Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Port Moody, BC.

Life is like a bathtub, except there are usually lots of drains and not enough taps to fill it up - so we live in a state of not having being able to fill up fast enough which causes anxiety and stress. Sometimes there are physiological reasons for anxiety and stress, and those need to be addressed medically. I will help you identify if that could be your case. But if it is or isn't, counselling can help you identify and explore those drains and taps and help you plug up some drains and create more taps. The goal is to help you live out of fullness rather than emptiness.

Feelings of anxiety can become so intense that it becomes overwhelming. Often individuals struggling with anxiety express constant intruding thoughts that focus on fears of events of the future. Anxiety can create physical feelings of distress like a tight chest that makes it difficult to breath, an upset or tight feeling in the stomach, and general fatigue from constantly trying to control their thoughts and actions. Some people have battled anxiety for so long that they begin to believe it is just who they are and accept the restrictions it causes in their life. Through counselling we will work to break the cycle of anxiety controlling your inner world. Bringing a sense of relief, control and freedom that has been absent for so long.

Anxiety and stress take a mighty toll on our mental, physical and spiritual well being. I work from the "inside out" in other words I help my clients look at what their own beliefs are about themselves and others too. As we slowly work towards more self acceptance, relaxation, mindfullness and acceptance..stress lessens and anxiety dissapears as it is well managed...and self regulation kicks in.

Anxiety is a common emotion that everyone experiences, but it can sometimes interfere with living the life we want and enjoying the things we love. Together, we can explore the causes and symptoms of your anxiety, and work through it using therapeutic approaches that work well with you and the causes of your anxiety ; like EMDR, DBT, and CBT to help you manage these emotions effectively.

Anxiety and stress is the body’s natural response to danger, an automatic alarm that goes off when we feel threatened. But when anxiety is constant or overwhelming, when it interferes with your relationships and activities—that’s when you’ve crossed the line from normal anxiety into the territory of anxiety disorders. As a product of the body’s fight-or-flight response, anxiety involves a wide range of physical symptoms. Many people experiencing anxiety benefit from supportive counselling or couples or family therapy. However, experts agree that the most effective form of treatment for the is cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).

In Anxiety & Stress Treatment and Counselling, my approach centers on providing clients with practical tools and strategies to effectively manage and alleviate anxiety and stress. I create a supportive and empathetic environment where clients can openly discuss their concerns and fears. Through a combination of CBT techniques, mindfulness practices, and stress-reduction strategies, clients can expect to develop a deeper understanding of the triggers of their anxiety and stress responses. Together, we work on building resilience and adaptive coping mechanisms, enabling clients to regain a sense of control over their emotions and lives.

My office is a safe space to express any thoughts and feelings about your life in complete confidence. Sharing painful experiences under the Witness of an empathic human being has incredible healing power. Within this therapeutic relationship, we can use mindfullness practices, progressive muscle-relaxation, and Cognitive Therapy to transform your experience of stress into the present, balanced, and relaxed way of living that you have not had in a very, very long time.

You might be familiar with that tense, unsettled feeling that you can't shake. The overthinking, ruminating, and worrying. It's so hard to be present and engaged when we suffer with anxiety! Anxiety is the #1 reason people seek out my services. I can help you get to the roots of your anxiety (hint: it's not ONLY about disputing your irrational thoughts) so that you feel more grounded and alive. Through their work with me, my clients have reported that they are more socially engaged, less in their heads, more in tune with their bodies, and better able to attend to the underlying emotions and needs underlying the anxiety. I look forward to supporting you in moving beyond your anxiety.

Symptoms of stress and anxiety can originate from many different sources, including issues related to addiction, the effects of addiction, infidelity, difficult childhoods, dysfunctional families of origin, and the impact of past hurts and coping patterns. By offering a setting that is based on trust, empathy, and collaboration, counselling can provide you with a safe and supportive space to explore your thoughts and emotions while creating a deeper, more authentic understanding of who you are, what you need, and the dynamics that you are navigating. It is possible to thrive and be well no matter what you have been through, and counselling can help with this.

Anxiety and stress keep us out of connection to ourselves. Anxiety often helps protect you from other feelings that are too seemingly to distressing to bear. But then it came seem to overtake everything else in your life. If you would like to start to understand your anxiety and who you are underneath it, please reach out. A combination of approaches tailored to you can help you connect to yourself and lift the anxiety.

Trauma, stress, and anxiety are usually caused by specific experiences that we have had, or by the lack of feeling of safety in our family, relationship, or at work. I help clients recover from traumatic events and experiences and develop stronger emotional management skills. Often clients have been put on medications that only mask the problems--please do not stop medications without your doctor's approval, and gradual reduction. There are other ways to calm the nervous system, and I am certified in EMDR (a treatment for post traumatic stress disorder), and other therapeutic techniques to help you with this.

