Reclaim your Inner Peace With Anxiety Counseling
We offer counseling for:
When do you know you might need counseling? Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. When the anxiety feels like it is taking over your life, is when you need to make changes.
Sometimes anxiety shows up as worrisome thoughts, or mental movies projecting terrible outcomes.
The anxiety experience can also show up in your body. The list of symptoms is long, from tension to sleeplessness and irritability. You might also have difficulty eating, teeth grinding, ulcers, or headaches. It can also include difficulty concentrating, and feeling like you are in a fog.
Anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear. The anxiety does not go away for a person with an anxiety disorder and can get worse over time.
Know you are not alone in your feelings, there is support available.
You do not have to continue to fear the scary thoughts or behaviors. You can learn the skills that will stop anxiety in its tracks, and allow you to move forward. You can learn how to feel calm, competent, and secure again. We can show you how.
Effective treatment for anxiety can help you by teaching you how to relax your body and your mind. The good news is that for most people, anxiety is easy to treat.
You might feel like you are not sure what “kind” of anxiety you are experiencing – do any of these seem familiar?
Examples include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder.
Generalized anxiety disorder includes feeling nervous, restless or tense. You have that impending sense of doom and panic. Your heart rate can increase, along with rapid breathing. Sweating, trembling, feeling weak, or tired are all outward symptoms. If the stress is out of proportion to the impact of the event, or the inability to set aside a worry it’s time to look for help.
Panic disorder/panic attacks are sudden episodes with intense fear. It triggers severe physical reactions when there is no real danger or clear cause. A panic attack can be frightening, and leave you feeling out of control. You might think you’re having a heart attack or dying. Panic disorder is when you have recurrent, unexpected attacks. And, you worry about another attack happening.
Social anxiety disorder includes anxiety, fear, and avoidance of situations. This can impact and interfere with relationships, daily routines, work, or school. You might have a fear of situations where you may be negatively judged. There’s a concern about embarrassing or humiliating yourself. You clam up when you think of talking with strangers. There’s an avoidance of activities where you might be the center of attention. You try not to interact with unfamiliar people or strangers. In extreme cases, you might avoid work, school, or even using a public restroom.
Tips for dealing with anxiety – click here
Anxiety Counseling for Adults
What Does Anxiety Look Like in An Adult?
For adults, anxiety can manifest itself in various ways.
Common symptoms include:
- Excessive Worry
- Mental movies projecting terrible outcomes to situations encountered
- Restlessness
- Fatigue
- Increased heart rate
- Muscle tension
- Difficulty concentrating
You might also feel your irritability can increase and little things annoy you more than they did.
This is a short list, anxiety manifests in many different ways.
Signs of Anxiety In Children
What Are Anxiety Triggers in Children?
Some examples that you might see in your child would be:
- Constant worry, restlessness and irritability are early signs to watch for.
- Physical indicators might be headaches or stomachaches.
- Being afraid when away from parents. (separation anxiety), and throwing tantrums when it’s impending.
- Fear surrounding specific things or situations. Dogs, insects, going to the doctor would be some phobias.
- Your child might be afraid of school or other places with lots of people. (social anxiety)
- If your child has worries about the future or bad things happening.
- A family divorce, imminent or in the process, can bring on extreme worry, fear, and uncertainty. (general anxiety)
Anxiety Counseling for Teens
Anxiety Signs To Watch For in Teens
While many of the signs of anxiety are similar to that of children, there is also the added stress brought on by school, puberty and more social interactions.
You may see:
- Excessive amounts of worry about current things and “the future”
- Restlessness or fidgeting in class, during conversations or the inability to sit still.
- Change in sleep and/or fatigue. It’s not just the “growing pains” that cause the overall, always tired feeling.
- Avoidance of situations that make them anxious. Certain activities might be stopped that had part of a routine and enjoyed.
- Social withdrawal can be more pronounced in teens. Your teen may want to isolate themselves more.
