Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in White Rock, BC.

Trauma, stress, and anxiety are usually caused by specific experiences that we have had, or by the lack of feeling of safety in our family, relationship, or at work. I help clients recover from traumatic events and experiences and develop stronger emotional management skills. Often clients have been put on medications that only mask the problems--please do not stop medications without your doctor's approval, and gradual reduction. There are other ways to calm the nervous system, and I am certified in EMDR (a treatment for post traumatic stress disorder), and other therapeutic techniques to help you with this.

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.

Life is stressful. It's impossible to go through life without experiencing stress and anxiety. That said, there are ways to make the physical and emotional experiences of stress helpful allies instead of letting them get the upper hand. Anxiety tells us that something is important and we need to pay attention so we can evaluate what is happening and what it means to us. We may need to find a new way to respond. We have a greater capacity to change our worlds than we often realize. I would love to hear your circumstances so we can look at your situation with new eyes and unlock new possibilities!

Therapy with me provides a calm, supportive space to help you understand and manage anxiety and stress. Together, we'll explore what's fueling your worry, calm your nervous system, and build practical strategies to regain a sense of control and ease. Whether anxiety shows up as racing thoughts, tension, or overwhelm, you don't have to navigate it alone. Our work will help you feel more grounded, resilient and able to face life's challenges with greater clarity and confidence.

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 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.

In my practice, I use a variety of evidence-based approaches to help my clients manage their anxiety and stress, including EMDR, Compassionate Inquiry, CBT, and mindfulness techniques. Whether you are struggling with generalized anxiety, panic attacks, or stress related to work or relationships, I am here to help. My goal is to create a safe and supportive environment where you can explore your thoughts and feelings, gain insight into your patterns of thinking and behavior, and develop the skills necessary to manage your anxiety and stress in a healthy way.

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.

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.

Symptoms of stress and anxiety can originate from many different sources, including issues related to addiction, the effects of addiction, infidelity, difficult childhoods, dysfunctional families of origin, and the impact of past hurts and coping patterns. By offering a setting that is based on trust, empathy, and collaboration, counselling can provide you with a safe and supportive space to explore your thoughts and emotions while creating a deeper, more authentic understanding of who you are, what you need, and the dynamics that you are navigating. It is possible to thrive and be well no matter what you have been through, and counselling can help with this.

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.

In therapy sessions clients will benefit from exploring the causes and contributing factors underlying the feelings of anxiety they are experiencing. Clients will identify stressors in their lives and identify how these stressors are effecting their emotional and physical well-being. They will learn strategies and skills to more effectively manage stress and anxiety, and learn to change their emotional reactions to stressful situations. It is my hope that clients will discover the capabilities that exist within themselves to create the peace and calm they wish to attain in their lives.