Anxiety Therapy Blogs:
- Kathryn Clavin-Vunkannon LCSW CASAC
- May 20, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 16, 2020
Fear grabs you. You’re short of breath! Your heart either stops or starts beating really fast. And maybe you don’t even know why… Sometimes real walls would be easier to break through then crippling anxiety. But you are stronger then you think and you are not alone. What’s beyond that wall? You can get there. I can help! Read more and or Give me a call for a free 20 min consultation!
Anxiety managing
Deep breathing:
Sometimes anxiety leads to boarder line panic, where, among other things, we have trouble breathing. This can further our fear and heart rate.
It can be helpful to do some deep breathing, at this point to bring both your breathing and heart rate down to a calmer rhythm. This will also help calm your emotions and give you a chance to focus your thoughts.
Go someplace quiet and by yourself if you can. Otherwise you can do it with others, there just might be distractions or further anxiety triggers to throw you off.
Once you are ready take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds. Then, slowly let it out and repeat until you start to feel calmer. Another way is holding it for a few seconds, then add more breath, hold, let it out, slowly; repeat.
Focus on your breath, not what is making you anxious. Once you feel calmer, then you can start to sort out what is worrying you and problem solve, without panic hijacking your brain.
Hope this was helpful! Need more? Call or email me to schedule a free 20 minute consultation.
Anxiety Coaching
Worrying vs. Problem Solving:
Is worrying helping? Maybe its time to do a little check in. Are you worried about something? Is these thoughts, feelings and behaviors that come with the worry, solving the problem? My guess is, that the answer is no. We may want to solve our problem, in our worry, but we’re getting so worked up that the possible answers become more hidden then before.
Some problems we may not be able to solve all the way, but we can still help ourselves. I will cover this more in another blog.
Problems, especially when we feel like we don’t have a lot of control, are scary. However, if we let that fear take us over, we do more harm then good. It becomes the focus of our lives, just leading to more stress and distraction from other things we might need or want to focus on.
Take a breath. Is worrying helping? Or would calm, problem solving and processing for learning and understanding be a better approach? I’m sure you’ve heard of fight or flight; but its actually fight, flight or freeze. We can fight a problem or leave it (flight) or sometimes both; but if we get so immersed in our worry, we freeze, and nothing changes.
Want more help with this? Want to learn more? Read on and/or call or e-mail me to schedule a free 20 min consultation.
Anxiety Counseling
What You Can’t Control:
What can you control? Can you control what you’re worrying about? Does it involve another person’s actions? We ultimately cannot control this. A person makes their own choices of what to do, in life. These choices that lead to words or actions may not be what we want or something we like. We don’t have to. Regardless, we can’t control how this person acts.
Sometimes we are so wrapped up in worry and anxiety, over things we can’t control. We don’t fully realize that our actions and words may incite feeling in others (good or bad), but then they act on those feelings. Like our decision to say or do what we did, their response is their choice. Think about any time when you have taken an action. Did someone else choose that, or did you?
This can be very helpful to realize. We can then work on not focusing worrying energy on others, whom we cannot control. We can be assertive and let them know how we feel and how they are affecting us. Remember, however that they cannot choose what actions we take or what we say. This is very empowering; its totally up to us! These realizations can also be very freeing. Freeing from trying to control others when we can’t.
Could you identify? Want help with this or other issues? Keep reading or call or e-mail to schedule a free consultation!
Anxiety Evaluation
Definition of Anxiety:
Sometimes it helps to have a basic definition of something. This can help us understand the term and see if we identify. It also helps to normalize the feelings that we may have. We know we are not alone as others have felt this way and put together a definition. Below is a simple definition of
Anxiety:
A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome…. A nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension, typically with compulsive behavior or panic attacks.
Did that sound like something you may be dealing with? You may not exactly fit the definition or maybe you are dealing with something else, as well, as such depression. Both of these happen. Everyone’s experience and interpretation of their experience is different; this can just help to give you a general idea.
If this sounds like something you are dealing with then your journey has begun or continued towards getting help and feeling better. Knowing what’s wrong is half the battle, as they say. The next step like with any problem or difficulty is find ways to deal with it and possible solutions.
A social worker can help! Keep reading or call or e-mail to schedule a free consultation!
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