- Panic attacks may occur, suddenly and with intensity
Treatment Options
There are some types of treatment that have been proven to be effective anxiety counseling for alll age groups. We will review each of them below.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective form of psychotherapy for anxiety disorders. CBT focuses on teaching you specific skills to improve your symptoms and gradually return to the activities you’ve avoided because of anxiety. This is an effective treatment for children, teens and adults.
Exposure Therapy can be utilized to gradually and intentionally expose you to the situations or stimuli that trigger your anxiety, The goal is to help you face your fears. In doing so you learn to manage anxiety in a controlled and safe environment. This is a treatment for children, teens and adults. The gradual exposure process will be guided by the experienced counselor and it tailored to the client.
Mindfulness-based therapy emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the present moment. It teaches you to accept your thoughts and feelings without judgment. You learn to become more aware of and to accept thoughts and feelings. You learn to better manage your symptoms of anxiety. This is a treatment for all ages, it is the presentation of the mindfulness skills that varies by age.
Relaxation techniques can involve different methods. They include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and visualization. They can help you reduce symptoms of anxiety. You can achieve feelings of calmness and relaxation.
Play therapy is another approach that can be effective for children with anxiety.
When children engage in play therapy, they can express feelings that are hidden away. This assists the therapist in identifying triggers and areas to work on
Play therapy allows children to express their feelings and concerns through play and creative activities. This can help them process their emotions, develop coping skills, and improve their self-esteem. Art Therapy can also be incorporated into the anxiety therapy for children.
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What Are My Next Steps for Therapy?
What Tools Do I Need?
You are taking the right step to consider seeking help with your anxiety. The first step can be the hardest one, and then it becomes easier.
Think of your counseling as your Anxiety Toolbox. Working with your counselor, you will select the effective treatment plan. You are going to fill it with the right tools and support for managing the impact of anxiety on your every day life.
One size does not fit all, and your counselor will work with you to find the right methods to not going give you the relief
With the support of your trained counselor at Pathways Counseling Services, you will no longer face those fears and the anxiety you’ve been experiencing. You will be able to minimize the impact on your day to day life and have a feeling of calmness
You, your child or your teen will learn ways to vocalize feelings and gain the coping skills to live a happier and more confident life.
We are here, ready to be your partner in your anxiety counseling journey.
Frequently Asked Questions:
You may do this in three ways.
You can book online anytime
Call us at 480-613-8530
Complete this contact form.
Yes, we offer a free 15-minute telephone consultation. Please call us at 480-613-8530 to schedule a consultation or complete this contact form.
Our practice is a “Fee-For-Service” practice which means we DO NOT accept insurance. If you have an insurance provider with behavioral health coverage, they may offer “out-of-network” coverage. If you would like to use your “out-of-network” benefits, we will provide you with a superbill (receipt) monthly that you can submit to your insurance company for “out-of-network” reimbursement.
Prior to your first session, you will fill out some general information. We will you a link to complete the form(s) prior to your first session.
During the initial appointment, we will review some of your histories and we will have an opportunity to discuss the reasons you are interested in counseling and the goals you are looking to achieve from counseling.
Together during the first few sessions we will put together a treatment plan with you.
Most patients come in for weekly appointments. As you are feeling better, you can cut back on the frequency of the sessions so you have more time to practice what you are learning.
Initial sessions are 75 minutes ongoing sessions may be 45-75 minutes or longer depending on need.
Patients who work with us report improvements in a few sessions. More difficult issues may take longer. People come to therapy for different reasons but universally people don’t initiate counseling unless they are in some type of emotional pain. Our attitude is to try to make every session count.
We welcome couples, children, adolescents, teens, and individuals of diverse backgrounds, cultures, religious traditions, and lifestyles.
We will be able to work with you using a variety of tools and techniques and specialize in a variety of issues and concerns.
All client-therapist conversations are private and confidential. In those rare exceptions when the safety of a client or other is at risk disclosure of confidential client-therapist information takes place.
