Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in White Rock, BC.

In my practice, I use a variety of evidence-based approaches to help my clients manage their anxiety and stress, including EMDR, Compassionate Inquiry, CBT, and mindfulness techniques. Whether you are struggling with generalized anxiety, panic attacks, or stress related to work or relationships, I am here to help. My goal is to create a safe and supportive environment where you can explore your thoughts and feelings, gain insight into your patterns of thinking and behavior, and develop the skills necessary to manage your anxiety and stress in a healthy way.

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 comes in many forms - constant worrying, a sense of loss of control, or the overwhelming feeling that something is going to go wrong. As humans, we all experience some level of anxiety, it's a part of our normal stress response to help motivate us and even keep us safe by thinking ahead to danger. However, when we get stuck in this experience and feel held back, it can be helpful to talk to a therapist. My approach to anxiety is to help you understand your unique reactions and triggers and guide you in building further strategies and tools to cope with anxiety in a way that is manageable and healing.

Chronic stress and anxiety when untreated can make just 'regular human function' feel like an unsurmountable task. Anxiety tends to be a downstream symptom of other psychological dynamics and experiences, so understanding how we got here can help us process their impact and develop tools to increase resiliency, improve insight, and manage feelings and emotions.

Dealing with anxiety and stress can feel overwhelming. Day-to-day tasks can be overwhelming. In our sessions, we'll employ evidence-based techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help you identify triggers and thought patterns, giving you practical tools to manage your anxiety. The road to a calmer mind may have its ups and downs, but please know that you're not alone on this journey. With consistent effort and support, you can regain a sense of control and peace in your life.

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)

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.

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.

In therapy sessions clients will benefit from exploring the causes and contributing factors underlying the feelings of anxiety they are experiencing. Clients will identify stressors in their lives and identify how these stressors are effecting their emotional and physical well-being. They will learn strategies and skills to more effectively manage stress and anxiety, and learn to change their emotional reactions to stressful situations. It is my hope that clients will discover the capabilities that exist within themselves to create the peace and calm they wish to attain in their lives.

As a society we tend fear anxiety and stress and make many efforts to avoid or get rid of it. My approach to anxiety and stress is to show you that it does not have to inhibit your functioning – you CAN do things while also being anxious, and you likely already have. Anxiety and stress were once adaptive traits that helped humans survive, and together we can work towards creating a healthier relationship with them, one that does not interfere with your daily life. We will look at your core values, underlying beliefs, and negative thought patterns that might be getting in the way, and work towards a healthier mind and body.

If you're struggling with anxious thoughts, you may find it hard to focus. The fight or flight alarm is going off in your brain, constantly sending you messages starting with "what if...." If worrying is keeping you trapped in a hamster wheel, tired, but unable to rest, you may find yourself turning to addictive substances or behaviours to cope. As an addiction counsellor, I help clients cope with the anxious thoughts keeping them trapped in addictive behaviours. By uncovering these underlying thoughts, I help you develop coping skills so you can gain a sense of focus, clarity, confidence, and freedom from constantly overthinking. Send me a message and I'll guide you through the next steps.

Life is stressful. It's impossible to go through life without experiencing stress and anxiety. That said, there are ways to make the physical and emotional experiences of stress helpful allies instead of letting them get the upper hand. Anxiety tells us that something is important and we need to pay attention so we can evaluate what is happening and what it means to us. We may need to find a new way to respond. We have a greater capacity to change our worlds than we often realize. I would love to hear your circumstances so we can look at your situation with new eyes and unlock new possibilities!

We will go over situations that result in the client feeling anxious, what their thoughts are in those moments when they are anxious and their behaviour as a result. We will look at challenging negative thoughts into realistic thoughts and gradual exposure exercises when there are fears that are getting in the way. We will go over psycho-education about anxiety.