Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Kaslo, BC.

The last few years have been difficult. If you are experiencing anxiety or feeling stressed out and overwhelmed, know that you are not alone. Counselling is a great place to come and learn some skills for coping with anxieties, reduce stress, and become more present in your life. Whether your anxiety is specific, such as social anxiety or workplace anxiety, or more generalized, counselling can help.

We live in a fast paced 24/7 world dealing with social media, technology and lots of things to worry about in the media. No wonder we are all a little anxious these days. I will help you change your relationship with your thoughts so they have less power and control over you. When we give in and avoid things due to anxiety we end up feeling pretty isolated. I will teach you tools and strategies to get through your stress and anxiety.

The circumstances and issues that you are dealing with are unique to you, but you don't have to face them alone. Every individual has different experiences, perceptions, feelings, thoughts, beliefs, values, attitudes, cultural backgrounds and "upbringings". Counselling sessions are private and confidential, and can provide a way for you to explore your problems and really tune in to your feelings. This is an opportunity to speak freely about your circumstances and release pent up feelings, without having to worry about what others think or feel, and without receiving unwanted advise from family, friends or coworkers. At the root of the problem, there are very real, legitimate and understandable reasons for feeling the way you feel, thinking the way...(view profile to read more)

Anxiety and panic are often driven by negative experiences or traumas that are stored in the brain and can trigger overwhelming emotional responses. EMDR helps to desensitize and reprocess these memories, reducing the intensity of the emotional response and decreasing symptoms of anxiety and panic. Through the use of bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or tapping, EMDR can help the brain reprocess the negative experiences, leading to increased emotional regulation and a greater sense of calm and well-being.

Everyone has anxiety and stress in their life! It is important to evaluate where the majority of it comes from and discover ways to cope at times that are difficult and challenging. It is also critical to recognize when anxiety and stress is past a point that is manageable. Some treatment methods I would use would be grounding techniques, meditation, and Socratic questioning. These techniques would be used to figure out the root cause of the anxiety and stress and also to help determine the cause. Other strategies that may be applied include journalling, incorporating exercise, and other activities to help manage both the anxiety and stress.

If you're up against anxiety, I offer an empowering and collaborative approach. There is an opportunity to explore your experience and to begin to see yourself as separate from anxiety. Through conversations, you may begin to identify alternative stories that challenge anxious thoughts and beliefs. We'd attend to your capacity and establish coping strategies to foster a sense of possibility. Together the we would co-create a new narrative that emphasizes the your resiliency, self-compassion and a greater sense of calm.

My approach to anxiety and stress is rooted in Bio-psycho-social approaches that look at the whole person in a holistic manner. Helping clients learn how to soothe the nervous system is key. I work to help clients understand their unique triggers for stress and anxiety, and to practice interventions aimed at 'bottom-up' processing. Most clients arrive in counselling already having tried 'top down' processing-- or self-talk-- to shift stress and anxiety. What is most often missing is bottom-up, or body-based interventions such as breathing, grounding, exercise, EMDR, etc. I work with the client to discover which bottom-up processing tools work best for them.