Anxiety can feel like being followed by a constant shadow. Often a feeling of tightness in your chest, a sudden racing heart, or a sense that something bad is about to happen without any really obvious reason. When anxiety attacks, it can throw your whole day off, making it difficult or impossible to focus on work, enjoy social interactions, or relax and rest. 

Many times people experience physical symptoms when they’re anxious. Perhaps it shows up as tightness in your neck and shoulders or even a headache. Other times you might experience digestive issues like an upset stomach or loss of appetite. Maybe your hands tremble, sweat, or feel clammy. When you notice these symptoms, you might realize something feels off and your anxiety climbs. Some people experience panic and panic attacks.

Anxiety can also create a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that won’t settle down. Worrying about the worst-case scenario is a common experience. You may also feel foggy and concentration may be difficult. These can impact your ability to be productive, engage in joyful activities, or make socializing with others difficult. You may even feel inadequate or question your ability to make decisions.

Often when anxiety levels increase, sharing what you’re experiencing and feeling with others becomes harder and more scary. You may fear being judged or misunderstood and that can lead to isolating yourself from friends and family. This starts a cycle of isolating and feeling more uneasy and isolating more, leading to more anxiety over time. 

If any of this resonates with you, know that you’re not alone. Anxiety is a common challenge we all face at different times. We’re here to help.

Anxiety is a natural human experience in response to stress or danger. An example of a healthy, normal experience with anxiety is being anxious before a big exam or going into a conversation with your boss at work. These are common situations that involve stress and feeling unsure or uneasy about situations like these means you’re experiencing a normal stress response.

There are several kinds of responses that signal being overwhelmed - fight, flight, and freeze are common ones. When our anxiety is triggered frequently it can encourage us to always worry something unpleasant, stressful, or threatening is about to happen. Without addressing our anxiety and learning to manage ourselves and our anxiety, chronic problems can develop.

There are multiple types of anxiety disorders and common ways people become anxious - generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety, health anxiety, panic disorder, phobias, and insecure attachment styles that make relationships challenging. Each share the common experiences of excessive worry and fear but with different causes or triggers for feeling anxious.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by chronic worry that persists. Often a variety of topics from work and health to relationships and finances are the identified focal points for worry. Many times ongoing physical symptoms like restlessness and muscle tension accompany GAD. Health Anxiety is considered a type of GAD.

Social anxiety involves worry and fear about social settings and what could happen in them. It’s typical to fear being judged, embarrassed, acting awkwardly, or rejected by others. This fear and worry of social interactions can lead to avoiding socializing all together and make forming relationships difficult. Social anxiety can create or exacerbate an insecure attachment style making it difficult to trust others and form long lasting, stable relationships.

Panic Disorder is marked by sudden, overwhelming episodes of fear and worry known as panic attacks. Panic attacks can feel like you’re experiencing a heart attack with rapid heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath (hyperventilating), and a feeling of impending doom. Panic attacks often come without warning and can be their own cause of anxiety and fear from worrying about a future panic attack.

You should know that panic attacks themselves, while they feel like it, cannot kill you. When you begin to modify your life according to avoidance of having a panic attack… that’s panic disorder. It can certainly impact your quality of life in a negative way. 

Phobias are overwhelming fears connected with specific situations, things, or places. Common phobias include arachnophobia (fear of spiders), agoraphobia (fear of situations that may cause feelings of embarrassment, being trapped, or helpless), and aerophobia (fear of flying). Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common approach to treating phobias.

Understanding anxiety is the first step toward managing it.

Some common signs of anxiety to watch out for are:

• Physical Symptoms: You may notice a rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, muscle tension, headaches, digestive issues, and difficulty sleeping. If you experience these symptoms regularly, it could indicate anxiety.
• Behavioral Changes: You might notice that you're avoiding certain situations or activities that you used to enjoy. Social withdrawal and isolation are common as anxiety grows.
• Emotional Responses: Anxiety can lead to irritability, mood swings, and heightened sensitivity. You might find yourself overreacting to minor things or struggling to control your emotions.
• Cognitive Distortions: Anxiety often brings about negative thought patterns. You might obsess over potential risks, focus on worst-case scenarios, or have trouble concentrating due to racing thoughts.

If you’re experiencing multiple signs described above, you may benefit from anxiety therapy.

We believe in a personalized approach to therapy. Our treatment team tailors your therapy to meet your individual needs, recognizing that everyone experiences anxiety differently. When you come to us, we'll work with you to understand your unique situation, triggers, and goals. Some of the approaches we use with clients include:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

• Mindfulness Based Therapy

In addition to our therapeutic approaches, we teach people skills they can use in their everyday lives to manage anxiety and other challenging emotions. Coping strategies and skills for anxiety emphasize stress management, de-escalation and relaxation, and emotional regulation techniques. These skills are effective for anxiety and other forms of psychological and emotional distress.

As our namesake, Mindfulness is a foundation to all of our work with clients. Mindfulness simply involves directing your attention to the present moment and observing your thoughts and feelings without judgment. By practicing mindfulness, you can open up a space between your awareness and attention and your reactions to your internal and external environments.

Some of the mindfulness techniques we use include breathing exercises, body scan practices, the pretzel and other somatic exercises. These skills can help you break the anxiety loop and calm your nervous system down, calming the mind in the process. Mindfulness can also improve your focus and concentration, allowing you to break the cycle of racing thoughts. These techniques are useful tools to have in your arsenal when anxiety starts to build, giving you practical ways to reduce stress and find peace.