Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Bowen Island, BC.

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.

I support individuals tunderstand and cope with anxiety. The underlying purpose of anxiety is to keep an individual safe and away from harm. Due to complex mechanisms that influence the nervous system, individuals develop stress responses that can be adaptive strategies in the moment but become maladaptive over time, no longer serving one’s best interest. There may be many triggers that can generate overwhelming levels of anxiety in an individual that can difficult to cope with. I use CBT to help clients rewire their nervous system, reframe their belief system, recognize negative automatic thoughts and their generation stemming from critical incidents in childhood.

I help clients through cognitive behavioral therapy. The premise of this therapy is that thoughts create feelings, which create behaviours. The problem is most of our thoughts are fear based and are not based in truth. I help clients to identify the irrational, untrue thoughts that they are having that are causing them stress and anxiety and learn to replace them with more realistic thoughts that do not creat feelings of anxiety.

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.

My approach to anxiety and stress is wholistic—I will help you understand and free yourself from critical inner voices as well as teach you how to self-regulate your nervous system for calm and ease by: • Learning about you and your life, which can include any or all of the following: personal/gender identity, family, culture, relationship, social life, work, medical issues • Selecting the modalities we both feel will be most helpful for you and practicing them in session together • Modalities I work with include: attachment healing, self-regulation, body sensing inquiry, setting healthy boundaries, disarming the inner critic, self-esteem, hypnosis, family constellations

Everyone experiences anxiety and stress at times. If anxiety and stress persist over a long period of time, and interferes with your daily life, you may have an anxiety disorder. Therapy can provide you with a safe space to help find relief and give you tools to move forward with your life. As a therapist, I will support you as you develop new skills, thinking patterns, and improve self esteem.

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.

Evidence-based therapies are used to identify and reframe anxious thought patterns. Mindfulness and relaxation techniques can help create space and capacity to sit with, and move through anxious periods. Consideration is given to how anxiety has served you. Stressors are explored and treatment is tailored to your unique needs - what relationship would you like to have with anxiety?

Anxiety as a result of stress is one of, if not the major contributing factor to poor health in most areas of people lives. If you have ever been tense before an exam or a visit to the dentist, you have a felt anxiety. Increased heart rate, sweating, rapid breathing, dry mouth, & a sense of dread are common. Changing this involves cognitive & behavioural approaches. Cognitive change is understanding how thoughts contribute to symptoms and how to change thought patterns to reduce the intensity of your anxiety. And behavioral changes involve using techniques to reduce or stop any undesired behaviors that are a result of the anxiety you have been experiencing.

Most of my clients over the past twenty plus years have dealt with some form of anxiety and stress. There are many helpful approaches to managing these such as mindfulness and breath awareness, but I have found that often the greatest healing comes from learning to trust one's self and the process of life. Listening to one's deepest self and learning to express one's truth verbally or creatively, may also help the person transform their anxiety and live with greater energy and joy. As with most issues, each individual is unique, as is the approach that is called for.

Anxiety can severely impact the quality of a person's life. It can impact their sleep, work, relationships, school, and their physical health. Sometimes, anxiety can become so intense that people experience physical symptoms like sweating, heart racing, dizziness, nausea, etc. The good news is that there are effective psychological treatments for anxiety. CBT (Cognitive behavioural therapy), which is the type of therapy I practice, is an evidence-based approach that provides individuals with skills to help manage their anxiety and get control over their lives back.

Anxiety and stress is part of normal life. The problem arises on how we deal with it. Life situations can often cause us stress that is beyond our normal coping skill. Therapy can help in developing new coping skills to deal with these specific situations ( ex. a difficult divorce). Generalized anxiety though is not based so much on a situation but is more a lack of confidence in one's ability to cope or/and perceiving the world around us as dangerous. My approach combines cognitive therapy with relaxation techniques to help you gain better coping skills as well as deal with the underlying issues of your anxiety (ex. lack of confidence, fear of rejection).

I work with children, teens, adults and families who are facing difficult decisions and seeking happier balanced lives. We all suffer from worry and anxiety at times in our lives, but when these problems become overwhelming, I provide a safe, non-judgmental, caring counselling environment. My therapeutic approach starts with building a trusting relationship and then addresses these issues with strategies such as those that are built into the Cognitive/Behavioural framework. For example, this approach helps clients better manage their feelings and worries and leads to a more balanced and happier life.

For every client that I see, I always offer an individualized and tailored approach by draw from a variety of therapeutic approaches in order to enable your mental health healing and functional recovery. Using a collaborative and client centered approach, I will walk alongside you and together, we will explore solutions to overcome life's obstacles.

