Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Darien, IL.

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.

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@kevinflemingphd.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 counseling benefit by sorting through those parts of your life that are unsettling or overwhelming. Anxiety is based on fears, whether conscious or unconscious that counseling discusses in order to understand, problem solve and make peace with. I also teach Breathing lessons to reduce stress from my practice as a yoga teacher.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by life’s demands? Does your body feel tense and stressed out? Is your heart racing quickly, are you unable to breath? Are you worried that you will never feel safe or calm again? Stress and anxiety present themselves differently to each person. We will help you understand your stress or anxiety, and determine the best course of action that will help you develop skills to manage both the physical and emotional symptoms of stress or anxiety. We not only help you calm yourself through cognitive behavioral approaches but also through our partnership with Nutritionists we can help assess your internal endocrine system and provide support through mediherbs.

Anxiety and Stress (and Phobias) are common and can be treated with many tools. We can examine the source of your stress or anxiety, determine how it plays itself out in your day-to-day life, and develop very specific, customized strategies for your unique situation and issues. For example, with Fear of Flying - we can use printed material, homework assignments, educational information/teaching approaches, hypnosis.

Anxiety is what we feel when we worry too much about the future or overthink events from the past in the present moment. It's a physiological experience that can feel overwhelming, even frightening at times, it can prevent us from making good decisions or prevent us from making any decisions at all! Fortunately anxiety is treatable, in many case without medication. I will help you understand anxiety and provide you with tools and strategies you can use to begin to free your mind. Within a few sessions, most clients are able to think more clearly and make better decisions. They feel more at ease and relaxed to do the things they'd like to do to lead a happier life.

Today's world brings many stressors into our lives. I would encourage the individual to discuss their stressors, and assist them in learning positive coping strategies. Sometimes it is difficult to make these changes after years of habits, but I would stress the benefits of change. I would encourage the individual not to have such impossible standards for their behavior, which often leads to stress and anxiety. I have found that many individuals who are supportive of their friends often over extend themselves, so I would also encourage healthy boundaries.

Everyone feels anxiety at some point in their lives but when it starts to interfere with your life, counseling can help. Although anxiety can feel debilitating, it is treatable. People with anxiety don’t always share the same symptoms, they vary from person to person. Therapy will help you to reclaim your life and function in a chronically stressful world.

I specialize in the treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Worry), Panic Disorder with or without Agoraphobia, Health Anxiety Disorder, Specific Phobias, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I would describe my therapeutic approach to be cognitive behavioral (CBT), with an emphasis on the behavioral. I also like to integrate other third wave mindfulness-based CBT approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy when indicated.

My approach to anxiety and stress counseling focuses on providing a safe and empathetic environment where clients can explore their experiences and identify underlying patterns. I utilize a blend of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness techniques to help clients gain practical tools for managing anxious thoughts and overwhelming stress. By fostering self-awareness and developing effective coping strategies, clients learn to respond to challenges with resilience and calm. My goal is to empower clients to build confidence, improve daily functioning, and enhance overall well-being through personalized and evidence-based treatment.

I personally have suffered from anxiety and come from a family where anxiety was a pervasive undertow. I know how anxiety can dominate a life and stress the lives of others. Medications may have been tried and and medical services utilized and proven not enough. In counseling I work with my clients individually, sometimes together with a spouse, in a conversational manner to get at the thought patterns contributing to stress and anxiety. Helping the client to get to the base of their anxiety, how they are stressing themselves out in their given life situation and how specifically to change these entrenched patterns is my goal. Referrals are made for other forms of help as necessary,

Anxiety and stress are a normal part of life, but are problematic when it interferes with your ability to function well. Therapy can provide psycho-education and an understanding of how you experience anxiety and stress in order to best manage it. Physical symptoms, emotional distress, and thought rumination are common aspects of anxiety and stress and we can begin to relieve and treat each of these through therapeutic approaches.

Is fear stopping you from living your life? Anxiety can be overwhelming. However, it is possible to learn to understand your anxiety and learn to how to get out from under its effects. You can gain control over your anxiety! I will help you learn to relax your body and calm your mind. Together, we can figure out what is triggering your anxiety and relieve it's gripping effect on your life. For information, please don't hesitate to contact me.