Anxiety can be suffocating. There can be racing thoughts, questioning of yourself, ongoing tension, worry and irritability, people pleasing, insomnia – all of these (and more) can be part of the struggle. As if all that discomfort isn’t enough, these challenges can affect the things that matter most to you. Your relationships can be impacted (with your spouse or significant other, your children, your coworkers, and maybe even your friendships and other family relationships). Your focus and concentration at work or in school may suffer. You may struggle to just enjoy your life in the ways that you want. Anxiety can make you feel like something is wrong, can cause you to cancel plans or avoid things you may have enjoyed or needed to do, and can create situations where you may navigate things in life in ways you aren’t happy with. I provide therapy for anxiety in St. Louis for adults, with a focus on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and similar methods, with integrated mindfulness skills. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy can be incredibly effective at addressing problems with anxiety.

You can read more here: https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/disorders

Anxiety therapy starts with understanding the problem. There are numerous types of anxiety, and knowing more about what you are dealing with is vital to understanding how to ensure you get the care you need.

Here are some common types of anxiety:

Social Anxiety:

Social anxiety shows up as nervousness, tension, or fear around social situations. You may worry how others will see you, have stress over what they think about you, or be concerned that they will notice how anxious you are. People with social anxiety commonly avoid social situations, and if they can’t avoid a social activity, they will often feel like they are “white-knuckling it” through the experience. It’s a recipe for stress, dissatisfaction, and for missing out on rewarding life experiences, and it can be truly frustrating and overwhelming. If any of this sounds like you, no doubt these are things you have wanted to address -- but when you’re so caught in the stress of it, it is easy to feel like there’s nothing that can change. The good news is that despite the struggle, effective therapy is available. Therapy can help you to more effectively deal with stress and anxiety, and help you to reduce those difficulties so that they are less frequent, less intense, and less impactful in your life. A range of CBT methods are known to be highly effective for social anxiety (see below for additional information).

Chronic Worry:

We all worry sometimes, but some people find themselves worrying A LOT. It may feel like you could worry over just about any topic that someone might give you; work, marriage, relationships, parenting, school, the future, the past – on and on and on. But, it’s not just the worry; the worry is just one part of the chain. The stress and worry might feel constant, or it may come after triggers or in waves. You may be physically and emotionally tense. You may notice that you are restless, often feeling on edge. You might be irritable, maybe in ways that others notice, or maybe you’re good at keeping it to yourself. However, even when you keep it to yourself, it’s hard to be truly calm or relaxed. You might find yourself avoiding responsibilities or side-stepping conflict whenever you can. You feel tired, but not at ease, and even despite the fatigue, it may feel like you can’t really get good sleep. The loss of sleep and the worry on your mind has you commonly distracted, and you find yourself losing your focus. Therapy can help you understand anxiety, and to take the stress and worry out of the driver’s seat (see below for additional information).

Panic:

Anxiety can sometimes arise suddenly and with intensity. “Panic attacks” as they are often called are characterized by anxiety that rises FAST – typically in several seconds or a few minutes. It’s common for it to seem like these have come out of nowhere, but it’s also possible you might be able to identify some triggers. When you feel panicked, you may notice your heart racing, feeling shaky, sweating, shortness of breath, upset stomach, feeling faint or lightheaded, fears of losing control, feeling hot or cold, or even feeling detached from yourself.

About one out of eight people will have a panic attack in their lifetime, so having a panic attack itself is not that unusual. However, if you find yourself struggling with panic repeatedly over time, or if you have changed your life due to fear of having another attack, therapy can help you get your life back (see below for additional information).

Other types of anxiety:

If the above descriptions don’t perfectly match with what you’re experiencing, don't worry. There are numerous kinds of anxiety (more than we could ever describe here), and some people have a mix of anxiety symptoms that don’t fall easily into one category. Life stress and other events themselves can be incredibly difficult and can contribute to ongoing challenges that are hard to solve without help. Often times people have found themselves in anxiety-driven patterns that they didn’t realize (e.g. social withdrawal, people-pleasing, procrastination, working too much, other efforts at avoidance or distraction, etc.). Therapy can help regardless of the way your anxiety shows up, and we can work together to help you start feeling better and living in a way you find more satisfying.

Topics covered elsewhere on this website: 

For more information about trauma-focused therapy, click here.

For more information about therapy for stress and burnout, click here.

What happens in therapy for anxiety?

Each case is different. However, as a general overview, we would take time to discuss and understand what is driving your anxiety, what you have tried already to cope, and what is working and not working for you in dealing with these challenges. Once you have more understanding of what is creating so much anxiety for you (awareness which can be built through mindfulness and other cognitive-behavioral skills), therapy can help identify concrete things you can do to address the anxiety that is impacting your day to day life; shifts in your habits or behavior, tools for navigating unhelpful thoughts, strategies to notice your thoughts or feelings, and skills to tolerate the stress when it does show up. Sometimes it helps to set new goals, or to shift some of your routines.  With an eye toward your long-term wellness, we may spend time as well working to understand the long-term changes that may reduce symptoms of anxiety in the future.  Throughout it all, we would use evidence-based methods adapted to you and your life, and we would work together as a team to reach your goals.