I approach anxiety counseling with a professional and evidence-based methodology, ensuring that you receive the utmost quality of care. Drawing from a robust background in psychology, education, and therapy, I am well-prepared to navigate the intricacies of anxiety and its impact on your life. While anxiety is a natural response to stress, I recognize that, for some, it can become overwhelming and disruptive. It may manifest in various forms, such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, panic disorder, or specific phobias. Together we will implement proved techniques to relieve you of the anxiety that is impacting your well-being.

Real Solutions to Real Challenges. Stress is necessary for survival and provides opportunity for growth. However, it can aslo result in anxiety and even panic with accompaning physical symptoms. Unproductive coping mechanisms may kick in that have become entrenched and difficult to break. In more severe cases Obsessive-Complusive Behaviors may surface to distract us from the anxieties. These obsessive-compulsive behaviors may become debilitating and incredibly frustrating. Martin helps clients deminish their anieties by cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, and overcoming avoidance. Avoidance only provides short-term relief, at the cost significantly damaging our self-esteem

You might be familiar with that tense, unsettled feeling that you can't shake. The overthinking, ruminating, and worrying. It's so hard to be present and engaged when we suffer with anxiety! Anxiety is the #1 reason people seek out my services. I can help you get to the roots of your anxiety (hint: it's not ONLY about disputing your irrational thoughts) so that you feel more grounded and alive. Through their work with me, my clients have reported that they are more socially engaged, less in their heads, more in tune with their bodies, and better able to attend to the underlying emotions and needs underlying the anxiety. I look forward to supporting you in moving beyond your anxiety.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the demands of life? Anxiety is a common experience in our fast-paced world that can leave us feeling depleted, stressed, and uneasy. I will work with you to understand the anxiety you are experiencing. I will help you slow down and reconnect with yourself and your desires. This work may involve tuning into your body's sensations, practicing mindfulness, identifying your values and desired ways of being, as well as setting boundaries to protect your energy and time. I will help to ease your stressors so that you can reconnect to joy, peace, and freedom.

You can live free of anxiety. There are step you can take. Anxious thinking creates powerful negative messages that impact your thoughts and your body physically. The result is your life begins to shrink. This is no way to live. You are meant to live a full, healthy life. The beautiful thing is you get to choose. Today you can start on a new journey towards freedom that gives you a new level of skill and an understanding of how anxiety works to assist you in defeating it and replacing it with greater peace and joy.

Do you find yourself worrying about whether you locked the front door,even though you know that you checked it three times? Do you feel your palms sweating and your heart racing, with an impending sense of doom as a sense panic washes over you? These are both forms of anxiety, that sense that the world is not a safe place and worry and concern over the future. Together we will work together to improve your sense of well being, decrease your anxiety and release you from the need to devote energy and brain space to safety behaviours.

Chronic stress and anxiety when untreated can make just 'regular human function' feel like an unsurmountable task. Anxiety tends to be a downstream symptom of other psychological dynamics and experiences, so understanding how we got here can help us process their impact and develop tools to increase resiliency, improve insight, and manage feelings and emotions.

As a society we tend fear anxiety and stress and make many efforts to avoid or get rid of it. My approach to anxiety and stress is to show you that it does not have to inhibit your functioning – you CAN do things while also being anxious, and you likely already have. Anxiety and stress were once adaptive traits that helped humans survive, and together we can work towards creating a healthier relationship with them, one that does not interfere with your daily life. We will look at your core values, underlying beliefs, and negative thought patterns that might be getting in the way, and work towards a healthier mind and body.

Anxiety is a natural response to stress but can become a constant state for some. It serves as a signal that something needs attention, often pointing to unmet needs or deeper emotions like fear, anger, or grief. Anxiety distracts from these core emotions, especially if expressing them feels unsafe. It also has energy, pushing us to work harder and stay functional, unlike depression, which tends to lead to helplessness. By slowing down and exploring anxiety’s roots, we can uncover what it’s trying to teach us, offering insight into deeper emotional truths.

We live in anxious and stressful times. Although anxiety is an expected and adaptive reaction to stress, it can become a problem when it limits our ability to work, socialize, and enjoy life. The good news is we know that evidenced-based techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and help cope with stress. Our reactions to stress can impact all areas of life including work, relationships, and general well-being. I want to help you manage the current stress in your life, and develop resilience to make it easier to rebound from future challenges.

I will teach you how to reduce anxiety and stress response through calming your mind and body. Using Mindfulness and Mindful Self-Compassion strategies, you will be able to take control of how you respond to difficult life situations. When the mind and body are calm, we are able to expand our thinking about our problems, and solutions to challenges become more readily available.