Anxiety

Do I Have Anxiety?

Although I do not diagnose anxiety, I often work with folks who experience symptoms of anxiety. When we’re struggling with anxiety, we often tend to overthink, making it easy to get taken over by thought spirals. “What ifs” often occupy the mind, coupled with a tendency to overanalyze any past mistakes or short-comings. It’s as if an inner critic is taking the driver’s seat a lot of the time, keeping you hostage from your hopes and dreams.

This is what anxiety does, it takes you away from the present, when you can simply just “be.” In today’s modern age, we’re surrounded by so many things that tell us we should be anxious. Whether it’s traffic, a long pause in a text message exchange, or the discerning gaze of your boss, it can be enough to set it off. 

For those who are highly attuned to the world around them, shame might also show up, because you feel like you are self-aware enough to “know better.” Maybe you practice yoga, meditation, or pursue other healing work, yet still find yourself getting taken over by anxiety. Does this feel familiar to you? If so, you understand what it’s like to not only have anxiety around, but also experience it team up with shame to co-conspire against you.

How Do You Work With Anxiety?

The downside to an active imagination and being highly tuned to the world around you can be a perfect combination to let anxiety “run wild.” At the same time, these gifts can be harnessed in response to the anxiety. When I work with clients in my counselling practice, we use that creativity and perceptiveness to become aware of how anxiety manifests, and get to know it intimately, like an uninvited guest. This can serve to slough off that layer of shame that might creep up, as we meet the anxiety with presence, and observe it like a specimen we are very curious about, rather than judge ourselves for having it

At the same time, we both work to recognize how anxiety shows up physiologically, and find ways to ground so that the body doesn’t hijack you, but instead can support you. When your body has feelings that it can’t make sense of, it will often create a worst case scenario story. These stories may have made a lot of sense when the anxiety was happening. It’s like your body does not know that it’s here in the now. By learning to find a sense of safety in the here and now, it becomes possible to process some of those feelings. For those who have a history of trauma, sometimes those feelings are emotional memories. When we are triggered by an emotional memory it can be hard because it is like the feeling takes over. For trauma-related anxiety I draw upon my training in parts work to further support healing.

I also integrate Acceptance Commitment Therapy into my work with anxiety. This is a mindful approach. Rather than try and fix our stop the anxiety, ACT is more about learning to be with the discomfort of it. By accessing our awareness, we can notice, and even be curious about how the anxiety is manifesting. We can develop a sense of okayness in the face of it, even though it is uncomfortable. 

Through our work together, you’ll learn ways in which you can manage what comes up in your body, understand what’s happening in your mind, and gather your own unique resources, so you can show up in a way that feels right for you.