Anxiety affects many adults in the United States. Working with a therapist for anxiety can be very helpful.
Recognizing Anxiety
The American Psychological Association defines anxiety as “an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure.” Every person will feel anxious at times, but when anxiety becomes a consistent feeling or impacts daily life – it could be time to seek the support of a therapist for anxiety. Avoiding situations, recurring intrusive thoughts, and experiencing physical symptoms of anxiety are a few of the reasons to speak to a professional about your anxiety.
Therapy for Anxiety
Anxiety is often effectively relieved by therapy. Anxiety differs from person to person, so treatment will depend on each person’s specific situation. Often, clients can see significant improvement within 8-10 sessions.
A few of the therapeutic methods our team sometimes uses with clients experiencing anxiety include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): This is one of the most common methods of therapy for anxiety. CBT has two main goals: First, understand and reframe negative thinking patterns. Second, provide coping skills for when anxiety is high.
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): This is a specific type of CBT. Typically, DBT will include skills like mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotional regulation.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): This is usually a short term treatment option that is especially helpful for anxiety stemming from trauma. EMDR works to help the brain “reprocess and restore” the memory of a trauma.
- Play Therapy: Often people tend to think of play therapy as something beneficial for children, but we see the benefits play can have for adults as well! Play incorporates toys, games, role-playing, and other elements in the sessions as a method of communication.
- Sandplay Therapy (All counselors at Garrett Counseling are trained at Level Two Sandtray for working with adults): Sandplay is a form of therapy that specifically incorporates sand and toy figures.
Schedule A Session Today
If you are experiencing anxiety that is impacting your daily life, we encourage you to seek the support of a mental health professional. Garrett Counseling serves Alabama with offices in Albertville, Huntsville, Jacksonville, and Jasper (with online options also available). If we can support you, contact us today at (256) 239-5662 to schedule an appointment.
More Information About Anxiety
The Garrett Counseling team has written several articles about anxiety. A few of these include: