Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Los Altos, CA.

To live in this western world is to live with distress. Some stress is actually healthy for us and should be engaged with regularly (ie., exercise or sex) but there is a boundary between healthy stress and dis-stress. Distress is not pleasurable and in fact lays the foundation towards dis-ease and possibly towards addictive behaviors. Safety and connection will ease the distress. Using a polyvagal informed approach to therapy, we will explore how you learned to deal with overwhelm and what tools might be useful for you.

Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, anxiety disorders and ongoing chronic stress can appear as repeated episodes of worry & fear, or develop into sudden feelings of intense anxiety with physical sensations, known as panic attacks. Your anxiety may feel related to an event or thought, and other times appear to occur randomly and without cause. Anxiety can develop at any age, when left untreated it may develop into depression. In therapy we will explore how anxiety is affecting your life. You will learn how your physical, emotional and mental health are connected and together create an effective treatment plan specific to your goals to improve your well-being.

Anxiety and stress are the symptoms I treat most often in my practice. Some people are not aware, but trauma is deep-rooted anxiety that is held within our body. We can feel anxious about work, children, relationships, or family. We can feel stressed about work or relationships and friendships. A highly effective tool for treating these symptoms is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a way that you can learn to relax the anxiety that is held within your body and your mind. I love this technique because it is not only highly effective, but it is very easy to learn. You can walk away from your first therapy session with a start to your mindfulness journey and have real tools at your disposal.

Anxiety and fear exist to keep us as human beings safe when life-threatening situations present themselves and we need to act quickly to survive. But when you are experiencing a level of anxiety that causes you daily suffering, that is when help is needed. I can give you many tools to help manage the ups and downs of the fear and anxiety “roller coaster”. We can also explore what beliefs and issues might be underlying the anxiety to help lessen the grip it has on you and your life. Let’s work together towards more peace and serenity in your life.

Recent studies show that moderate stress can actually make us more productive and successful. But when stress and anxiety become too much to handle, they can make life miserable. I use mindfulness-based therapy to help you increase your own innate ability to decrease anxiety and keep stress manageable. If your symptoms are related to past experiences such as painful or difficult childhood experiences, abuse or trauma, I offer Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. EMDR therapy is a highly effective for relieving symptoms of PTSD and improving performance. Come experience it for yourself!

You are: - Often overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted - Struggling to keep up with day-to-day tasks -Disconnected from yourself and relationships -“Taking it out” on others or feeling resentful toward people you love -Going numb most of the day (hello, Netflix and mindless scrolling?) -Missing important dates or deadlines -Experiencing increased health issues and poor sleep You are ready to: -Learn new ways to manage stress and enjoy relaxation -Feel a new sense of purpose, balance, and passion in life -Create boundaries that honor your well-being -Explore how your past may have shaped where you are now -Create fulfilling relationships with yourself, your loved ones, and life

Anxiety falls along a continuum from acceptable to crippling, debilitating anxiety requiring professional intervention. The major forms that anxiety takes are: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, Phobic Disorders, Social Anxiety Disorders and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD). A variety of proven therapeutic interventions are well established now, eg., Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Yoga, Tai Chi, Breathwork. By diving into therapy clients regain a sense of optimism, courage and confidence in relationships, workplace and career, driving, aging, life transitions and more.

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@kevinfleminphd.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.

I begin by understanding how you experience anxiety/stress because how you experience them is unique for you. Then we begin to increase your tolerance for how you experience anxious/stressful thoughts, feelings, memories, and/or situations. This is necessary so the anxiety/stress stops being an overwhelming experience that interferes and gets in the way of your life. It's crucial to be able to become more comfortable when you experience anxiety/stress because they're a part life. The problem is the distressing and limiting to debilitating effect they have on you. As you learn to be able to do this, you will begin to experience more peacefulness, calm, hope, self-confidence and self-esteem.