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"Anxiety is highly treatable, but only 1 out of 3 of those suffering get treatment."
― ADAA

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Do you experience...

  • Palpitations, pounding heart or rapid heart rate

  • Restlessness,

  • Fatigue,

  • Trouble concentrating,

  • Irritability, 

  • Excessive worry about the future,

  • Negative thinking,

  • Muscle tension,

  • Brain fog,

  • Sweating,

  • Trembling or shaking,

  • Feeling of shortness of breath or smothering sensations,

  • Chest pain,

  • Dizziness,

  • Feeling of choking,

  • Chills or hot flashes,

  • Nausea or abdominal pains,

  • Detached,

  • Fear of losing control,

  • Fear of dying,

  • Fear of getting sick

What is an anxiety disorder?

The American Psychological Association (APA), writes:

 

"Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. Mild levels of anxiety are beneficial as it is our bodies' way to alert us to dangers and help us prepare and pay attention.

 

Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness or anxiousness and involve excessive fear or anxiety. Anxiety disorders affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives.

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People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness, or a rapid heartbeat.​

 

Anxiety is not the same as fear - anxiety is considered a future-oriented, long-acting response broadly focused on a diffuse threat, whereas fear is an appropriate, present-oriented, and short-lived response to a clearly identifiable and specific threat."

Types of Anxiety Disorders

  • generalized anxiety

  • panic with or without agoraphobia

  • agoraphobia

    • fear and avoidance of places or situations where escape might be difficult or help unavailable if panic  occurs

  • social anxiety 

  • separation anxiety

  • selective mutism

  • health anxiety

  • specific phobias

    • ​aerophobia: fear of flying

    • aichmophobia: fear of needles or pointed object

    • emetophobia: extreme fear of vomiting an/or getting sick

    • cynophobia: fear of dogs

    • dentophobia: fear of dentists

    • glossophobia: fear of speaking in public

    • hypochondria: fear of illness or sickness

There is healing for your anxiety.

compassionate evidence-based psychotherapy

Treatments for Anxiety:

There are several effective strategies for treating anxiety. One approach is a "top-down" method, which focuses on addressing thoughts, cognitive patterns, and behaviours. These methods prioritize psychoeducation (understanding how automatic negative thoughts affect our feelings/actions) and learning how to challenge cognitive distortions and core beliefs. Alternatively, a "bottom-up" approach prioritizes the body and its sensations, and focuses on rewiring the nervous system, unpacking where these feelings stem from, and learning how to accept and ride out all feelings non-judgmentally. I prefer using a combination of both approaches, as I find that both are incredibily helpful in treating anxiety, worry and stress.

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Treatment Methods That I Implement Include:​

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  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT):

    • CBT is widely considered to be the gold-standard psychological treatment for anxiety disorders. This therapy teaches clients that situations do not directly make us feel a certain way; rather, our interpretation (our thoughts) of the situation directly influence our feelings and our actions. Anxiety often grows and stems from unhelpful thought patterns/beliefs and chronic avoidance of triggers. CBT helps you notice these patterns and change how you respond to them.

    • Core Techniques Used in CBT include:

      • Cognitive Restructuring: Learning to identify, challenge, and replace negative or unrealistic thoughts with balanced thinking.

      • Exposure Therapy: Gradually facing feared situations and triggers to build confidence, reduce fear of the trigger, and reduce avoidance. Exposure therapy breaks the cycle of avoidance, which normally makes anxiety stronger. Over time, people find that their reactions to feared objects or situations decrease. Exposure can also help weaken previously learned associations between feared objects, activities or situations and bad outcomes. Experts consider it a top choice for treating anxiety disorders.

      • Practical Tools: Using thought records to challenge negative thoughts, behavioural experiments to challenge negative beliefs/expectations, and relaxation/mindfulness strategies.

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  • Somatic (Body-Centered) Therapy:

    • Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach that helps relieve anxiety by calming your nervous system and releasing physical tension stored in the body.

    • Somatic therapy focuses on noticing and changing physical sensations (ie: breathing, posture, and muscle tension) to signal safety to the brain and release trapped energy (ie, excess adrenaline and cortisol). This attention and attunement to the body helps shift your nervous system out of a chronic "fight-or-flight" survival mode into a "calm and relaxation" mode. ​​​​​​​

    • I usually begin by guiding my clients to pay attention to their somatic experiences and to cultivate compassion for the various parts of themselves. This process helps them to see anxiety as just one aspect of their identity, rather than the entirety of who they are. From there, we learn relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, and we explore the origins of their fearful beliefs and sensations.

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Other evidence-based treatments for anxiety and panic attacks that I use in my practice include:

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