Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Woodstock, ON.

For many of us, our stream of life is interrupted by events that are so stressful and scary that they create lasting change. This can be a single incident such as an assault or accident. Or, it could be recurring incidents that take place in the course of our work. It could also be trauma in our earliest years from our caregivers or in our first relationships. If you feel that something from your past is impacting your current life, trauma and stress focused therapy may be a good fit for you.

Stress and anxiety when present within healthy limits can stimulate, motivate, challenge, warn and activate our bodies to react accordingly to the situation. When it's too much, too intense and for too long, stress and anxiety lead to poor functioning, impairment and exhaustion resulting in stress and anxiety overload, contributing heavily to triggering anxiety disorders. In my therapy, I use therapeutic approaches and techniques that help reduce stress and anxiety and enhance the quality of your life and build your emotional resilience. You develop skills to minimize distress and maximize efficacy in many areas of your living and live life in a happier and healthier manner

Anxiety can come in many forms, such as: panic and anxiety attacks; extreme fear; worrying thoughts from which one rarely gets a break; sleeplessness either due to going over and over how one behaved during the day, and judging oneself, or, from dreading what the following day might bring; fear and avoidance of one's own intense emotions; fear of rejection of others, leading to intense social anxiety or avoidance of close relationships; performance anxiety, such as worries about exams, job interviews, or performance appraisals at one's place of work. I like to get a sense of the frequency, intensity, and duration of somebody's anxiety, and then to help them to reduce all 3.

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 are often met with the thoughts that they are out of your control. Through Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. By learning how to identify the thoughts, feelings and body reactions that you experience, you will be able to develop an action plan to reduce these reactions in stressful situations. Recommendations are made to track your moods and emotions outside of therapy and practice strategies when situations occur.

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, stress and panic attacks can be debilitating and life-limiting. Anxiety is a specialty area for me and I work to get at the root of the problem as well as provide practical and powerful tools to help eliminate or significantly manage these issues. Some anxiety may be trauma-based and I utilize a trauma-informed approach to therapy in general. You don't have to let stress anxiety rule your life - there is effective help here!

In my approach to work with anxiety and stress, I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness, and Somatic Experiencing to help people engage fully with their present experiences and bodily sensations. This encourages you to observe and accept their feelings of anxiety and stress without judgment, fostering a greater sense of control. By learning to stay grounded and present, you can develop more effective coping strategies that align with your values, leading to a more balanced and fulfilling life.

Anxiety and stress, sometimes they're manageable... sometimes they aren't. If you are having difficulty managing the anxiety and stress, I strive to work with people to navigate and explore their stressors to understand them and gain insight and perspective into those stress patterns so we can collaboratively devise empowering ways to manage them.

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.

Stress and anxiety trigger the internal alarm system, alerting us to a threat, and activating our nervous system, sending a flood of stress hormones through the body in preparation to fight the threat, or run from it. When the brain determines the threat is gone it sends the signal that the body returns to its natural calm state. But what if the brain fails to tell the body that the threat is gone? This is where stress and anxiety start to build and become seemingly impossible to endure. I work with my clients to reduce the presence of stress, to cope and mange it better, while learning how to intentionally activate the body's calming mechanisms.

It's critical to understand that, even if you suffer from panic attacks, compulsive thoughts, ongoing worry, or a phobia, you don't have to live in fear and anxiety. In many cases, therapy is the most effective strategy to handle anxiety-related problems. Therapy gives you the skills and teaches you how to use them to overcome anxiety. If stress is not managed, it can become chronic stress and ultimately lead to burnout. While burnout leaves people feeling completely exhausted and unmotivated to keep going, stress often results in people feeling overwhelmed. Therapy provides coping mechanisms for stress symptoms, which may help to avoid burnout.

When working with me you experience a greater understanding of the cause of your anxiety. We engage in skill development to reduce your anxiety. My clients identify solutions to their source of stress and learn more about how stress has been a symptom of greater relationship concerns. Your success shows up through engagement, learned awareness, and growing trust in yourself.

Anxiety and stress have become quite common in today's world, thus, you are not alone. If you are experiencing either of these, and are finding it difficult to cope and manage, Growth Counselling Services can help. Together, we will work toward better understanding your anxiety, it's potential roots, and learning how to establish an alternate relationship with it. I believe in my clients' inner strengths and abilities to face the struggle that coincides with both. If you are tired of being defined by your anxiety, or are simply ready to make a change that allows you to regain control of your life, call Growth Counselling Services today, and let's get started.