The causes and effects anxiety can have on your emotional and mental well-being.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is when you feel worried, tense, and fearful, causing you distress which creates emotional and mental unease. This can cause you to overthink in all different situations that may cause you to believe that something terrible is going to happen to you, or what might happen in the future that will cause threat or danger.
Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress and everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. It is normal and healthy to have anxious reactions in certain situations such as the first day of school, tests, going to a job interview, or giving a speech.
Anxiety is the most common form of an ‘emotional disorder’, and this can affect anyone at any age. Stress can lead to mild panic attacks; these are not dangerous and can be controlled by concentrating on your breathing by inhaling and exhaling until you feel calmer. Regular routines are essential to have in your life to support healthy mental and emotional well-being. Having good sleeping patterns, exercising, talking to someone you trust and keeping a journal to express your thoughts and feelings will help you.
‘If your feelings of anxiety are extreme, lasting for longer than six months, and are interfering with your daily life, you may have an ‘anxiety disorder’.
If there are on-going difficulties in your life, you can experience higher than usual intense feelings of anxiety. In extreme cases, where you have experienced a significant event or situation, this can trigger emotions from past traumas in your childhood and may result in having frequent panic attacks. This can be a terrifying experience for you and is a sign that you need to speak to those closest to you to let them know what is happening for you and seek professional support.
How can anxiety affect me?
Physical: You may experience symptoms such as, sweating, trembling, feeling intense fear or panic, becoming anxious, shortness of breath, hyperventilation, rapid heartbeat, chest tightness or pain, nausea, feeling faint or lightheaded.
Thoughts and feelings: You may lack focus, have poor concentration, overthink things, loss of control in day to day situations, have irrational thoughts and overthink everything. Feeling lost, confused or disorientated and be suffering from low mood and self-esteem.
Behaviour: You may withdraw from doing, and seeing people that close to you, not go to work, self-medicate, lack focus and find it hard to make decisions.
How can TLC Counselling help me with my anxiety?
I can help when you are experiencing intense feelings of fear and worry, leading you to consistently overthinking and stopping you doing the things you enjoy.
Sometimes it may be easier for you to talk to a therapist than opening up to family and friends. It is essential to let the people closest to you know what is happening for you, but this does not mean you have to go into detail with them. I offer a neutral environment for you to be able to express your feelings freely without worrying about being judged.
I have spent many years working with, children, young people, individuals and couples, helping them to explore their issues with anxiety. I aim to be there with you every step of the way, and I will not tell you what to do. However, I can guide you to support you in building your inner reliance to cope with your anxiety.
What is the structure of my therapy sessions, and how can this benefit me?
- I will work with you to support you to feel ‘emotionally safe’ to open up and explore your own unique story.
- We will work out together how your core triggers around anxiety have manifested over the years and identify the impact this is having on your life.
- I can support you to identify your reoccurring anxious thought patterns and behaviours that you are having.
- We will break these patterns you have bit by bit together to make sense of them to create changes in the way you see things.
- I will work with you to improve how you are feeling about yourself by setting tasks between sessions.
- I will support you by using key models, interventions, and techniques within the sessions to support your personal growth and development.
What do I need to know about the counselling process?
- We will meet for an initial consultation/assessment, and this allows you the opportunity to meet with me, to ensure you feel I am the right person for you.
- I will advise you of the confidentiality, data protection, and give you a counselling agreement to sign if you decide to go ahead with individual therapy.
- I will gather some personal information from you, and we will identify the difficulties you are facing. We will explore what your desired goals are from the individual counselling sessions.
- Sessions last 50 minutes, and are mainly weekly, to begin with, they can move to fortnightly once you feel you need less support.
How do I make an appointment to help me with my anxiety?
Once you have made contact with me, I will respond to you within 24 hours, and I will ensure that you can access an initial appointment with me within two weeks of contacting me.
What if I have any more questions or queries about my anxiety?
If you would like any further information, or you are unsure about how I could support you, please feel free to give me a call. If you would prefer to e-mail me with any questions or
queries that you may have, please do not hesitate, and I will get back to you within 24 hours.