When working with clients experiencing stress and anxiety, I often draw on both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) approaches. CBT helps us identify and challenge the unhelpful thoughts and beliefs that fuel stress and anxiety, replacing them with more balanced and supportive ones. DBT complements this by focusing on building skills like emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and mindfulness, which can help clients manage the intense feelings and reactions often tied to stress and anxiety. By integrating these approaches, I aim to support clients in developing healthier coping strategies and fostering a greater sense of calm & control in their lives

Anxiety and stress are common complaints in our busy world with many demands and little time. How does a person cope? I have found that anxiety and stress occur when we are not living in the NOW. We may be obsessing about the past or worrying about the future. Using mindfulness, I can help you to access the present moment, the only place where peace can be found.

I work with children, teens, adults and families who are facing difficult decisions and seeking happier balanced lives. We all suffer from worry and anxiety at times in our lives, but when these problems become overwhelming, I provide a safe, non-judgmental, caring counselling environment. My therapeutic approach starts with building a trusting relationship and then addresses these issues with strategies such as those that are built into the Cognitive/Behavioural framework. For example, this approach helps clients better manage their feelings and worries and leads to a more balanced and happier life.

Anxiety and Stress are approached with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Education and coping / management techniques are explored, as well as 'homework' in the form of skills practise. People should expect a clear therapy plan to reduce their experience of anxiety and increased confidence in learning how to manage and cope. With children / youth often Art Therapy and / or Play therapy is integrated into the counselling. Parents of kids should expect to be involved and supported in their awareness of anxiety and stress and how to assist their children in management.

Do you live under a heavy cloud that weighs you down preventing you from being even the shell of who you once were? Have you given up the desires and joys in life you once held dear as you are held prisoner from feelings of fear? Are your loved ones getting fed up, as your stress and anxiety has become a barrier for them too? Is it time you dealth with these feelings and romoved the bars from the doors and windows of the cell you live in and live the life you only now dream of re-entering. Let me help you. We can do it together. You no longer need to face this alone. I know it sounds hard and you are scared, but I an assure you, it is possible to be you again!

Anxiety and stress can be a debilitating experience sucking the joy out of your day. My goal is to assist you in alleviating these intense feelings, enabling a sense of peace. I employ an approach that involves exploring the origins of your anxiety and stress, challenging and reshaping the perspectives associated with distressing thoughts, and providing you with proven strategies and resources. My hope is to empower you to manage anxiety-inducing situations more effectively and expedite your journey toward lasting relief.

Anxiety falls along a continuum from acceptable to crippling, debilitating anxiety requiring professional intervention. The major forms that anxiety takes are: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, Phobic Disorders, Social Anxiety Disorders and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD). A variety of proven therapeutic interventions are well established now, eg., Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Yoga, Tai Chi, Breathwork. By diving into therapy clients regain a sense of optimism, courage and confidence in relationships, workplace and career, driving, aging, life transitions and more.

We provide comprehensive support to clients dealing with anxiety and stress by utilizing various effective techniques. First and foremost, we employ psychoeducation to help clients comprehend the underlying mechanisms behind anxiety and stress. Through this knowledge, they gain a better understanding of their own experiences. Additionally, we integrate mindfulness practices, somatic experiencing, and other approaches aimed at fostering self-awareness of both thoughts and physical sensations. This helps clients develop a greater sense of being present in the here and now, enhancing their ability to manage and cope with anxiety.

We all have anxiety and stress! It is a matter of how we manage this challenge in our daily lives. Often the anxiety and stress overwhelm us to the point of feeling hopeless! But there certainly is hope and with some consistent therapy and support one can be feeling significantly better after only a few sessions. Once we dissect the overwhelming feelings we begin to understand the underlying issues at the root cause. While medication is an option, quite often it is not necessary as psychotherapy is effective.

Anxiety and stress can have a crippling effect on our lives if left unmanaged. We will provide you with psychoeducation to better understand anxiety and the associated physiological symptoms. We will help you address any unhelpful thoughts or behaviours that may be lending to anxiety and stress and give you strategies to change them. We will provide you with tools to better manage stress and anxiety. We will also help you explore areas of your life that may be contributing and collaboratively problem solve any issues that may need to be resolved or boundaries that need to be set.

Anxiety is debilitating. Finding a way to manage and cope with anxiety rather than having anxiety take control of every part of your life can feel like climbing the highest mountain. While anxiety symptoms may be common, the triggers resulting in anxiety are very individual. Individual counselling can help identify triggers and build coping strategies to cope in healthy ways which will improve your overall mental health.

I come to the practice of counselling with a passion for wellness and transformative, life-long learning. I work in the public setting as a clinical counsellor in a local primary care network, support a local arts organization as executive director, and teach Clinical Counselling at the post-secondary level. I am particularly interested in post-modern and integral approaches to working with neurodiversity, couples, and the transition to full practitioner.

In our modern society, we are constantly surrounded by stressors: work, relationship, past hurts, guilt and shame, illness, abuse, etc.. I use various counselling methods to help you become aware of these anxieties and fears, and then teach ways to reduce their control over your life. Clients routinely experience improved self-image, a renewed sense of hope and purpose, and a greater sense of personal freedom.

I help clients through cognitive behavioral therapy. The premise of this therapy is that thoughts create feelings, which create behaviours. The problem is most of our thoughts are fear based and are not based in truth. I help clients to identify the irrational, untrue thoughts that they are having that are causing them stress and anxiety and learn to replace them with more realistic thoughts that do not creat feelings of anxiety.