Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in De Winton, AB.

Anxiety is a normal, human response to stressful events that we each experience at times ... like delivering a speech (or presentation at work or narrowly avoiding a car accident. It becomes a problem when we feel anxious a LOT, or our response is out of all proportion to the situation, or we avoid the provoking situation/thing, and it interferes with our day-to-day lives. Anxiety is treatable. I can help you reduce your stress response, manage your physiological responses (like breathing), change your thinking about the feared event, and build your repertoire of self-care and relaxation-enhancing activities -- all of which will reduce your anxiety and enhance your quality of life.

I am a counsellor with a special interest in perinatal mental health. Many perinatal women experience stress and anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum. I work with women, and their families, to minimize the detrimental impact of anxiety on the transition to motherhood and the early parenting years. Counselling during pregnancy and the postpartum period is intended to reduce emotional distress for perinatal women, their infants, and the whole family system.

Stress is a normal, adaptive response to changes in our circumstances and/or environment. Stress can act as a motivator, however when it becomes chronic and overwhelming, it can negatively impact our relationships ourselves, family and friends, our work interests and hobbies, and increase our risk of the development of other psychological and physical health concerns such as anxiety and depression. I assist clients in resolving their anxiety by identifying and understanding symptoms, identifying triggers that increase symptoms, and developing practical day-to-day strategies that provide both short-and-long term relief.

Anxiety and stress take a hold on you and never let go, leaving you trapped and frozen. I help my clients to learn all about the magic of mindfulness practice. It's one of the most effective ways to put you in control of your emotions, rather than them controlling you. Imagine how great it would be to have an internal place of peace and serenity that you can use at any time to relax and become grounded. Mindfulness is an ancient practice that is also supported by scientific empirical studies. It's one of the best ways to change your life.

In order to effectively manage anxiety, worries and stress, one needs to learn to reduce and relax the amygdala’s fear and panic response. Adopting a mindfulness mindset, paired with stress reduction techniques, are one of the best antidotes to being carried away or paralyzed by stress, worries and anxiety. By practicing mindfulness-based activities and tools specifically designed to combat and better manage the effects of stress and anxiety, you will release the heavy burden they can cause. You will learn how to more peacefully coexist with your thoughts and your emotions in the present moment, thus creating a state of inner calm to help contain and lower your stress, worries and anxiety.

Our world can be a stressful and frightening place -- and it's even more difficult to walk through alone. You don't have to feel alone in an unsafe world. Our specialized Christian counselling for women struggling with anxiety, panic and stress can empower you with the tools to deal with life, relationships and your faith in a way that doesn't just mask the problem - it lets you walk free from it.

We have evolved for survival, NOT HAPPINESS, which is why we all have a propensity for anxiety and stress. It's natural, however, it's HOW YOU DEAL WITH IT that makes the difference. Think of all the ways stress and anxiety are affecting your life. Now imagine the joy and fulfilment of living your dreams without being immobilized by stress and anxiety! Here are some of the potential benefits: improved health, weight loss, smoking cessation, alcohol reduction or elimination, improved relationships and marriage, etc. All of these benefits can occur when you learn how to manage, NOT AVOID, stress and anxiety. For more info on how I practive click here - http://www.thehappinesstrap.com/about_ac

Anxiety is, simply, put, unrelenting worry that continues after the thing or circumstance you are worrying about is removed or it is the exaggerated worry about something. In anxiety, the sheer size of the worry in relation to the concern, the realistic vs. non-realistic nature of the concern, and the frequency or level of control related to concern matter. OCD relates to obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. Social Anxiety is an intrusive, disruptive fear of people or certain social situations. Often, we see fears of judgement, body image, looking awkward or stupid, as being thematic in social anxiety thoughts. Just to name a few example of how anxiety can present itself.

Stressors and anxiety are a normal part of life. It is how you respond to the changes that life sends your way that makes the difference between being resilient or unhealthy. Distinguishing between unhealthy and healthy anxiety and learning to effectively manage stressors are key life skills. Also what we tell ourselves about a given situation has a lot to do with how we manage it. Together we will explore your stressors and work at eliminating your ineffective beliefs and developing ways to manage difficult situations more effectively. .

While you may have heard many times that it’s what you do with stress that counts, this often feels easier said than done. We vary in our physiological sensitivity to stress, and our past experiences and belief systems can also contribute greatly to our experience of current stressors. Exploring and unpacking what you most deeply believe about the experience of living in this world and being in relationship to others is part of my approach to working with anxiety and chronic stress, as beliefs can be modified in the direction of being less limiting and more life enhancing. Teaching you to be able to better regulate your body's response to stress is the other part of my work in this area.

I approach anxiety differently from many therapists. Instead of struggling to fight against the anxious thoughts and feelings, I encourage people to explore what is feeding and maintaining them. They develop tools and strategies to move forward despite their paralyzing thoughts and feelings. We learn how to change behaviour based on what is most important to us rather than continuing to be held hostage by stress, panic and anxiety. This values-driven approach can guide behaviour change long-term. I believe that it is only through acceptance and thoroughly understanding our feelings that changes can really happen.

Anxiety disorders commonly coexist with addiction tendencies. Anxiety can severely inhibit a person's life, causing them to feel an irrational amount of panic, fear and other negative emotions in any given circumstance. Severe anxiety may influence a person to avoid leaving their house, or to become paralyzed in situations they interpret as stressful. Many people who struggle with anxiety will try to self medicate with alcohol or drugs, which ultimately makes their symptoms worse. A dual diagnosis of addiction and anxiety requires special treatment considerations; the kind that Valiant Recovery provides.

Stress is when our old coping strategies are ineffective to help us with our current challenges in life. Stress management is about adapting to the challenges before us and this is not always easy. At times, our stress is magnified by anxiety and anxiety is based in fear. One of the strategies I teach clients is to ask themselves is it anxiety? Is it a genuine and imminent danger to you? When it's anxiety then I have strategies to help you evaluate your stressors and your environment to reduce the impact on your day to day life.