Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Lake Cowichan, BC.

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.

Our focus is to support individuals who are struggling with anxiety and stress to a more relaxed and manageable way of being. Not only is stress and anxiety hard on our health and energy, but it also can have a significant impact on our world around us. We will work in a collaborative manor to break apart the building blocks that have contributed to the imbalance of anxiety and stress in your life, and empower you with the tools and techniques to remain in balance.

A life, free from worry, stress, and anxiety- this is what we want for you. What is going on? How are you thinking? How are you feeling? What worries you? These are questions that we may start with in a therapy session that addresses anxiety and stress. We offer plenty of tools to help the anxious person change the way their brain is working. We want to cool down anxiety and stress, and learn acceptance and relaxation.

While most treatment approaches for anxiety and stress are effective on the surface, they don’t treat the real problem. Mantras, deep breathing, and rational dialogues about your fear being irrational rarely work---for most people don’t believe it or you! Imagine if you can trick the brain into changing without you telling your conscious mind that you are changing it? Problem with anxiety and stress is that the brain in this state knows you want to change it and it resists. Contact Kevin@kevinfleminphd.com for the ultimate stress and anxiety solution that will literally change your brain's autonomic nervous system patterns while you sit on your butt. 877-606-6161.

Anxiety and stress are something everyone faces at times. When worry becomes overwhelming, however, it can affect the quality of your life. I offer simple easy-to-follow strategies for dealing with anxiety in the moment, and I can help you explore its deeper roots--childhood experiences, trauma, relationship issues, career problems, unexplored life-meaning, and others. I have advanced certification with the Anxiety Disorder Association of BC (AnxietyBC, through the UBC Psychology Department) and years of experience helping people. Cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and psychotherapy are some of the tools I can use to help you feel in control of your worries.

Anxiety can be debilitating and rob you of your ability to enjoy your life and precious moments. If you find yourself absorbed by worry and fear, whether it be worry about finances, people, lifestyle, or even your performance in various settings, there are effective tools that can reduce anxiety and build confidence in your ability to manage stress and worry. I enjoy helping people who tend to be self-critical, or experience anxiety with respect to performance, social situations, or who are caught in situations stife with uncertainty. Tools I provide to help people can include self-hypnosis, relaxation training, Emotional Freedom Technique and other cognitive/experiential tools.

Most people need support facing particular fears throughout their life. I see my job as coming along side of you and helping you gain the confidence to face that which is keeping you from moving forward with your life. We will do this through a combination of behavioral strategies, exploring the emotional material that is keeping you stuck and how past history is affecting your current situation.

Prolonged stress and anxiety can result in impairment to our mental and physical health. We may experience high blood pressure, significant weight loss or gain, inability to concentrate or sleep, panic attacks, agitation and irritability. Overtime, these ailments can not only decrease our life satisfaction, but reduced our overall health. Don’t ignore the symptoms. Get help. Counselling can help you learn ways to cope, identify the underlying causes of your stress and explore ways to reduce stress and anxiety in your life.

Often people will tell others to stop worrying and lower your stress because of the serious health problems it can cause, but despite our best attempts to do this most often people are simply unsuccessful -- the more we try to "control" these problem areas, the worse the worry cycle usually gets. Mindfulness can help us break this cycle by learning to accept our feelings and stop getting hooked into the stress, anxiety and worry. What if these attempts to "control" the anxiety is actually the problem that keeps us stuck in it and leads us away from the meaningful life we desire?

If you think events in your life are causing you stress, you are wrong! It is actually your reaction to those events that is causing you distress. You may experience toxic automatic thoughts in in stressful situations, and we can challenge those thoughts. I can also help you with time management, teach you relaxation techniques, and instruct you in the practice of mindfulness.