Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Anmore, BC.

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.

I specialize in supporting neurodivergent and diverse clients in managing anxiety, traumatic stress, workplace stress, and academic stress. My approach to stress management and anxiety support is as diversified as your needs are unique. Together, we will review your current stressors and coping strategies, identify what works well, what needs to be tweaked, and what other types of strategies you'd like to develop. In order to help you manage anxiety, I will encourage you to engage your thoughts, your feelings, your creativity and your body in the process. Let's aim for more than a reduction of symptoms: let's see how good your life can get and how far you can come!

I primarily work with anxiety from an EMDR/body-based perspective. Anxiety is a very "old" physiological response, in that there are parts of anxiety that are unconscious rather than "cognitive." I typically find that if we only attend to the cognitive side of anxiety, the physiological parts, such as body memory and activation, will find somewhere else to pop up. By working on the physical activation, we can better address and move through the anxiety.

Anxiety doesn’t have to run your life. If constant worry, panic, or stress are keeping you on edge, it’s time for relief. I help clients break free from overwhelming thoughts, regain control of their emotions, and create a sense of calm, even in stressful situations. You don’t have to keep living in survival mode. With the right tools, you can feel more confident, present, and at peace. Let’s start today.

I offer an integrative blend of somatic awareness, mindfulness practices, relational attunement, and trauma-informed presencing to help my clients address anxiety and stress in their lives. Using your natural healing process as our guide, we can help the nervous system learn what a peaceful state of health and vitality is again. I offer EMDR and other trauma processing approaches to support you in your healing when appropriate.

Feelings of anxiety can become so intense that it becomes overwhelming. Often individuals struggling with anxiety express constant intruding thoughts that focus on fears of events of the future. Anxiety can create physical feelings of distress like a tight chest that makes it difficult to breath, an upset or tight feeling in the stomach, and general fatigue from constantly trying to control their thoughts and actions. Some people have battled anxiety for so long that they begin to believe it is just who they are and accept the restrictions it causes in their life. Through counselling we will work to break the cycle of anxiety controlling your inner world. Bringing a sense of relief, control and freedom that has been absent for so long.

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 within our interpersonal relationships. We may be stuck in the buzzing state 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 comes in many forms - constant worrying, a sense of loss of control, or the overwhelming feeling that something is going to go wrong. As humans, we all experience some level of anxiety, it's a part of our normal stress response to help motivate us and even keep us safe by thinking ahead to danger. However, when we get stuck in this experience and feel held back, it can be helpful to talk to a therapist. My approach to anxiety is to help you understand your unique reactions and triggers and guide you in building further strategies and tools to cope with anxiety in a way that is manageable and healing.

Anxiety and Stress can be incredibly debilitating - and make the smallest of tasks seem like large mountains to climb. I have lived experience with stress and anxiety and support clients with building tools, increase understanding and education and help improve daily functioning. We will work together to determine your goals and take a proactive approach to follow through on a plan for effective solutions. The sessions will lead to improved mood, increased daily functioning and moving from surviving to thriving in your life!

We are far more primitive in our reactions than we like to think, and fear, stress, or anxiety, can go from an adaptive warning to a very non adaptive over reaction, arresting our ability to function. I have worked extensively in this area, in giving workshops and as a trainer for other counsellors, focusing first on understanding the body's reaction and then developing skills to over-ride the anxiety response. Using a mindfulness approach, staying connected with our needs, and focusing on resiliency, anxiety can be tamed.

Anxiety is often the manifestation of an overactive fight or flight mechanism. This mechanism is in us for a reason, so we won't try to shut it down. But we will look at ways to modulate the alarm response so our lives are enjoyable and fulfilling. Stress is not the same as anxiety, and my favourite intervention for it involves reframing stress as a challenge and opportunity to build capacity. With a little work, stress can become your friend.

Is anxiety taking over your life? Let's work together to help you learn the skills and access the knowledge that you already have to make a positive change in your life. I will work with you using an approach that is suited to your unique needs. I can give you tools and to help you get to the life you want. I have worked with clients using cognitive behavioural therapy, solution focused therapy, acceptance & commitment therapy and mindfulness techniques. You are a person who is living with anxiety, not an anxious person. Anxiety does not define you, but it is possible to learn to cope with it. If you want a more fulfilling life, then call me and let's make that life possible.

Anxiety, panic, and stress often show up as tension or unpleasant physical sensations in the body as fear and other emotions are held back. Trauma, relationship problems, losses, and attachment issues are often the hidden source of emotional pain. To resolve anxiety and panic, I use a mind-body approach which integrates cognitive, emotional, and body sensing techniques to get curious about and resolve the true underlying issues.