Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Newport Beach, CA.

Most days, everyone experiences anxiety and stress on some level. The problem arises when the anxiety begins to interfere with normal functioning and you become paralyzed to be more productive. Anxiety can be a specific fear (worries about safety/security) or more generalized where you just constantly feel “anxious” and do not know why. When you are in that state, it is hard to recognize the triggers, or what thoughts/behaviors may be exacerbating your symptoms. Therapy helps to uncover those patterns while also offering techniques to stop them from being debilitating, so you can move forward with a more satisfying, productive everyday life.

Anxiety and stress are like an evil and corrosive thread that work their way through every aspect of a life. It can rob the joy that can make life worth living. I know from both personal and professional experience how anxiety and stress can take the joy out of life and also how to overcome these issues and put them in your past. With the aid of tools like EMDR CBT and guided visualizations I can help you overcome this issue and heal from the issues that drive it. Additionally, I can provide tools, coping skills, and other resources to help you manage this particular issue, and experience increased relief from these symptoms with each session.

I begin by understanding how you experience anxiety/stress because how you experience them is unique for you. Then we begin to increase your tolerance for how you experience anxious/stressful thoughts, feelings, memories, and/or situations. This is necessary so the anxiety/stress stops being an overwhelming experience that interferes and gets in the way of your life. It's crucial to be able to become more comfortable when you experience anxiety/stress because they're a part life. The problem is the distressing and limiting to debilitating effect they have on you. As you learn to be able to do this, you will begin to experience more peacefulness, calm, hope, self-confidence and self-esteem.

How does anxiety and stress play out in your life? It is a vital aspect of our lives, important at very specific times. Yet when anxiety is the ruler and someone is helpless it becomes a life limiting function. Anxiety might also be an avenue to avoid more intense emotional feelings and thoughts. A valuable goal might be to respect and manage one's anxiety and stress in order to live a more free and productive life.

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.

Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, anxiety disorders and ongoing chronic stress can appear as repeated episodes of worry & fear, or develop into sudden feelings of intense anxiety with physical sensations, known as panic attacks. Your anxiety may feel related to an event or thought, and other times appear to occur randomly and without cause. Anxiety can develop at any age, when left untreated it may develop into depression. In therapy we will explore how anxiety is affecting your life. You will learn how your physical, emotional and mental health are connected and together create an effective treatment plan specific to your goals to improve your well-being.

Anxiety affects your whole being. Physiologically, you may experience rapid heart beat, muscle tension, queasiness, and sweating. Behaviorally, anxiety can sabotage your ability to deal with certain everyday situations. Psychologically, it can cause great apprehension, uneasiness, and fear. In our counseling sessions, we will address all of the way that anxiety is affecting you. I will teach you methods to reduce physical symptoms, eliminate avoidance behaviors, and change the "self talk" that helps to perpetuate the worry. Through the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), we will work towards changing the thought and behavior patterns that add to your distress.

I create a transformative experience that emphasizes your personal growth and well-being. My approach to anxiety recovery prioritizes the unique needs and goals of each client, fostering a safe and supportive environment where you can explore and overcome anxiety-related challenges. By focusing on practical strategies and personalized interventions, clients will gain the tools and insights needed to manage anxiety and stress more effectively. This tailored approach of somatic, emotion-focused, and attachment-focused therapeutic techniques will empower you to build resilience, enhance quality of life, and achieve a more balanced and fulfilling existence free from painful anxiety.