Anxiety can show up as persistent worry, overthinking, perfectionism, avoidance, panic, or feeling as though you need to resolve uncertainty before you can relax.
It can also involve rumination, reassurance-seeking, physical tension, difficulty sleeping, or feeling unable to switch off even when you know there is no immediate problem to solve.
Therapy begins with understanding how anxiety works in your particular life.
Patterns that can keep anxiety going
Many responses to anxiety make sense in the short term.
Avoidance can reduce fear immediately. Reassurance can create temporary relief. Checking can briefly increase certainty. Worry can feel like preparation.
The difficulty is that some of these strategies can also make anxiety more persistent.
For example, consistently avoiding a feared situation may prevent you from learning that you could handle it. Repeated reassurance may make it harder to tolerate uncertainty without reassurance the next time.
We start by figuring out which of these patterns are actually relevant to you rather than applying the same explanation to everyone.
Different forms of anxiety can look similar on the surface, so treatment depends on understanding the pattern rather than simply trying to ‘calm down’ more effectively.
What we might work on
- worry and rumination
- avoidance
- uncertainty
- anxious thoughts
- panic and physical symptoms
- perfectionism
- reassurance-seeking or checking
- interpersonal anxiety
- stress and burnout
- sleep
- ADHD when executive-function difficulties are increasing anxiety
The goal is not to eliminate anxiety. Some anxiety is normal and useful. We work on reducing how much it controls your choices and increasing your ability to respond to it differently.
Sessions
Individual therapy for adults and older teens, generally age 16 and up.
In person in Edmonton and virtually throughout Alberta.
50-minute sessions. $235 per session. Direct billing is available with many extended-health insurance providers depending on your plan.
