How much is too much?

Anxiety can appear in obvious and subtle ways. It can disturb thoughts and upset feelings. It can stimulate great bursts of activity or great lulls of inactivity. Even though anxiety can cause stress and suffering, it tends to carry meaning.  By exploring the personal meanings, relief can be found.

• Constant worry about the unknown

• Bodily tension or feeling keyed up

• Insomnia, early waking, disturbing dreams

• Avoidance of anxiety producing activities

• Headaches, skin sensitivities, elimination distress

• Fears, dread or panic

• Concentration issues or poor memory

• Low frustration tolerance or anger

Anxiety can be deeply uncomfortable—like having an internal alarm with no off-switch. Often, it is a realistic response to stress that we can’t solve or escape. Many people can find benefit practicing some form of stress reduction.

Good anxiety can be a great source of energy. However,  moderate to high anxiety tends to require more help to reduce and get under control. Talking about it and gaining a deeper understanding can bring relief and space to grow.

Over time, if we manage by avoiding our anxiety it can end up reinforcing it. It becomes a loop. It could become like the tide, a predictable pattern. Therapy helps to interrupt the cycle by making space to gently notice to gain more vision and space from it.

Anxiety is the most common psychological stressor in the world, affecting millions of people every year. Feeling overwhelmed with anxiety is not a weakness; its a human response to an external and internal stressor.

Therapy helps human beings to feel better on the surface and whats beneath it.  Anxiety does not occur in a vacuum. Anxiety can also be understood more deeply in connection to development the ways we learned to adapt prior to adulthood.

Anxiety often has important ties to development, from times when our  dependency needs were the greatest. It is possible to begin to gently expand our self awareness of our own anxiety, not to dwell or get hand out there, but to gather together the lost or misunderstood parts of ourselves. Nothing is truly lost or forgotten.  We carry our developmental history, our patterns of managing anxiety live here until they can find words with help of a trustworthy other.

Anxiety doesn’t have to run your life. With warmth, reflection, and a steady therapeutic relationship,  it’s possible to gain control over anxiety.

When you are ready and have interest in a safe space to talk, give me a call to arrange a time.

I can be reached at 415-820-3930. I look forward to hearing from with you.