Dissipating Anxiety
All humans experience some degree of anxiety at various points in life. The impact of anxiety on daily life can vary widely from person to person, in different circumstances. At Kildaire Counseling, we use the GAD-7 clinical assessment tool to help you identify the current impact of anxiety on your functioning. We also collect information from you as to the frequency and severity of anxiety symptoms, and work toward a holistic view of you and your strengths and preferences across different settings.
When you work with me, I elicit information about your priorities in making change. We will set therapeutic goals based upon which areas you most want to change. We will consider which symptom you desire to decrease and what may have worked (or not worked) for you in the past when managing that symptom. We will discuss ways that you have coped well and situations where you would like to see improvement in your coping.
As a strengths-based practitioner, I always return to what we know you do well, as a home base for creating new interventions. I will introduce self-reflection measures based on mindfulness concepts that will uncover insights into your personality and preferences. These insights can help, even if you struggle with discouragement. They create a foundation from which we can construct measures for acceptance-based self-soothing, a concept of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) that meshes well with polyvagal theory and somatic healing of our body along with our mind and spirit. We learn new ways to help you trust yourself and bring yourself safely back to a place of mental and physical calm. I encourage you to rest in this calm place as often as you can, and access it when anxiety manifests.
We may look to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy techniques to identify areas for change, challenge old beliefs, and self-assess progress between sessions. We will look at different angles of anxiety-producing situations and review how your responses to them change over time. As often as you feel capable, we can practice new skills with role-play. We will talk about what went well in practicing the skills, and later review your experiences of putting them into action in your daily life.
If you enjoy expressive arts or would like to try something new, I encourage the use of creative materials, language, music, or dance to access and express your experiences with anxiety. We access these experiences during your session so that I am available to help you face emotions that arise when processing anxious feelings in an externalizing way. Together, we can also create plans of self-care for moments between sessions when you feel like approaching these moments of expression on your own.
Typically, I will blend complementary approaches to help you learn new ways of thinking and new skills to create the changes you want to see. My priority is equipping you to find the strengths of your current situation and use those to your advantage as you move toward a life with less anxiety. My hope is that you will learn more about yourself and what activates a state of calm for you. With this understanding, you will come to know when and how to implement techniques that will bring you through difficult moments, and what genuine inner peace feels like for you.
