tasks required in daily life)

  • Anxiety is negatively impacting your relationships (e.g., anxiety cause you to withdraw or become irritable and lash out; you avoid social situations; you try to control other people’s behaviours in an effort to manage your own anxiety)

  • Your life is getting smaller and more limited as a result of your anxiety. You regularly avoid people, places, situations or activities that make you anxious.

ANXIETY THERAPY IN BURNABY

What is Anxiety Therapy and How Does it Work?

We all experience anxiety. For some, anxiety can become a constant and overwhelming part of their everyday life. Whether you experience anxiety as incessant worries or as distressing and uncomfortable physical symptoms, the weight of anxiety can feel consuming and crippling. It can limit your ability to think clearly, to feel in control and your ability to do things you want to be able to do.

Anxiety therapy offers a compassionate space where you can begin to understand your anxiety and learn strategies that allow you to effectively work with anxious thoughts and the physical symptoms of anxiety. These tools will allow you to gain confidence in your ability to manage anxiety so that you can begin to take back control of your life.

You deserve to feel at ease and live a full, vibrant life.

We are here to help you.

“Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength — carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

— Corrie ten Boom

Anxiety Therapy

Counselling for anxiety will differ depending on the type of anxiety you are experiencing and the way anxiety shows up for you. At the outset of counselling your therapist will help you determine the type of anxiety you are experiencing and any factors that may have contributed to its development or maintenance.

With your input, your therapist will then make a personalized plan to treat your anxiety. The approach taken with each individual will vary, but anxiety therapy often involves:

  • Providing education about anxiety and the nervous system

  • Helping you understand any factors that are helping maintain your anxiety

  • Teaching you strategies to help you manage the physical symptoms of anxiety

  • Teaching you skills and practices to help counteract or manage anxious thoughts

  • Helping you learn to shift your relationship to anxiety

  • Gradually increasing your capacity to tolerate anxiety or distress

  • Gradually decreasing avoidance of things that cause you anxiety (this helps to reduce anxiety over time and help you get your life back)

  • Processing events that may have contributed to the development of anxiety or that exacerbated your symptoms

What you can expect to get out of Anxiety Therapy

Each person’s journey to overcoming anxiety will be different, but in time you may notice that you:

  • Feel better able to respond to, cope with, and manage anxiety when it arises

  • Experience anxiety less intensely and less often

  • Experience fewer physical symptoms of anxiety

  • Are able to notice and effectively deal with anxious thoughts before they overwhelm you

  • Are able to help your body settle and calm down when your nervous system gets activated

  • Are more confident in your ability to deal with everyday stressors

  • Feel more calm and relaxed in your daily life

  • Feel more confident and comfortable in social situations

  • Have greater understanding of your anxiety and compassion for yourself

  • Are less limited by anxiety; you’re not letting it dictate what you do and don’t do.

Therapists Offering Anxiety Therapy

  • Dr. Jan Klimas

    RCC & Applicant for Registration as a Psychologist

    Read Bio

  • Semhar Ghedela

    Canadian Certified Counsellor & Canadian Certified Supervisor

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  • Amina Virgolici

    Registered Clinical Counsellor

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  • Dr. Margaret Brennan

    Registered Psychologist

    Read Bio

Types of Anxiety

There are several different types of anxiety. It can be helpful to view them on a continuum, ranging from mild and manageable forms of anxiety to disorders that significantly impact your quality of life or impair your ability to function.

  • Individuals with generalized anxiety worry constantly about a number of events or activities (e.g., work or school performance, money, health or family).

    Some individuals who experience generalized anxiety may meet diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder.

  • Individuals with social anxiety experience anxiety about social situations where they fear being scrutinized or judged by others. Common situations associated with social anxiety include meeting new people, having a conversation, being in group settings, eating or drinking in public, or public speaking.

    Some individuals who experience social anxiety may qualify for social anxiety disorder.

  • Individuals with health anxiety experience persistent anxiety about their health and/or symptoms.

    Health anxiety may be a symptom of a disorder, such as illness anxiety disorder or somatic symptom disorder.

  • Specific phobias are a type of anxiety disorder. Individuals with phobias experience significant anxiety or fear about a specific object or situation (e.g., driving, flying, heights, the sight of blood). The anxiety felt is out of proportion with the actual danger posed by the object or situation. Individuals with phobias typically avoid the feared object or situation or will endure it with intense fear.

  • “A panic attack is an abrupt surge of intense fear or intense discomfort that reaches its peak within minutes (American Psychiatric Association). During a panic attack an individual will experience 4 or more of the following symptoms:

    • Increased heart rate, heart palpitations or a pounding heart

    • Sweating

    • Trembling or shaking

    • Feeling short of breath or like you can’t breathe

    • Feelings of choking

    • Chest pain

    • Nausea or abdominal distress

    • Feeling dizzy, light-headed or faint

    • Experiencing chills or hot flashes

    • Numbness or tingling sensations

    • Feeling detached from oneself or reality

    • Fear of losing control or “going crazy”

    • Fear of dying

    Many individuals who experience panic attacks may go on to develop panic disorder. Panic disorder is characterized by recurring panic attacks AND significant fear of having another panic attack or a significant change in behaviour in an attempt to avoid having another panic attack.

  • Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by marked fear or anxiety about 2 or more of the following situations:

    • Using public transportation

    • Being in open spaces (e.g., parking lots, marketplaces, bridges)

    • Being in enclosed spaces (e.g., shops, theatres)

    • Standing in line or being in a crowd

    • Being outside of the home alone

    Individuals with agoraphobia avoid the feared situations because they fear being unable to escape or fear that help will not be available if they experience a panic attack or another incapacitating or embarrassing situation (e.g., incontinence, fear of falling in the elderly)