Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Stevenson Ranch, CA.

Understanding the Role Of Stress In Just About Everything ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2008) — Stress, to put it bluntly, is bad for you. It can kill you, in fact. A study now reveals that stress causes deterioration in everything from your gums to your heart and can make you more susceptible to everything from the common cold to cancer. Thanks to new research crossing the disciplines of psychology, medicine, neuroscience, and genetics, the mechanisms underlying the connection are rapidly becoming understood. Dr. Sobo uses mindful techniques to teach patients skills for managing stress.

We hold our anxiety and stress in our body. We feel tension, gut problems, hot flashes, disrupted sleep and more. I work with anxiety and stress by helping individuals learn and develop tools to re-regulate their nervous system. When we have a coherent and fluid nervous system, we can do difficult things without feeling paralyzed by overwhelming fear.

Anxiety and stress are nature made, preparing us to step up our efforts for the important and meaningful tasks which come up in our lives. Sometimes this system needlessly overreacts and responds to everyday stressors in the environment in a paralyzing way. When this happens, it feels distressing and uncomfortable. It is hard to stay focused, concentrate, and finish what we need to be doing. Often physical signs such as rapid heartbeat, sweaty palms, and shortness of breath can be present as well. This is the point where many clients come to therapy. I find anxiety and stress symptoms are very well treated with CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and mindfulness.

Anxiety is an inability to be fully relaxed. It is mental and physical tension. Many things cause it and many things perpetuate it. Not all anxiety is bad or needs to be extinguished. I work with the client to understand the meaning of their anxiety. I find sometimes people are not consciously aware of the real reasons they cannot feel relaxed. Enlisting the client's sense of curiosity about their own thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations I aim to identify their symptoms of anxiety and the origins of them. I utilize cognitive behavioral and mindfulness strategies to identify and replace unhelpful thoughts with more productive ones.

I apply Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques in helping individuals suffering from Anxiety Disorders. These techniques have been shown to be highly effective in treating anxiety disorders. I help clients examine, challenge and dismiss fears and core-beliefs that underlie and fuel their anxiety symptoms. These techniques have been extremely effective with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), General Anxiety Disorder, Panic attacks, and others Phobias.

Everyone experiences stress and anxiety but sometimes it gets to a point where it is hard to manage on our own. My job is to provide you the tools to help you decrease these feelings. Depending on the diagnosis, symptoms and severity, we will come up with a treatment plan that would be most effective for you. All treatment plans will include relaxation techniques and learning ways to manage those "what if" thoughts. Other techniques include exposure therapy, assertive skills and setting limits with others. As a team, we will get you through this together.

Big or small, anxiety has a way of effecting our lives. Anxiety not only effects those who struggle to do, but also, those who are already doing so much. We can minimize it, rationalize it, and tell ourselves it's circumstantial but the truth is anxiety is the very thing that keeps you from feeling connected to the moment and those around you. In our work together, I will help you cultivate techniques, strategies and mindsets unique to you that will help you to reclaim your life, allow you to be present to the moment, and create a feeling of wholeness. If you're ready to feel less stress and live in a more meaningful way I'd love to meet you and see how I can support you in your journey.

How can therapy help with anxiety and stress? By making sure that your life style does not fuel anxiety… determining necessary changes by implementing relaxation techniques and daily lifestyle habits... exploring past experiences, emotional needs, ways of coping that you developed early on and how they impact everyday reactions (automatic thoughts, feelings, actions)… learning various techniques to take more control of your thoughts and feelings and respond more effectively to emotional triggers.

Stress and anxiety are often the root causes leading to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as addiction and eating disorders. By evaluating triggers for stress and/or anxiety and developing healthy coping strategies (often with cognitive behavioral interventions), patients learn to self regulate and experience significant mood improvement. When necessary, referrals for medications are made as an adjunct to psychotherapy.

Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, anxiety disorders and ongoing chronic stress can appear as repeated episodes of worry & fear, or develop into sudden feelings of intense anxiety with physical sensations, known as panic attacks. Your anxiety may feel related to an event or thought, and other times appear to occur randomly and without cause. Anxiety can develop at any age, when left untreated it may develop into depression. In therapy we will explore how anxiety is affecting your life. You will learn how your physical, emotional and mental health are connected and together create an effective treatment plan specific to your goals to improve your well-being.

In treating anxiety, the most impotant issues is interupting the cycle of worry, obessing over worry, fearing the return of worry, and allowing worry to spread to every aspect of your life. Discriminating realistic reasons to worry from irrational reasons can help clients with excessive stress to cope. Interupting and redirecting thoughts of anxiety to more productive thoughts and activities will interupt the cycle that creates habitual anxiety. We will look at times you may over-react to triggers (be it an upcoming social situation, or a stumbling block that creates more stress and predictions of failure). We will take this path together. You are not alone.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by constant anxiety and stress, unsure of how to break free from the cycle? You don’t have to face it alone. In my practice, I offer a safe, supportive space where we can work together to understand what’s driving your anxiety and develop practical strategies to manage it. Using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and more profound psychodynamic techniques, we’ll explore the patterns that keep you stuck and help you regain control over your thoughts and emotions. My approach is empathetic and collaborative to empower you to lead a calmer, more balanced life.

Dr. Levine is an expert in treating anxiety and stress-related disorders. Employing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) he uses what are known as "evidence-based treatments." Dr. Levine received exceptional specialized training in this field by completing a 2-year Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) at Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia. He was also a clinical psychologist for the hit TV series "Hoarders" on the A&E Network. He specializes in anxiety disorders, phobias and OCD and is a clinical member of the OC Foundation. Call or write to him now for the help you deserve.