Anxiety comes in many forms, but this is generally what we think of as “stress.” Anxiety involves worry thoughts, physiological symptoms – such as a racing heart, shallow breathing, increased heart rate – and may involve feelings of panic or nightmares. Anxiety is the body’s natural response to danger but sometimes our alarm system becomes overly sensitive or is disrupted by a traumatic experience. The difficulty with anxiety is that when we avoid the things that scare us, we feel better – temporarily – and thus learn to avoid things we are afraid of and the fear builds.

In therapy, I can help you learn how to monitor your body’s stress levels, learn more effective ways of managing stress through relearning how to relax and stopping or adjusting the worry thoughts that come to mind, and help you reset your alarm system so that you can live a happier, less stressful life.