Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Riverdale, NY.

I teach clients tools that they can use to help calm them when they are feeling stressed. I also teach clients specific strategies to keep their stress and anxiety-related thoughts from interfering with their lives. I give clients positive and adaptive responses to stress. I explore with clients the root of their their fears and the importance of not letting those fears keep them from doing the things they want to do.

The modern world we live in is full of amazing technological advancements and organizational wonders, but it is also more complex and demanding than ever before. The myriad competing demands of our lives, how busy we are, the continual pressure to do and be more creates enormous stress for all of us. This stress can escalate into anxiety and the added strain of these issues easily begins to short-circuit our ability to function at our best, to feel good, to maintain relationships and responsibilities. I can help you understand the internal and external forces creating these negative feelings, and together we can find strategies for minimizing stress and anxiety so you can feel better.

Anxiety can take many forms, including excessive stress, low self-esteem, panic attacks, phobias and compulsions. When fear or anxiety is experienced on a daily basis it can become so familiar that it goes un-noticed until problems arise that grab our attention. These can include health problems, insomnia or feeling stuck in bad relationships. Addressing anxiety can free up your energy and enjoyment, and give you back your life.

Everyone experiences anxiety at some point, but for some the anxiety is so frequent or intense that it interferes with their lives or even triggers panic attacks. I use Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help my clients get a sense of control over their own anxiety. We collaborate to learn skills to reduce the frequency or intensity of the anxious feelings, to tolerate the anxiety when it does occur so they can still function through it, and to practice habits that reduce stress and improve general mental health.

Anxiety arises due to one's own natural energies being turned back on oneself. That is caused by lack of clarity on how to advance in life's many often complex situations. In therapy I help you uncover the root causes of anxiety, and to find the way to transcend specific current issues. This relieves the underlying anxieties that seem to arise from nowhere. I will help you see that the anxiety and circular, repeated thinking are due to deeply-held messages. These restrictive messages make it difficult to see the path forward, and can cause you to feel that authentic self-expression is dangerous, not wanted, and unhealthy.

We have all had moments of anxiety and we remain anxious due to the beliefs we hold about our reality and the thoughts we have about our situation. An individual becomes anxious when they overestimate the negative aspects of their situation and underestimate their ability to cope and function in problem situations. The anxious individual will imagine and create even more negative consequences than are actually present. I guide my clients to a more rational approach of focusing on the task at hand, not engaging in or imagining negative outcomes, and not engaging in or exaggerating possible negative outcomes. We focus together on ways that enable coping, behavioral change and flourishing in that situation.

Clients can navigate stressful and distressing events in the present by healing from past painful or traumatic life experiences. Processing the events can decrease emotional response and increase cognitive flexibility. Clients struggling from feeling emotionally hurt, isolated, selfish, helpless, or hopeless can gain insight into symptoms and treatment of depression. Clients can learn emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal relationship skills and heal from past painful experiences that may influence current thoughts and belief systems in an unhealthy way.

Anxiety therapy is the first line of treatment for unhealthy anxiety. Your therapist can support you to put your mind at ease, recognize and address the patterns that may contribute to your symptoms. Anxiety therapy sessions can also help you identify coping mechanisms to manage anxiety and reclaim your life. You may feel uncomfortable or even anxious about going to therapy. You may think, “this will probably pass… maybe I should just push through it, and things will get better.” Rest assured that you are not alone. Many people have been there. But you don’t have to wait for your anxiety symptoms to get worse or to affect other areas of your life to seek help. We are here to help.

Modern life makes finding balance a challenge for all of us. However, I have helped many women, men, and children learn cognitive skills that have enabled them to overcome the stresses in their lives. Additionally, I offer instruction on communication skills to diffuse stressful misunderstandings at home and at work. I am highly trained in a number of techniques designed to help clients to combat stress. These include: • Positive Psychology techniques • Meditation techniques • Breathing techniques • Time Management strategies • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy • Harnessing wisdom from Yoga teachings

At Transformation Counseling Services each member of our clinical team is exceptionally trained in the application of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness for anxiety disorders. Our goal is to help our patients reduce their symptoms and improve in their daily lives. We help our clients learn concrete skills, and current evidence-based practices tailored to their unique needs with special attention paid to racial , social economic, cultural, and spiritual/religious beliefs. If you are ready to live a stress free life please contact us for a free consultation.

My method of working with clients on anxiety , stress and coping varies per individual. How we cope is greatly influenced by how we see the world. Mindset, life experiences, and our current situation can impact that. Overall, integrating Strength- Based, Mindfulness, NLP even DBT approaches enhances our ability to accept, and view our life with a fresh perspective. As we begin to see things through a different lens, this new perspective becomes a powerful tool in developing our mind as a muscle; an essential part of moving toward the life changes you seek. This opens the door to management of unwanted symptoms, anxiety, stress, feelings of overwhelm or low motivation and a path forward.

Anxiety is a signal your mind is sending to alert you of a real or perceived threat. For example, you are stressed about work: perhaps anxiety is a sign that your fear you are not good enough. There are situations in life when you need a signal so that you make the right decision at the right moment; but when anxiety is too intense, you feel paralyzed and cannot make decisions because all options seem to lead to the worst case scenario. I will help you learn from your anxiety so that you can look beyond the discomfort and understand what is the concern or fear underneath it; then we will work directly with that fear or concern.

Anxiety and stress deplete our energy physically, emotionally, mentally. They can become a whirlwind, swirling around, picking up speed, until you feel exhausted and confused about how to get out of this cycle. They may affect your life and relationships. The body expresses anxiety and tension, often symptomatically and it is through the body that these can be released. My expertise in using Somatic Experiencing, a modality that helps restore balance in the nervous system by noticing sensations, helps to restore wellbeing faster than talk therapy alone. Whether your stress is from the past or related to the present, you'll learn tools to help you regulate and nourish yourself on your own.