Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Lions Bay, BC.

Anxiety and stress are natural life experiences. Concern arises when anxiety interferes with a person's ability to carry out daily life responsibilities and/or when a panic attack occurs unexpectedly. Therapeutic intervention is then essential to manage the associated symptoms. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is generally the Gold Seal modality, albeit, a number of others interventions are suitable. Psycho-education is important to help the client understand the difference between fear and anxiety. It is also important to provide home exercises such as breathing activities, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation and other self guided exercises.

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

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.

Anxiety and Stress are a part of our human experience as we navigate so much that is out of our control and unpredictable in life. Some anxiety and stress is helpful in navigating difficult moments in life. We want to be able to move through life with an awareness of how the anxiety and stress is helping us and how it is also covering deeper emotions that need to be addressed. Through body psychotherapy we can connect more deeply to ourselves and the emotions stored in our bodies and use tools and exercises to regulate the anxiety and stress while processing the deeper emotions. The anxiety and stress dissipates as we become more comfortable with our deeper emotions and we begin to thrive.

Anxiety and Stress can be related to a number of things going on in our lives at a given time. Typically it is how we perceive the stressors in our life, or the feeling that we don't have the resources to cope that determines whether or not we feel anxious, stressed, or overwhelmed. If we are unable to get into a RECOVERY zone, anxiety and stress can quickly seem to spin out of control and EVERYTHING may feel too hard. I use Cognitive and Behavioural, Mindfulness, and Ego State therapies to help individuals quickly acquire the tools, and insights that help them reduce the Anxiety symptoms and navigate their anxiety triggers. Moreover, they regain a sense of calm and control in their lives.

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.

Do you have difficulty “turning off” your brain? Is your anxiety creeping back up on you or has it become overwhelming or paralyzing? Are stress and anxiety negatively impacting your health, relationships, or career? Stress can be even more difficult to manage for those with a pre-disposition towards anxiety. We would like to help. We provide treatment to help you relieve anxiety and stress, develop coping skills, and build confidence. We will address your triggers, your relationship with anxiety as well as your attempts to “control” it, and learn more adaptive ways that allow you to flourish. Call us today at (604) 614 – 7177 to get started.

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!

Are you living your life constantly feeling on-edge? Are you a worrier who can't seem to turn it off? Does anxiety or stress keep you from being fully present for your family? As an anxiety and stress specialist, I know rough this can be. But there is hope. Together, we can deploy powerful techniques to get you feeling calm, relaxed, and emotionally thriving, so you can effectively deal with life challenges. Imagine: going about your day feeling excited rather than worried, confident rather than stressed, and focused rather than scattered. If you’re ready to stop worrying and start living, reach out.

Are you feeling overwhelmed and anxious about life? Are you struggling to cope with your worries? If so, there is help. As an anxiety counsellor, I provide comprehensive and supportive care for those dealing with anxiety. I work closely with my clients to develop a plan of action tailored to their individual needs. I use evidence-based approaches that help client identify and address the sources of their anxiety. When you work with me, you can expect to gain an understanding of the root causes of your anxiety, learn coping strategies and techniques to manage your symptoms, and to shift your thinking and behavior patterns so that you can reclaim your life and feel more empowered.

If you're up against anxiety, I offer an empowering and collaborative approach. There is an opportunity to explore your experience and to begin to see yourself as separate from anxiety. Through conversations, you may begin to identify alternative stories that challenge anxious thoughts and beliefs. We'd attend to your capacity and establish coping strategies to foster a sense of possibility. Together the we would co-create a new narrative that emphasizes the your resiliency, self-compassion and a greater sense of calm.

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.

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.