Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Saint George, ON.

Anxiety is a gift… it’s not the kind of gift a typical person would ask for, but it’s still a gift. It is our body’s way of telling us something is wrong and we need to fix it. Anxiety is not evil like many people think, but it can hold us back from being the person we were meant to be. Together, we will find ways to reduce this while addressing the source of the problem in order to bring healing into your life. It’s time to regain control of your life.

For the past 10 years, I have enjoyed helping clients work through their struggles related to anxiety and stress, especially when it comes to career and workplace related stresses. I have found success using client-centred, Cognitive Behavioural Theoretical and Dialectical Behavioural theories in associated sessions. As well, I also tend to rely on Solution-Focused Theory to help client find and implement coping strategies.

I use a variety of counselling techniques including therapeutic art making combined with talking therapy to aid my clients in identifying their triggers for stress and anxiety. The art making process can be used along with meditative techniques to help clients to calm the stress and anxiety that they are feeling. It can provide a safe and effective outlet for the excess energy and/or tension that anxiety and stress can create. I help my clients learn coping techniques to help them manage their stress and anxiety.

For many clients it is difficult to make the call to seek counselling for anxiety, but I encourage you to do it as an investment in yourself. In a warm and empathetic environment, together we look at how your thoughts affect your feelings which lead to anxiety as well as your life story to consider areas of healing from the past as well as solutions for the future. My specialty is in understanding how significant relationships or the loss of these relationships contribute to one’s anxiety and stress.

Anxiety prevents you from being present and puts you in a position where you are either ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. In the moment, it can feel impossible to get out of it, and one cannot simply snap out of it. Similarly, stress can permeate multiple aspects of your life. I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as well as mindfulness exercises to help you manage your anxiety. Eventually, we would also work together to understand why the anxiety shows up and how we can address the original source. Reach out today to book a free consultation.

Unfortunately, the swift pace of contemporary life, coupled with demanding work settings and unexpected challenges, frequently gives rise to stress and anxiety. At Atlas Therapy, our commitment is to help clients develop effective tools and skills to manage stress and address anxiety before they escalate into overwhelming forces. Our therapeutic approach delves into a profound understanding of the nervous system's influence on the body, enabling us to customize methods based on each client's unique needs. Through this personalized approach, our goal is to offer unparalleled support, fostering the development of inner strength and overall well-being.

Living with anxiety or having a high stress can have an impact on every area of our lives. Emotional health, physical health, relationships and careers can all suffer as a result. I use a poly-vagal informed approach to help my clients cope with and reduce their anxiety and stress while learning to gain control over their nervous systems. This approach is both educational and practical. If you would like to improve your quality of life by reducing anxiety and stress contact me for a free consult.

Back in our distant past, anxiety and stress came from physical concerns such as lack of food, or shelter, to help us survive the winter, or danger of being killed by an animal (or neighbour!). While we now have few physical dangers to cause us anxiety or stress, we have many psychological ones – work, traffic, neighbours, money and lack of time to name a few. It is not these “events” themselves that create the anxiety and stress, but how we perceive them. Through exploring the irrationality of our thoughts, life’s events can be put into a more balanced perspective, with the resulting positive impact on our health and sense of wellbeing.

Anxiety and stress can be consuming and prevent people from living their fullest lives. I offer practical treatment to help people learn to manage and reduce feelings of anxiety for a more peaceful day to day life in which emotions and fears do not take over. Clients learn to challenge and reduce their anxiety with my support and guidance and learn calming techniques, thought challenging, and emotion management. Learning healthy ways to cope with stressful situations is also a priority. There are both physical, mental, and emotional benefits to managing and reducing stress and anxiety, e.g., reduced blood pressure, reduced muscle tension and aches, a sense of calmness, confidence, and so on.

Anxiety and stress are normal emotional and bodily responses to real or potential danger. In moderation they are adaptive allowing us the ability to mobilize resources and act in ways to keep us safe. In excess however, they can create emotional and physical suffering. Fortunately, a willingness to allow distressing thoughts and feelings, or alternatively, altering them into ones that are more productive, can result in individuals gaining relief from such discomfort. As a practitioner who strives to teach clients how to do both through acceptance- commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT), requisite skills will be learned in accomplishing this very goal.

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.

When working with anxiety and stress, I focus on helping clients understand how their nervous system responds to perceived threat and overload. Therapy includes both emotional insight and practical regulation strategies that support calm and grounding. Clients learn to identify patterns of worry, reduce avoidance behaviours, and build tolerance for uncertainty. Over time, many experience improved emotional regulation, greater resilience in stressful situations, and a stronger sense of internal safety and stability in daily life.

Anxiety can be overwhelming and seeks to limit us in our day to day functioning. Anxiety has complex origins: whether it be genetics, or due to trauma or just living in a continued stressful environment, anxiety will keep us in a constant state of alert and even panic. Cognitive behaviour therapy and interpersonal therapy can help one learn techniques to control anxiety and to change your way of coping so that anxiety no longer rules your life.