Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Hamilton, ON.

For many clients it is difficult to make the call to seek counselling for anxiety, but I encourage you to do it as an investment in yourself. In a warm and empathetic environment, together we look at how your thoughts affect your feelings which lead to anxiety as well as your life story to consider areas of healing from the past as well as solutions for the future. My specialty is in understanding how significant relationships or the loss of these relationships contribute to one’s anxiety and stress.

Living with anxiety or having a high stress can have an impact on every area of our lives. Emotional health, physical health, relationships and careers can all suffer as a result. I use a poly-vagal informed approach to help my clients cope with and reduce their anxiety and stress while learning to gain control over their nervous systems. This approach is both educational and practical. If you would like to improve your quality of life by reducing anxiety and stress contact me for a free consult.

Anxiety is like a constant churning of worry and self-doubt. It may push us away from social activities, isolate us in our homes, identify fearful objects and preoccupy us with order and routine. It may even leave us terrified and thinking we are losing our minds. These and other presentations of anxiety require attention and care. The earlier we attend to the demands of anxiety, the sooner we can begin to become free of it. Stress is different, although it feels the same at times. Your care needs to be tailored to the specifics of what you are experiencing. I practice Integrated Therapy, which offers a selective approach to using all the tools and forms of counselling available to help you.

Anxiety is a pervasive mental health issue that can also be associated with a variety of factors including depression, low self-esteem, trauma, exposure to accumulative stressors, or acute situational stress. The experience of anxiety can exist in the absence of obvious triggers. Given the variables, it is essential to hear a client’s story fully to define a clearer map of psycho-educational needs. By exploring alternative ways of thinking and employing CBT-based, anxiolytic strategies (imagery, relaxation and breathing exercises), clients are better equipped to gain control–i.e., unlearn bad habits contributing to patterns of negative thinking, fears, and unwanted physiological responses.

Back in our distant past, anxiety and stress came from physical concerns such as lack of food, or shelter, to help us survive the winter, or danger of being killed by an animal (or neighbour!). While we now have few physical dangers to cause us anxiety or stress, we have many psychological ones – work, traffic, neighbours, money and lack of time to name a few. It is not these “events” themselves that create the anxiety and stress, but how we perceive them. Through exploring the irrationality of our thoughts, life’s events can be put into a more balanced perspective, with the resulting positive impact on our health and sense of wellbeing.

I use a variety of counselling techniques including therapeutic art making combined with talking therapy to aid my clients in identifying their triggers for stress and anxiety. The art making process can be used along with meditative techniques to help clients to calm the stress and anxiety that they are feeling. It can provide a safe and effective outlet for the excess energy and/or tension that anxiety and stress can create. I help my clients learn coping techniques to help them manage their stress and anxiety.

In these unprecedented times in our lives many of us are dealing with feelings of great uncertainty about our individual future and how to handle and cope with life changes. Repetitive thoughts are often aligned with anxiety. Anxiety has a cyclical pattern and unless it is interrupted it will run its course, causes overwhelming feelings of fear and despair. Through a compassionate and observational lens reducing stress and anxiety will cultivate focus and clarity. Learning to connect to our senses is very grounded and can quickly break the anxiety cycle and help bring us back to our own center. Book a free consultation to see if we are a good fit.

For the past 10 years, I have enjoyed helping clients work through their struggles related to anxiety and stress, especially when it comes to career and workplace related stresses. I have found success using client-centred, Cognitive Behavioural Theoretical and Dialectical Behavioural theories in associated sessions. As well, I also tend to rely on Solution-Focused Theory to help client find and implement coping strategies.

It is normal to worry and feel stressed about life's problems and pressures. But when compounded symptoms begin to overwhelm us to the point where we are getting headaches, heart palpitations, a churning stomach, cold sweats, sleepless nights, weight loss, obsessive thoughts, a distressed GI tract - then we need help to break the adrenaline-fear cycle. Anxiety feeds on fear and needs to be confronted, appropriately and safely, with relaxation techniques, new perceptions and constructive thinking patterns. A counsellor can help you do this.

