Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Redwater, AB.

In this increasingly high pressure world anxiety and stress has become the norm for so many. The ability to destress and cope with anxiety is a skill that everyone should have. I teach mindfulness and other evidence based techniques to relieve and mange anxiety and stress. I have run seminars and courses for organizations and businesses specifically for their employees.

Are you feeling worried or anxious all the time? Have you started avoiding certain people, places, or things? Anxiety can present with physical symptoms and prevent us from doing things we love. Anxiety can feel scary, and even result in panic attacks. Therapy can help with understanding your personal anxiety symptoms, find individualized coping tools and even provide treatment. Stress looks so different for everyone and can stem from both negative, and positive life events (marriage, kids, buying a house, travelling). Counselling for stress will likely include some form of CBT, problem solving and examining current coping skills.

Anxiety and stress are experienced by most psychotherapy clients who come here. People usually find my approach helpful whether or not they identify anxiety/stress as a primary condition for treatment. I always aim to adjust my treatment approach to the individual characteristics and needs of my client. Sometimes situations and systems can be addressed and improved; sometimes all that a person can change is their own attitude. I am able to use verbal, visusalization, and altered state strategies for helping people grow past fear.

Although anxiety is a natural part of life, it can escalate and begin to interfere with functioning. In these cases, I assist clients to learn ways to gain more control, such as by learning to relax the body, think in ways that do not create additional anxiety, process past experiences that contribute to the anxiety, and identify triggers so that alternate coping strategies can be used. I also work with clients to establish healthy stress management strategies, through exercise, social support, self-care, assertiveness, healthy expression of feelings, and appropriate life balance, so that clients have an overall sense of calm and well-being.

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.

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.

Anxiety and stress can negatively impact client's ability to deal with daily challenges and stressors. Anxiety is excess activation in the nervous system so helping clients to release the activation in turn reduces their anxiety and then they can experience a sense of calm and feeling settled. Toxic stress affects the way we think and perceive reality so addressing the anxiety allows us to retrain the brain to manage the stress and perceived threat which reduces fear, worry, and panic.

Daily life inevitably brings with it a certain level of anxiety and stress, that everybody experiences to some degree. Are you finding yourself too overwhelmed by the stress and confusion? I can work with you to develop strategies and coping methods so that these stressful situations are manageable. We can work together to ensure that you have the tools to balance the areas of your life that are causing you stress, whether they are relationship, work or health related.

Anxiety and stress are common and normal experiences, but they can be debilitating if not managed. Targeting clients' relationship to their own anxiety and stress is critical to moving beyond coping and toward lasting improvement. I use multiple therapies including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, EMDR, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Family Systems therapy.

Anxiety, fear and stress are all natural human responses that are supposed to be helpful but sometimes they get in the way. They may feel overwhelming or appear when they are not needed. Learning to cope with these emotions involves understanding their purpose, triggers and I help you build coping strategies to manage stress and anxiety or even overcome it so you can live your life on your terms.

Anxiety can be an adaptive, it helps to prepare us to perform at our best and allows us to respond quickly in new environments and experiences. However, when our anxiety becomes overwhelming it can interfere with our day to day functioning significantly. This is when we usually need some support to gain control of our anxiety and be able to manage it. I will be able to provide you with tools to use in your daily life to manage stress and anxiety. It is also important to understand and address the underlying causes of the anxiety and in order to reduce it's overall impact on your life, and give you more control of it in your future.