Anxiety

"You have nothing to fear, but fear itself"  Winston Churchill

How I could help you with your anxiety

In working with you I would explore with you what makes you anxious through interviewing and screening tools.  We would look at triggers, rating your level of anxiety in different situations and the many ways that are available to you to cope. We would look at the connections between thoughts, feelings and actions, and work to decrease exaggerated thoughts.  I would help you to develop your courage:  which is your ability feel the fear and do it anyway.  You would learn life long skills that could decrease your need for medication and help you to be fully engaged in your life.

About Anxiety

Anxiety is a mental health problem  that is very common challenge for Canadians.  Approximately 1 in 10  Canadians will experience a clinically diagnosable anxiety at some time in their lives.  There are six kinds of anxiety: generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive, panic,  phobia, social phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

A certain amount of physical and mental arousal is useful in facing challenges, but when anxiety is so great that it prevents a person from engaging fully in life then intervention is needed.

Any mental disorder needs to be diagnosed by a psychiatrist or doctor.  If you think you or someone you know may be suffering from anxiety, as a screening tool only, you can go to the section on anxiety under Links.   If the self-test indicates a possible problem, you would still need to see your family doctor to confirm or disconfirm a diagnosis of anxiety.

What works for treating Anxiety

A doctor or psychiatrist can prescribe medications that assist to decrease the symptoms of anxiety.  The most effective interventions include counselling and medications.  Counselling usually includes looking at the thoughts, feelings and behaviours related to what triggers the anxiety.  Then ways to take charge of those such as thought stopping, challenging dysfunctional beliefs, deep breathing, visualization and so on are explored and practiced.  It is usually important at some point to successfully face the fears with the support of your counsellor since one of the things that maintains anxiety is avoidance of what causes it.