Anxiety and Stress Counselling in Hamilton
“When we are fully present, without a fearful future, there can be no anxiety. “
All of us have experienced moments of anxiety in our lives. It can range from brief moments of intense stress to pervasive moods that become entrenched in the body and become crippling to our daily activities. The feeling itself is a healthy physiological response to fearful situations. If the fear is something present and obvious – like a fierce dog – then we can do something about it and relief the stress. However, if it is something future or past oriented that might be hard to even identify, let alone solve – well then anxiety can be here to stay.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders in North America, hitting a staggering possible 18% of the population. It can appear as fear, worry, self-doubt, panic, or a general unease. Even common stress is just a mild form of anxiety. The difference may only be one of intensity and duration.
The good news is that though anxiety disorders are the most common of mental health complaints, they are also the most treatable. And medication is not even the best treatment for anxiety. At this point it seems that most doctors are recommending psychotherapy.
“The other thing is that if you rely solely on medication to manage depression or anxiety, for example, you have done nothing to train the mind, so that when you come off the medication, you are just as vulnerable to a relapse as though you had never taken the medication.”
– Daniel Goleman
If you are suffering from an anxiety disorder, then depending on your strengths and personality, cognitive therapy or mindfulness-based therapies are tremendously successful. We can get to the roots of what the anxiety is – even if you believe it is simply deeply set in the cells and biology of your body, I promise you that we can trace this and help you experience it differently.
I have experience working with clients with various diagnoses, from GAD (generalized Anxiety Disorder) to Social Anxiety, Panic Disorder and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and I have had great success even with clients who have been told by other therapists that they could not be treated.
Anxiety is a terrible thing to live with. And it is simply not necessary to have this looming in your life.
