Counseling Services

Anxiety is the reaction a person has both mentally and physically to circumstances in life that are stressful, dangerous, or unknown. Stress can come from positive things in a person’s life, such as a new job or relationship. People often benefit from having some low levels of anxiety, helping to motivate them and allowing them to get things done. For some, the anxiety becomes too much and disproportionate to the stressor – this can be unproductive, unhealthy, distracting, and even debilitating. This is when anxiety becomes a disorder. People can feel like they are worrying too much about things, feel restless and pent up, may have difficulty sleeping or slowing their minds down, and might even be irritable. They may avoid places, things or certain people to prevent feelings of anxiety. Physical sensations such as muscle tension, stomach aches, restlessness, and panic might be present. These symptoms are common for people with anxiety and they can be helped.

It can be useful for a person with uncomfortable anxiety to see a therapist to help manage that anxiety better. This can be done through developing and practicing coping skills to counteract the anxiety. Mindfulness and calming strategies can be quite helpful for those suffering with out-of-proportion anxiety. Sometimes cognitive strategies can be used to adjust our perceptions and thoughts about the stresses in our lives. Also, anxiety can feel very isolating and contribute to people feeling alone. They  may feel unable or reluctant to share these emotions with family and friends – at these times they might just need someone who will listen. A therapist can do just that. A therapist will work with you to ensure your goals and needs are being met along the way in a competent and compassionate matter.

To read more about anxiety disorders, click here.

To learn more about anxiety symptoms, click here.

Trauma is defined in many was these days. It can defined by the mental health field by an event that has occurred that which can result in an emotional response to an extremely negative event (as defined by the APA). While trauma is a normal reaction to a negative event the effects can be so severe that it can interfere with a person ability to function.  Living through the last 6 months we have seen and heard many traumatic events. Based on our past life experiences and current life stressors these may all have an impact on how well we can manage trauma and this current Pandemic.

Part of managing trauma is being able to recognize our ability manage the trauma/stress on our own if we can, some signs and symptoms of trauma are: recognizing when someone is starting to struggling, they may become more depressed or isolate more, more irritable, may be triggered by things that never bothered them before, changes in personalities, serious health problems, these are just a few of the many symptoms that may occur. These could be just some of the signs that family or friends could benefit from professional support from counseling to help with managing all that there are struggling with. Some people are able to manage their trauma on their own and never need to seek professional help. These people have strong resiliency skills and appear less impacted by the trauma.

The best thing we can do as family, friends and community members and is be supportive and understanding that this is a very difficult time for all of mankind. We want to keep grace and kindness at the front lines and remind everyone that we are here for each other and that we are resilient human beings that can make it through this difficult time hopefully a stronger and more loving society.