Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Vaughan, NS.

Stress and anxiety is a common mental health concern and something that every person will experience from time to time to varing degrees. In therapy, I will help you decrease anxious distress and find better functioning. I use cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques aimed at identifying the underlying thought, beliefs, and feelings that lead to distress. I will also help you establish coping skills to help you manage anxiety such as challenging unhelpful thought patterns, grounding, mindfulness, deep breathing techniques, progressive muscle relaxation, positive imagery, and much more.

While our bodies are perfectly designed to adapt and react to stress, modern problems mean that we tend to detect life threatening dangers in very ordinary places. Conflicts at work, arguments in our relationships and uncertainties such as the post-Covid world activate old survival mechanisms. We may be stuck in the buzzing, fear states of ‘fight-flight’ or the numb and paralyzed states of ‘freeze and shut down.’ The good news is that I have a long history of safely and successfully helping individuals and couples to reduce and release stress using a variety of CBT and mindfulness techniques, as well as trauma-informed therapy. You have my commitment to compassionate and educated care.

You feel breathless. On edge. Like your stomach is tied in knots. You struggle hard to quiet your mind. Which is tough because it often feels like it is going in a million different directions all at once. You’ve tried everything you can think of to get free from the grip of the anxiety that seems to be running your life, but nothing has worked. Counselling for anxiety can help you get back to doing the things that are important to you by giving you the practical strategies you need to cope with anxiety and panic when you feel overwhelmed. You will increase your ability to tolerate uncertainty so you can continue to enjoy your life even in the moments that feel less under your control.

If depression is the common cold of mental health then anxiety and stress must be the flue. Most of my clients have some level of anxiety or stress. Often debilitating anxiety has its roots in trauma or abuse. I teach a wide range of meditation and relaxation techniques developed over my 30+ years of counselling experience that I use myself on a daily basis - with variations that my clients over the years have come up with on their own. Even if you have tried to relax or meditate before this and found it difficult or impossible, there are techniques that can help you learn to be still and have peace even in the face of danger, anxiety, or fear.