Anxiety
This is the most common topic our clients come to us with. Anxiety is much easier to feel than to describe. Although it is often experienced as something “wrong with me,” anxiety is actually a natural response of the body to stress, uncertainty, or a sense of threat. The problem arises when this response becomes permanent, intense, or begins to limit everyday life.
When anxiety is not understood and addressed, it often tends to spread. What was once occasional tension can become a constant state, accompanied by attacks involving rapid heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, difficulty breathing, headaches… Many people then begin to adapt to anxiety — reducing their activities, postponing decisions, avoiding intimacy, or taking on too much responsibility to “keep things under control.”
In psychotherapy, anxiety is not viewed merely as a symptom to be “removed,” but as a message worth understanding. We work on learning to control it, but also on changing the patterns and relationships in our lives that lie behind the anxiety.
Questions & Answers
I have panic attacks. How should I respond?
A very useful technique in these situations is grounding. During a panic attack, we often feel disconnected from reality and forget where we are. Grounding brings us back to reality and reminds us that we are safe. As panic accelerates, we need to slow down. Place both feet flat on the floor (this can be done while sitting), hold your legs or the armrests of the chair with your hands, and feel your feet and hands. Slowly, while breathing steadily, observe the space around you and become present again. This can also be combined with the 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 technique, which involves looking around the room and naming 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.
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