Your Anxiety is Unique to you
Anxiety can be crippling. While it has similar symptoms for people, it is individual to you and there is no fixed approach to help everyone. This is your experience and should be treated as such.
Counselling can help you explore your anxiety, it’s causes and triggers as well as suggesting ways to help you deal with your individual situation.
While some know the cause of their anxiety, after experiencing a traumatic event, for example, others may not. Not knowing the cause of anxiety can sometimes cause more distress.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is our ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response and happens when our body feels in danger, even if we may not be in any actual danger in that moment. It’s an automatic response that in the moment we have no control over.
Experiencing anxiety and distress doesn’t mean that you’re mad, bad or abnormal. It’s okay to ask for help. There are people who will understand how you feel, offer coping skills that will help ease your pain. Even if it starts to feel dark, the future is bright – it will just take time.
How can Counselling Help?
Everyone’s suffering is unique. Counselling can help you understand your suffering, reactions, their triggers and causes. Once we understand what your anxiety is like for you, we can look at how we can work together to help you rewrite those responses and reduce your anxiety and suffering.
Counselling enables you to talk about and explore your feelings openly, in a safe and non- judgemental space. It can help you understand and process these thoughts and feelings, and work collaboratively on an approach that is right for you.
Symptoms of Anxiety
- Nervousness, tension and restlessness
- A sense of impending danger or dread
- Feeling constantly “on edge”
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability
- Dizziness
- Tiredness
- Strong, fast or irregular heartbeat (palpitations)
- Muscle aches and tension
- Rapid breathing, sweating, and trembling
- Dry mouth
- Stomach ache or issues, feeling sick
- Headache
- Pins and needles
- Difficulty falling or staying asleep (insomnia)
When suffering with anxiety, you may find yourself withdraw from social contact. For example, you may stop seeing your family and friends to avoid feelings of worry and dread.
Your anxiety may even mean you find going to work difficult and stressful, resulting in time off sick. This within itself can make you worry even more and increase your lack of self-esteem.
My Commitment to You
My role is to provide a space where you can talk about your feelings, and how they are affecting you. I will listen to you without judgement, try to understand what you want to achieve in your sessions and work with you towards that.
I also see my role as working collaboratively with you and suggesting strategies that others have found useful. Not every strategy is right for every person, so we can explore different coping mechanisms together. Try not to worry if one strategy isn’t right for you – one size does not fit all when it comes to anxiety. We can always have an open discussion about what is right for you, and what isn’t.
Your Counselling Session
This space is yours to explore any feelings and experiences you wish. There is no right or wrong way to process your experience of anxiety. You may choose to use your session to talk about the impact your anxiety has on you, your experiences and how they have affected you. You may choose instead to talk about possible strategies to help you. I am here to listen to whatever you need and feel is useful to talk about. This is your anxiety and your session.