Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in York, ON.

Anxiety, panic and fear are feelings that clients can learn to understand and manage. However, building more fear on top of these feelings, can prevent clients from being able to be mindful of, present to and compassionate towards their difficult feelings. The safe non-judgmental compassionate attitude of the therapist helps to encourage the client to be accepting of her/his own difficult feelings and experiences. Examining negative thoughts and beliefs, and understanding situations or relationships that trigger anxiety can lead clients to see new choices for coping with discomfort. Successes in coping lead to a sense of empowerment and increased confidence for new challenges.

In life, we face various stressors and there are times when we may feel anxious, overwhelmed, or helpless. Finding a way to calm the body and mind can be difficult, regardless of whether this is a new struggle or one you have been dealing with for years. I believe that therapy can be a safe container in which stress and anxiety can be explored and worked through. Should you reach out for help, I will work with you to help you better understand how stress and anxiety impact you and I will also help you to develop coping strategies that may invite more calmness and that may support you in feeling empowered. Contact me or book a free consultation if you wish to learn more.

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.

Low levels of anxiety can motivate us to accomplish goals and perform at our best. As the level of experienced anxiety creeps higher, it robs us of our joy and can make us feel overwhelmed resulting in either inactivity or a compulsion to be overactive yet not experiencing any lasting relief. Our sense of internal peace and calm is replaced by perpetual overthinking and fear. Let's work together to gain insight into the root cause of your anxiety so that we are able to empower you to reclaim your experience of joy and a sense of internal calm.

Anxiety and stress is not something that you have to just live with. It is a result of past or current life issues or upsets that is causing your thoughts and bodily reactions to work in a certain way. We will work to identify the causes of your anxiety and stress. We will create practical action plans that will help you to take action and control. We will work with your thoughts to uncover what thoughts are helping or hindering you to be relaxed. You will also learn ways to manage the physical symptoms of anxiety and stress.

Are you stressed and anxious? Of course you are! Never has daily life been more full of complications and competing priorities; but focusing on changing our behaviours often leaves us feeling even more defeated. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which has been proven to be the most effective treatment for anxiety, allows us to focus on our core beliefs and how they create automatic thoughts, which create anxiety and cause damaging behaviours such as avoidance and withdrawal. In addition to CBT strategies, we will explore how your past experiences have created a roadmap for how you view yourself, others, and the world, and will work to repair any roadblocks caused by those experiences.

Anxiety and stress can be confusing and overwhelming, and result in both negative emotional and physical symptoms. Counselling for anxiety or stress provides the opportunity to discover and implement effective coping strategies, identify triggers, and explore and process new ways of engaging with the world around you. Having someone safe to talk to is an effective strategy in and of itself, connect with me today and we can walk out this journey together.