Anxiety Counselling

Psychotherapy is one of the recognised ways to deal with the problems of anxiety and panic attacks.

So what is anxiety, and why does it feel so hard to deal with?

Symptoms of anxiety

We are all familiar with the symptoms of an anxiety attack – sweaty palms, a racing heart, the jitters, and out of control thoughts. When you feel these symptoms, it can feel impossible to calm yourself down; you can feel out of control and very much alone in what is happening for you. All our worst fears can seem to be on the verge of coming true.

A natural process gone wrong

One of the truly frustrating things about anxiety is that it is a natural biological process that is, at the right time, useful to us. These reactions, which we know as the “fight / flight / freeze response” can help us avoid dangers and escape from harmful situations. However, when these reactions get triggered at the wrong times they can make life hard for us.

To add to the problem, when we try to deal with these symptoms we are can be so stressed that we often do it in harmful ways. We can drink too much, take drugs, pay out on other people. This only makes the problem worse.

Anxiety and panic counselling

The key to treatment of anxiety and panic attacks is in two parts.

Firstly, we need to try to act straight away to reduce the symptoms to a manageable level. We can do this by using a few techniques to start to get the anxiety under control. I use a variety of techniques including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) where appropriate to thoroughly understand what is making you anxious and how it affecting you

Secondly, when we have taken the edge off the symptoms we can try to understand what triggers them, and to try to reduce the times that they occur. While this is happening, we also work to reduce the symptoms even further. I use proven techniques that have been helpful for many other people.

Making changes

Psychotherapy can offer real relief to those who suffer from anxiety and panic; I also follow through to help you understand the underlying issues as well.

If you are interested in a deeper understanding of how I work with anxiety I have written some brief blog posts on the subject.

My initial consultation is at no cost and there is no further obligation. Come in, have a chat and work out what you can do from here. I see clients in Richmond and Sunbury.