Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Darien, IL.

Our best approach on anxiety and stress counseling include teaching mindfulness techniques, cognitive restructuring strategies, and relaxation practices to help individuals identify and manage their anxious thoughts and physical sensations in the present moment. We also address the underlying triggers and beliefs contributing to their anxiety which involves deep breathing exercises, grounding techniques, and exploring cognitive distortions to challenge negative thought patterns.

Similar in approach to the treatment of depression, I take a holistic approach to the treatment of anxiety and stress disorders. I seek to restore function and break the momentum cause by ineffective habits that were created as a knee-jerk way of responding to anxiety symptoms. The instinct to try to control our emotional experience is strong and understandable, but often creates difficulties that make anxiety symptoms more entrenched and difficult to treat. Learning techniques of relaxation and mindfulness are instrumental in the effective treatment of anxiety symptoms and regaining the kind of balance lost in the unrestrained experience of anxiety symptoms.

Clients seeking therapy for anxiety and stress can benefit from cognitive treatment which aims at changing thinking patterns to ease symptoms and promote positive insight. With cognitive therapy, you will learn to model healthier behaviors and ways of thinking to help change the perception of issues/situations that cause anxiety and stress. The goal of this therapy is for you to gain the ability to differentiate negative or overwhelming thoughts from healthy thoughts to prevent future self-depreciating feelings. Therapy can also help you to assess your need for any anti-anxiety medication to assist with symptom reduction.

If you are experiencing stress and anxiety, I will help you learn strategies to manage the stress while helping you process and work through these experiences. It is my goal to fully understand you and grasp how this impacts your life; I work to integrate each biopsychosocial aspect of your experience when working through anxiety and stress. I will provide you guidance and support while empowering you to overcome these obstacles and helping you growing from them.

Worry is a normal reaction to everyday stress and traumatic life events. Some ways of coping will reduce your discomfort. However, you may be one of the millions who experience anxiety to such a degree that it impairs your functioning at home, work or school. Left unchecked, anxiety will affect your overall quality of life. CBT, Mindfulness, and Exposure Therapy are proven methods for dealing social or performance anxiety, nightmares and sleep fears, intrusive negative thoughts, or OCD. Kari can assist you, your child or adolescent, in controlling anxiety and achieving relief from the mental and physical symptoms that can be debilitating.