Are You Finding It Difficult To Escape The Noise Of Anxiety?

Do you constantly feel stressed, worried, or under pressure?

Have you encountered a big transition in your life that is causing you to feel unprepared for what’s next?

And is it hard for you to feel confident or self-assured in your decisions?

No matter what stage you’re at in life, it can be difficult to manage stress and uncertainty amidst change. You may be stuck in panic or worry mode, losing sleep, and imagining worst-case-scenario outcomes. Despite doing everything you can to feel in control of the situation, you may feel like anxious, fearful thinking has taken over.

What Is Your Experience?

Perhaps you’re a young adult transitioning out of school or living with your parents. As you embark on this new, exciting chapter, you can’t help but feel worried about what’s ahead. Whether you are starting a new career, living situation, or relationship, you’ve likely been taken out of your comfort zone and introduced to big “adult” concepts and responsibilities that you don’t necessarily feel ready for. And your anxiety may be telling you that you are not up to the task of what’s expected of you.

Alternatively, you may be a more seasoned adult feeling a little lost in the chaos of life. Having accomplished what you are “supposed” to do in terms of your work, relationships, and life accomplishments, you may wonder why you don’t feel more satisfied and at ease. You can’t shake a sense of restlessness.

Each stage of life brings fresh questions and fears, no matter how experienced we may be in navigating new territories. Whether we are at the beginning of a burgeoning way of life or deep in the throes of adulthood, anxiety can follow us wherever we go, causing us to fight and doubt ourselves along the way. Fortunately, therapy at Halos Counseling offers a meaningful opportunity to understand anxiety so that we can manage and respond to it in a healthier way.

“Anxiety Is Like A Rocking Chair. It Gives You Something To Do, But It Doesn’t Get You Very Far.” - Jodi Picoult

Anxiety is an incredibly common human experience. It’s estimated that over 31 percent of American adults will suffer from an anxiety disorder at some point.¹ To put this in perspective, if you attend a ten-person dinner party, three of you are likely struggling with anxiety at any given time.

There are a lot of different causes for anxiety, including environmental and genetic factors. However, many common stressors lead to the onset of anxiety symptoms. Sometimes a triggering event like a loss or personal disappointment can cause us to feel unprepared, blindsided, and thus hypervigilant. Furthermore, for those of us who grew up in families with unhealthy emotional models or unrealistic expectations for success, we tend to adopt a self-critical mentality that perpetuates self-doubt and a sense of inadequacy throughout our lives.

Our society tends to reinforce these narratives, as comparison culture and imposter syndrome run rampant among young adults, in particular. The increasing presence of technology in our lives forces us to compare ourselves to our peers through the lens of social media and always be “on” and available when it comes to our work.

From our perspective, our anxiety is always telling us to do better and strive for more—but what if there is a different message it’s trying to convey? Without rationally understanding the cause of our symptoms, we become stuck in the narrative that if we can just overcome one hurdle, we will finally be able to let go of fear and worry. Yet, living with anxiety is often an exercise in shattering glass ceilings; even when one thing gets checked off the list, there are a million more worries waiting for us.

Therapy can give you the tools you need to become unstuck from the cycle of anxiety and move forward. Working with the therapists at Halos Counseling, you can develop a healthier perspective on what your anxiety is trying to tell you so that you can respond accordingly and with less stress.

Anxiety Therapy Through Halos Counseling

Therapeutic treatment for anxiety is designed to help you identify core issues, explore patterns, and gain deeper self-awareness. As you discover new ways of thinking about your worries and challenges, you can experience sustained wellness, peace, and self-direction.

The Methods We Use

Our therapists customize the counseling process to meet the needs of each client, depending on presenting symptoms and goals for anxiety treatment. That said, your Halos counselor will likely use a range of techniques to help you become curious about your anxiety and understand what it’s trying to tell you. Some of the therapeutic methods we use include:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you understand the relationship between the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors perpetuated by anxiety
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to engage specific skill sets in the areas of mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to clarify your strengths and values so you can live in more accordance with them
Solution-Focused Therapy to alter your baseline emotional and cognitive experiences by focusing on what you can change in the moment

Through these approaches, you can recognize that while anxiety symptoms may never be eradicated entirely, they are possible to manage. Therapy can help you understand that there are ways to “befriend,” accept, and work with your anxiety so that it creates less harm in your day-to-day life.

Still Unsure If Anxiety Treatment Will Benefit You?

Will therapy help me to get rid of my anxiety entirely?

The answer to this question depends on what is at the root of your fears and worries. In some cases, there are core issues that can be fully resolved in treatment to help ease your experience of anxiety. However, it’s more likely that therapy will serve as a gateway to better understanding and working with—rather than against—your anxiety.

In becoming aware of what your symptoms are trying to tell you, you can develop effective and sustainable tools for managing your anxiety and the impact it has on your life.

Anxiety treatment didn’t work for my friend/family member.

Everyone experiences anxiety differently—though treatment may have been ineffective for someone you know, it’s likely that you will respond differently and more positively to certain therapeutic approaches.

Our therapists create a safe, highly individualized counseling experience for our clients, working with you to determine specific anxiety symptoms, treatment goals, and therapeutic approaches that can make a meaningful difference. We encourage you to try out therapy if you are suffering and not be deterred, even if someone else in your life has not benefited from treatment in the past.

How long does therapy take?

On average, our clients are in therapy for anxiety for about eight sessions. That said, your counselor will have a better idea of how long your specific anxiety treatment plan will take, which can be discussed during your initial session.

Shake The Noise, Find Peace

The therapists at Halo Counseling use a variety of behavioral, solution-focused, and value-driven techniques to help clients overcome anxiety. To schedule a free, 20-minute consultation or find out more about our approach to anxiety disorder treatment, contact us.

¹ https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder

Anxiety Therapy in Charlotte, NC