Anxiety and stress can affect all aspects of our lives. It can impact our mood, self-esteem, relationships, and our day-to-day functioning. It can be quite overwhelming, and so many people are struggling, especially in this fast-paced & tumultuous world we're living in! In therapy, we'll work together to figure out the root cause of what's making you stressed & anxious, and make a plan to heal and engage tools for coping. This will help reduce your distress, find balance in life, and reconnect with feelings of joy and calm. If you'd like to start feeling better now, book a consultation or session today and let's get started! www.kaleidoscopecounsellingco.com

Anxiety and stress are normal emotional and bodily responses to real or potential danger. In moderation they are adaptive allowing us the ability to mobilize resources and act in ways to keep us safe. In excess however, they can create emotional and physical suffering. Fortunately, a willingness to allow distressing thoughts and feelings, or alternatively, altering them into ones that are more productive, can result in individuals gaining relief from such discomfort. As a practitioner who strives to teach clients how to do both through acceptance- commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT), requisite skills will be learned in accomplishing this very goal.

It is normal to worry and feel stressed about life's problems and pressures. But when compounded symptoms begin to overwhelm us to the point where we are getting headaches, heart palpitations, a churning stomach, cold sweats, sleepless nights, weight loss, obsessive thoughts, a distressed GI tract - then we need help to break the adrenaline-fear cycle. Anxiety feeds on fear and needs to be confronted, appropriately and safely, with relaxation techniques, new perceptions and constructive thinking patterns. A counsellor can help you do this.

Anxiety is a gift… it’s not the kind of gift a typical person would ask for, but it’s still a gift. It is our body’s way of telling us something is wrong and we need to fix it. Anxiety is not evil like many people think, but it can hold us back from being the person we were meant to be. Together, we will find ways to reduce this while addressing the source of the problem in order to bring healing into your life. It’s time to regain control of your life.

y approach includes using techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing and psycho-education. Mindfulness and relaxation are approaches that are extremely helpful in supporting those who are struggling with issues of anxiety and stress. Clients will benefit from anxiety and stress counselling as they will be able to manage day-to-day stress and be able to utilize basic tools provided to them during sessions.

Are you experiencing anxiety and stress, often from living in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing social environment? Do you struggle to multi-task and stay focused as you move through the day? Let us work together to lower your stress through various tools that can fit into your busy life. I can help you to incorporate these tools into your life.

Stress and anxiety can have a negative impact on an individual and their health. Without proper support and understanding, an individual can struggle with their daily functioning or even get physically ill. Fortunately, talking it out and exploring the anxiety and the stress through counselling can also help individuals who battle stress on a regular basis. Counselling can help you gain perspective on your current thought patterns and coping skills, while also working to give you the advantage over the stress and anxiety.

This is a difficult time that we're living in. Human connection is not as readily accessible as it used to be, and we now find ourselves having to go out of our way in order to find friends and have meaningful conversation. Life wasn't meant to be this way, and we have to get creative in finding ways to navigating life healthfully. If anxiety and stress are limiting your life, please reach out.

Dealing with stress and anxiety can be a challenge for many and navigating GAD, SAD and OCD can feel like anxiety has the upper hand. There are many coping strategies available to help with anxiety. Research has shown that CBT can be as effective as medication (Source: APA Div. 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology). I use a blend of CBT and ACT to help with anxiety both of which are research-based and proven to be effective for many people.

Anxiety can be overwhelming and seeks to limit us in our day to day functioning. Anxiety has complex origins: whether it be genetics, or due to trauma or just living in a continued stressful environment, anxiety will keep us in a constant state of alert and even panic. Cognitive behaviour therapy and interpersonal therapy can help one learn techniques to control anxiety and to change your way of coping so that anxiety no longer rules your life.