Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Riverdale, NY.

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.

Anxiety that won't quiet, no matter how much you understand it, is telling you something. Often it is a nervous system still braced for something that already happened. As an LCSW practicing in Manhattan, I work with New York City clients whose anxiety has not responded to insight alone — because insight is rarely enough. Real change happens at a deeper level, where old alarm systems live. EMDR is particularly effective here, working directly with the nervous system rather than just the thinking mind.

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.

Dr. Joel and Dr. Sara work supportively and educatively to help you gain a sense of mastery with respect to your anxiety and stress. For over 40 years, we have helped the victims of abusive relationships, work stress, emotional burnout, identity concerns, & perfectionsitic personalities who partake in unhealthy habits. Clients have often reported a sense of relief and appreciation over being well-understood and accepted by Dr. Joel and Dr. Sara. Our practical and reasonable therapeutic approaches build your healthy self-esteem and provide you with the tools for enhanced growth and effectiveness while facing life's challenges. Often within a few sessions, clients feel better.

Every human being faces some degree of anxiety and stress but there are times when their magnitude can become overwhelming and can rob you of your ability to function and enjoy life. Together we will explore the roots of your stress and anxiety, be they relational, job related, or from some other source. I will give you concrete strategies for dealing with them in the moment as well as helping you understand what changes you can make long term whicht will decrease your levels of stress and anxiety.

Stress and anxiety are grounded in fear of an anticipated future. The mind makes up a scenario, suggests that it may be true and an anxiety and stress are born. Nothing has actually happened other than the mental event, yet this phenomenon accounts for the bulk of human suffering. As a therapist it is my job to help clients who tend to be anxious recognize the endless stream of stress producing conjecture as a mental phenomenon unrelated to reality. Working together we can often trace their tendency to anxiety to earlier life experiences and have them begin to see the automatic nature of their anxiety's generation - this helps them interrupt the process.

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.

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.

Most people who suffer from excessive anxiety are suffering from a form of stage-fright. Some anxiety is genetically based. Some is culturally based. Hal encourages his clients to verbalize their anxieties so they understand it genesis. Which in turn eventually leads to confidence that they can learn to calm themselves down. Hal gives each client exercises to use to lower levels of anxiety and to find creative ways to modulate areas in their life that foment stress.