Anxiety Treatment
Anxiety is a common mental state characterized by feelings of fear, worry, and unease, which range from mild to severe. Most people experience anxiety occasionally. Oftentimes, anxiety is beneficial in that it is an evolutionary response to perceived danger that promotes our safety from harm and can also provide motivation to complete tasks.
However, if one’s anxiety becomes extreme, it may interfere with daily functioning and lead to distress, avoidance, and even physical symptoms (i.e. rapid breathing, an upset stomach, heart palpitations, shortness of breath). It may also lead to racing thoughts, sleep issues, and a feeling of constant alertness.
When anxiety lasts for some time and worsens, it may feel terrifying, isolating, and confusing. Many individuals try to push through, control, or rationalize these feelings and often find that their anxiety intensifies or alters its form.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT):
The goal of ACT is to become more mentally “flexible”. Clinicians assist individuals in accepting one’s thoughts and feelings as they occur instead of attempting to control them. ACT also prioritizes determining one’s personal values and using them to guide daily actions.
IPT is rooted in the idea that as humans, our relationships with others have substantial impacts on our emotional functioning. When using IPT to treat anxiety, individuals will recognize important interpersonal issues in their life and learn how to better communicate and connect with others.
Psychodynamic therapy is rooted in curiosity towards the roots of anxiety. Instead of approaching anxiety as something to be rid of, it assists individuals in understanding what their anxiety is communicating or protecting them from. As the underlying feelings, desires, and patterns of our anxiety are uncovered and spoken, anxiety is less often the initial reaction to distress. Instead, introspection skills are enhanced and one’s inner life becomes healthier and more bearable.
There is a wide array of options for anxiety treatment and each clinician implements various therapeutic modalities in their individualized practice. If you would like to connect with a clinician to discuss which types of anxiety treatment might be the best fit for your needs, as well as the modalities each clinician most often uses, reach out today to set up a 15-minute phone consultation or intake appointment.
Anxiety is commonly treated in psychotherapy through a range and often combination of therapeutic modalities:
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT):
CBT is the most widely used, evidence-based therapeutic intervention to treat anxiety. It assists individuals in learning how to recognize and identify thought patterns and behaviors that lead to feelings of distress. You then work to change your thoughts and reactions to stressful situations.
Exposure therapy is a highly researched behavioral therapy often used to treat phobias and anxiety disorders. While in a safe and controlled therapeutic environment, an individual faces what they fear, either imagined or in real life. Over time, carefully managed exposure to a triggering situation, event, or object reduces feelings of anxiety and panic.
Narrative therapy focuses on individuals’ internal stories about their anxiety and how these narratives often fuel and worsen anxious feelings. The goal of narrative therapy is to better understand and rewrite one’s internal stories so that they can create psychological distance between themselves and their anxiety. Once one can achieve this distance, anxiety is seen as something one experiences rather than an intrinsic part of one’s self. As a result, individuals are in better control of their emotions, instead of being controlled by those same emotions.