Therapy for Anxiety
Anxiety can show up in our bodies in multiple ways — from trouble concentrating and irritability to somatic symptoms of sweating, trembling or shaking — it can be frightening and confusing when these feelings arise. Anxiety might also cause intrusive thoughts, obsessions and compulsions, which are symptoms consistent with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Please know that the symptoms listed are not inclusive of all symptoms and behaviors an individual with anxiety might experience.
You’re not alone, we’re here to help!
At Grounded Wellbeing, our team of clinical therapists has experience working with individuals across the life span who are living with symptoms of anxiety, and are eager to support you in navigating these emotions. Our team is gender-affirming, neuro-affirming, and practices from an attachment and relationally based lens, which goes beyond traditional methods by placing your relationships and personal experiences at the heart of the healing process. With this approach, the client-therapist relationship is based on developing or rebuilding trust and centers on expressing emotions. We believe that fostering secure and supportive connections can empower you to navigate the complexities of gender affirmation. Our therapeutic approach recognizes that our connections with others shape our sense of self and identity, especially during the transformative process of embracing one's true gender. Our goal is for individuals to feel supported and empowered to express their authentic selves.
Understanding anxiety, and how it shows up in your body can be helpful in the coping and healing process. To support our work, we also offer various trauma-focused modalities, including exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, plus meditation, mindfulness, and somatic techniques.
EMDR is an approach that can bring about profound healing and transformation. It is particularly effective in addressing the emotional challenges, traumas, and anxieties that may arise during your gender exploration. By utilizing bilateral stimulation, EMDR helps to process distressing memories, thoughts, and feelings that might be holding you back from fully embracing your authentic self. In our safe and affirming therapy space, we'll work collaboratively to identify and target any negative beliefs, self-doubts, or past experiences that may be impeding your journey. EMDR sessions can provide a structured and guided process to reprocess these emotional blockages, allowing you to release their grip on your present and future.
EMDR is also effectives for individuals with trauma, and complex trauma. EMDR requires additional training and certification. This service is only currently offered by Jacklyn Byrd , LPC, NCC. Jacklyn is trained to provide EMDR in the state of Georgia. Learn more about them here, or book your consultation below.
ERP is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that is helpful when individuals are presenting with intrusive thoughts, such as fear of germs and contamination, profane religious thoughts, fear of blurting out obscenities, homicidal thoughts, traumatic memories, and more, that lead to anxiety and compulsive behaviors, such as excessive cleaning and hand washing, checking doors are locked or that the gas is off, repeating words in your head. ERP exposes individuals to practicing confronting the thoughts, images, objects, and situations that make them anxious and provoke these obsessive behaviors. And, response prevention refers to making a choice not to do compulsive behavior once the anxiety or obsessions have been triggered. This type of therapy can feel scary, aad it’s important that a trained clinician is working with you to develop a plan for exposure. Over time, ERP is designed to retrain your brain to no longer see the object of the obsession as a threat.
According to the International OCD Foundation, when ERP is done correctly, individuals:
Will feel an initial increase in anxiety, uncertainty, and obsessional thoughts.
Will find that these feelings and thoughts are distressing, but also that they can’t hurt you — they are safe and manageable.
Will find that when you stop fighting the obsessions and anxiety, these feelings will eventually begin to subside.
Will notice a natural drop in anxiety that happens when you stay “exposed” and “prevent” the compulsive “response” is called habituation.
Will find that your fears are less likely to come true than you thought.
Will get better at managing “everyday” levels of risk and uncertainty [1].
This service is currently offered by Lance Madow, MS, APC, NCC (he/they). Learn more about him here, or book your consultation below.
Often, anxiety is related to past traumas. Using mindfulness, mediation and other somatic techniques can help individuals identify where the trauma is stored in their body, and work towards reclamation. The Manitoba Trauma Information and Education Center (MITEC), shares that trauma recovery should be viewed as a process that is worked on over time and in intentional stages. The first – and most central step – is the re-establishment of safety. According to this framework, trauma recovery can be broken down into three different phases: 1) Safety and Stabilization, 2) Remembrance and Mourning, & 3) Reconnection and Integration [2]. With this framework comes mindfulness, establishing safety within the body, and reclamation
With meditation, mindfulness, and other somatic techniques, we can create an awareness within our bodies that allows us to observe thoughts, feelings, sensation and emotions without judgment. These practices encourage living in the present moment, and involve tuning into bodily sensations, such as deep breathing exercises or progressive muscle relaxation, to identify and release physical tension associated with anxiety. The goal is to establish safety in partnership with your therapist, and work towards reclaiming spaces in your body and environment that cause fear, shame, guilt, and/or other symptoms of anxiety and trauma.