Oakland Psychotherapy & Online Counseling

Therapy to help you cope with anxiety

How counseling helps you deal with stress

Types of anxiety treated in therapy

Treating anxiety is my specialty. I work with clients to address and manage all kinds of stress and anxiety. Having a safe space to discuss your worries and concerns is the first step to reducing the negative impact stress can have on your life. Common sources of anxiety for my clients include:

• social anxiety

• uncertainty about the future

• dating and marriage

• unhealthy relationships

• dealing with conflict

• work stress

• family dynamics

• body image / weight loss

• pressure & expectations

• career path

• money

Social anxiety and how therapy helps

What are the symptoms of anxiety

Symptoms of anxiety are both physical and mental. Common symptoms include:

Mental symptoms:

• excessive worrying

• panic attacks

• difficulty focusing

• feeling scattered

• rumination

Physical symptoms

• tightness in chest

• difficulty breathing

• numbness

• headaches or migraines

• heart racing

• sweaty palms

• stomach aches

Counseling with me will provide you with tools to identify anxiety symptoms and management strategies that help you get back to living your best life. Helping you find alternate ways of dealing with anxious thoughts and feelings will be a large part of our work together. You will learn new coping mechanisms to reduce the power that fear and stress can hold over you.

Anxiety Treatment

Below is an example of one of the many techniques you’ll learn with Chloe Demisch, LCSW:

Step 1: Identify your anxious thought

I want you to think about what is making you anxious. Make it a sentence and say it out loud. An example would be

“I’m going to have a panic attack”

Step 2: I am having the thought that…

Now I want you to add this sentence in front of it and say it out loud.

I am having the thought that (I’m going to have a panic attack)

Step 3: I notice I’m having the thought that…

And now, I want you to add this sentence in front of your original anxious thought and say it out loud.

I notice I’m having the thought that (I’m going to have a panic attack)

What did you notice?

Some distance? Or maybe even some separation?

Now you have taken some space from your thought which makes it easier to think more clearly and come back to the present moment.

Step 4: Is your thought helpful?

If YES, use this thought to do something PRODUCTIVE about your situation. Focus on what IS in your control.

If NO, let the thought fade into the background. Refocus on doing things that make you proud and give your life purpose.

Keep in mind, your mind will continue to chatter away with all kinds of scary thoughts and ideas.

But ask yourself, “Ok, if I dwell on this thought, WHERE does it take me? WHAT does it do to help me?”

Unfortunately we can’t get rid of anxiety.

But you CAN change the way you manage it.

Repeat the above steps as necessary and you’ll be on your way to a productive, meaningful life in no time!

Mindfulness therapy for stress relief

Using Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, we will look at how you are currently managing your anxiety and identify any unhealthy patterns that may be making your stress levels worse. We will discuss your specific symptoms of anxiety and develop a plan to deal with them in a way that helps you:

• find balance

• be present

• build awareness

• stay grounded

• refocus attention

Below is an example of one of the many stress relief techniques you’ll learn with Chloe.

When you are feeling anxious, grounding is a very powerful technique to bring your mind back to your body.

6 steps to Grounding

Step 1: Take a deep, slow breath.

Step 2: Sight

Find 4 things that are the same color. An example would be…

“I see a sunflower, a yellow car, a banana, and a yellow stoplight. “

Step 3: Sound

What are two things that you can hear at this very moment? An example would be…

“I hear children playing in the park, and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. “

Step 4: Smell

What are two things you can smell right now?

“I can smell the scent of grass. I can smell the autumn breeze. “

Step 5: Touch

And finally, what are two things you can touch at this very moment?

“I can feel the heel of my shoe meeting pavement, the wind grazing my cheek.”

Repeat as necessary.

Find balance. Find mental health.

Many clients come to therapy seeking counseling on how to improve their overall wellness. Establishing balance is critical. A healthy diet, exercise, and sleep routine are also essential to managing anxiety.

Let’s look at how much time you devote to

• work

• relaxation

• exercise

• friendships

• hobbies

• romantic relationships

• dating

• kids/partner/family

• time spent outdoors

• creativity

• travel

Let’s assess their presence in your life to maximize your productivity and emotional wellness.

In psychotherapy we will discuss how spending quality time with loved ones, tidying your living space, slowing down, establishing a daily routine, creating structure, building healthy boundaries, and making time to pamper yourself are all part of finding and maintaining lasting peace.

Why am I so anxious?

You know how horror movies only show the shadow of the monster? Maybe just the spiky tail, or its horrible fangs?

That’s because your mind is the greatest illustrator of all. Your mind fills in the gaps with all sorts of scary images and ideas.

This is exactly how anxiety works in your brain.

Our mind is simply hypothesizing. It’s trying to prepare us! Our mind is a problem solving machine. So it fills in the blanks. But oftentimes these are very scary thoughts that are usually not that helpful.

Is anxiety normal?

Yes! Yes! Yes! Anxiety is totally normal. Why? Because life is not easy. It is unpredictable and so much is out of our control. If you could have gotten ride of your anxiety by now, you would have, right? But unfortunately this is impossible because we are humans. We can’t just turn off our emotions. (For long anyways.) We actually need anxiety to help us prepare, plan ahead, and grow.

WHAT we do with our anxiety matters. When we try to distract or numb ourselves from feeling stress, it almost always makes things worse in the long-run. So I’d like to invite you try to the exercise below to manage your anxiety in a better way!

Let me know if this sounds familiar…

You’re sitting at home. Or perhaps you are on your way somewhere. All of a sudden you have an overwhelming feeling of

Worry, Panic, and fear. You start to go into overdrive and fill in the following blanks in your head….

I don’t know what to do if ______ .

What if _____ happens!?

I’ve heard it all. And you are not alone in this.

But did you know that anxiety is perfectly normal?

It’s what we do with it that causes problems. In our work together, we will use the power of

• Breaking vicious cycles

• Mindfulness

• Cognitive defusion

• Emotional expansion

in order to help you better manage your symptoms of anxiety.

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