Key Takeaways
Sometimes the busyness, fatigue, isolation, and other pressures in life can be incredibly difficult to navigate at even the best of times. For many people, though, inadequate coping skills and negative thought patterns compound their mind and worrying becomes excessive and unhealthy. Their minds and bodies are communicating that all is not well. Fortunately, through anxiety counselling, one can uncover and address the underlying causes of anxiety and learn to better cope.
What is Anxiety counselling?
Anxiety occurs when the body’s alarm bells are overactive, leading to excessive, persistent worrying or fear that goes beyond what is reasonable in the situation. The anxiety might be surrounding specific situations or might be more generalized. The body reacts physically to this perceived threat in different ways, including heart racing, shortness of breath, ringing ears, sweating, shakiness, numbness or tingling sensations, muscle tension, nausea, abdominal discomfort, jumpiness, and other symptoms. The physical symptoms of anxiety can also have longer-lasting effects, such as insomnia, hypertension, migraines, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and other conditions.
Being in an overstimulated state interferes with daily functioning, leading to avoidance behaviour. Because experiencing anxiety is so distressing, it makes initial sense to want to avoid situations that trigger it. Common avoidance behaviours include staying away from social situations, specific places, specific tasks (public speaking, etc.), emotional expression and intimacy, confrontation, new experiences, self-care, and asking for help. Unfortunately, avoiding potential triggers can reinforce the idea that the situation actually is a threat, leading to a state of hypervigilance. As more potential threats are identified and avoided, your world may become increasingly small with limited social interactions and pursued interests.
Anxiety counselling, also known as anxiety therapy, is a combination of other forms of psychotherapy that is specifically modified to address anxiety. The goal of therapy is to challenge negative thoughts and behavioural patterns, increase tolerance of stressful situations, and teach useful coping skills to manage and overcome anxiety.
How do Therapists Treat Anxiety?
Treatment for anxiety addresses the three hallmarks of anxiety: excessive fear and worry, physical arousal, and avoidance behaviours. The process of treatment varies, but it generally involves building the client’s tolerance for situations that would typically trigger them, teaching coping techniques for when they feel a wave of anxiety coming on and challenging the thoughts that lead to anxiety to begin with. Therapists also help clients build their confidence and interpersonal skills so that they can successfully navigate as they open up their worlds more.When therapists look into anxiety treatment, they typically use common psychotherapy models and modify them for their clients with anxiety.
Commonly used models include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), and psychodynamic therapy. Along with these, treatment often involves the use of relaxation and grounding techniques, mindfulness, journalling, psychoeducation, and self-care strategies. Clients are given homework as they gradually build skills. After all, having only a theoretical knowledge of anxiety isn’t helpful. Like building any muscle, practice is necessary to gain and maintain the skills.
Does Therapy Help in Ways That Medication Does Not?
Seeking psychotherapy is an important aspect of the treatment plan for anxiety. In fact, it is typically considered the best first treatment option. For starters, anxiety is the body’s response to perceived danger. This is a healthy response when there is actual danger. In the case of anxiety, the body’s nervous system is hyperactive and responding when there’s no real threat.
The mere presence of a therapist who is knowledgeable about and empathetic to the experience of anxiety can feel incredibly validating. It is invaluable to feel seen and know that what you’re experiencing is being taken seriously. Having a therapist also helps the body’s nervous system calm down since it doesn’t have to be so hypervigilant, considering it’s in a safe space with the therapist.
Anxiety therapy is also vital in the treatment process because it doesn’t just tackle the physical symptoms. Clients gain insight into what is causing the anxiety and learn useful coping strategies to manage it. The effectiveness of the skills, when actively practiced, lasts even after the client ends therapy, unlike medication which loses effectiveness when the client stops taking it.
This is not to say that medication doesn’t have an important function in treating anxiety. For some clients, the physical symptoms of anxiety are so intense that it makes it difficult to cope. Even when they are in therapy, they may struggle to concentrate in sessions because their symptoms are just so overwhelming. They may also struggle to overcome these symptoms enough to access the cognitive resources needed for reflection and building skills. The important takeaway is that it is not one or the other. It’s medication (when necessary) and therapy.
What is the Best Therapy for Anxiety and Depression?
It is common for an individual to experience both anxiety and depression at the same time. In fact, some symptoms are often present in both conditions (sleep and appetite changes, social withdrawal, negative self-talk, etc.). This can be due to various factors, including genetics, imbalances in brain chemistry, environmental triggers, underlying thought and behavioural patterns. For that reason, a lot of the therapy models that treat anxiety can also be used for depression.
Since everyone is unique, there is no definitive best therapy for anxiety and depression. The ways that anxiety manifests will look different from person to person, whether that’s the triggers or associated symptoms. The causes for the anxiety may also differ, whether it’s due to relational stressors, traumatic events, brain chemistry imbalances, or other reasons.
This means that the same therapist will even have to tweak their techniques to suit the needs of the individual. That said, we can further elaborate on the common therapeutic models used in anxiety therapy.
When is it Best to Seek Therapy for Anxiety?
The best time to seek treatment is when you notice that it is impacting your ability to cope in a healthy manner in your day-to-day life. Early intervention is important to prevent more lasting effects of anxiety (hypertension, chronic inflammation, chronic fatigue, etc.). Treatment is also more effective when anxiety is treated in earlier stages.
That is not to say that there’s no hope once anxiety has become chronic. It just means it needs a longer treatment period with dedication from the client. Some of the effects may not be undone, but there is still hope that some symptoms can be relieved or significantly reduced and a better quality of life can be obtained.
How Long Will It Take to See Any Effect of Therapy?
Anxiety therapy tends to last several months. It partly depends on the severity of the condition and the client’s receptiveness and commitment. It is also important to note that treatment isn’t linear. There may be times when one feels like they’re regressing, but that can be a sign that progress is actually being made. It might be a case of two steps forward, one step back.
For example, some symptoms might diminish more rapidly while others initially increase (i.e. in the case of exposure therapy), remain constant, or decrease only minimally. Sometimes the anxiety symptoms may intensify right before a breakthrough. Life changes can also lead to a regression in symptoms.
How Will I Know that Therapy is Working?
Relief from anxiety doesn’t happen overnight. Negative thought patterns and behaviours take a while to develop and are so deeply ingrained, so undoing them will also take time. Regressions and relapses are also to be expected during treatment. Your therapist will work closely with you and administer psychological assessments along the way to evaluate your progress and provide a path forward. So it’s important to feel that you are emotionally safe with your therapist and can be transparent.
Key ways you can evaluate for yourself that therapy is working is when you feel freer to engage in more activities that you previously would have avoided. Keep notes on your symptoms so that you can chart how often you’re experiencing them and which ones. Additionally, you can take the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale to keep track of your progress.
Conclusion
Anxiety is a distressing condition that can rob your ability to fully embrace the vast experiences that life has to offer. Anxiety doesn’t have to be inevitable. At Positive Mind Wellness, we have qualified therapists who offer anxiety counselling to help you gain a better quality of life. Our services are also geared toward adults as well as children and adolescents. Book an appointment today to begin your complimentary discovery session and get on the path to healing.