"If you think you can or you think you can't, either way you are right." by Henry Ford
Oh anxiety- how hard you work to limit our lives. You try to keep us afraid, isolated, and ashamed. Well, its just not going to work anymore!
Anxiety is a serious issue...but its treatable! In our time together we will take a look at your specific symptoms and how they are negatively impacting your quality of life. We will explore your physical, emotional, and psychological symptoms in order to get a picture of how anxiety is triggered as well as how it builds. Over time we will develop an individualized plan of how to recognize anxiety in each of its stages and what to do within each stage to manage (and eventually lessen) the amount of anxiety you experience.
This process will be very collaborative. My expectation is that you will do assigned therapy "homework" between sessions. We will communicate every step of the way. Because anxiety doesn't happen just in my office, it will be important for you to begin to notice your own triggers outside of session. My goal is to work myself out of a job- that once you have your plan and feel secure in implementing it, you will no longer need me.
Sometimes anxiety can reach a point where medication might be a good idea to add to our treatment plan. I am happy to work with your primary care physician or psychiatrist to make sure you receive excellent coordinated care. YOU are in charge of your body. I am not going to "force" you to take medication. At the same time, I do think there are times when the added support of medication treatment can provide an helpful part of your anxiety management plan. This is always decided on a case by case basis in collaboration with you.