Anxiety Therapy in Cheshire, CT
Anxiety is Natural
You worry a lot.
Like more than most people.
If you could just stop overthinking things, it wouldn’t be so bad. How do other people not worry about this stuff?
It didn’t used to be this bad, but now it’s affecting your sleep. Some nights you can’t stop worrying about tomorrow, or you’re reviewing everything that happened today and what you could have done differently. Sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night and try to solve problems you’ve been chewing on for weeks. News flash: middle-of-the-night thoughts are rarely good solutions.
A certain amount of anxiety is natural. In fact, anxiety can be useful and appropriate. If you are taking on a new challenge, anxiety can be part of the feeling of excitement. But if that anxiety starts to affect your sleep, appetite, time with friends, and energy levels, it might help to talk about it.
Feeling anxious is “normal”. Feeling exhausted, scared, drained, and worried all the time is not.
Negative Thinking vs Realistic Thinking
When was the last time you were about to try something new and thought, “I bet everything is going to go exactly as planned!” You’re not the only one; most people don’t imagine things going well, but spend a lot of time imagining things going wrong. Thinking about things going wrong increases your anxiety and can make you feel stuck. In therapy, we work on assessing what is worth worrying about and what we could let go of. Therapy also helps you learn ways to practice this, because if it were that easy, we’d all be doing it already.
One way therapy helps manage anxiety is by helping you practice realistic thinking. Instead of imagining the worst, what is likely to happen? What would you do if something didn’t go as planned? Feeling more in control of possible outcomes can help you feel less anxious, less stuck, and more in control
Anxiety and Motivation
Anxiety may be keeping you from enjoying things or achieving a goal. Worry, fear, and feeling stuck or paralyzed don’t increase your motivation for change. Sometimes anxiety makes it hard to see the first step towards a goal, and talking it out can help break it down into more manageable pieces. Telling yourself “I should just do it!” or “I’m a failure for not doing it” doesn’t improve your motivation.
In therapy, we sometimes come up with a plan for things to try between sessions. This is more motivational and less like homework. If you come back and didn’t address what we talked about,we can talk about whether it’s less of a priority than you thought, or if there are impediments making it difficult for you to progress. When you learn to manage your anxiety, you will feel less discouraged and start taking steps to achieve your goal.
Get Help From an Anxiety Therapist
There are a lot of techniques to manage anxiety, and not every one suits every person. You may roll your eyes when someone tells you to “Breathe”, but be great at doing mind puzzles to distract yourself, or exercise to clear your brain, or have a dance party to get rid of anxious energy. Anxiety therapy can help you find the techniques that suit you best.
Ready to Get Started With Psychotherapy for Anxiety in Cheshire, CT?
Ready to take the next step? Contact me today to schedule your free consultation and learn how I can help you manage your anxiety.
Anxiety therapy is also available via telehealth across Connecticut.