If you’re looking for confidential, compassionate counselling and psychotherapy in the Northern Beaches area, then Living Consciously is the perfect choice.
Make an appointmentWhat is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a state in which the sufferer experiences feelings of fear, unease, nervousness or tension in given situations. If these feelings persist and take hold, anxiety can develop into a full-blown condition that requires professional help.
Anxiety can be caused by a broad range of factors. While heart-related issues can cause anxiety, it may also stem from issues with your thyroid, a gland located in your neck that controls metabolism and energy-related hormones.
There are many other triggers, such as stress-producing life events like an important exam, a big speech or performance, major life events like a wedding or birth, plus it can be caused by certain medications, alcohol and drugs, even caffeine intake.
While anxiety may feel as though there is no escape from your ongoing symptoms, with professional help you can learn to effectively manage your anxiety and live a life without unnecessary worry or fear.
Are you ready to start living consciously?
Are anxiety attacks and panic attacks the same?
While the symptoms of both anxiety attacks and panic attacks can be similar, and they are often thought to be the same thing, panic attacks and anxiety attacks are actually distinct from each other.
The causes can be different, for example, panic attacks can happen without a specific trigger, while anxiety is usually in response to a perceived stimulus.
Panic attacks can appear suddenly and subside just as quickly, whereas anxiety can be more insidious, creeping up on you and potentially staying around for periods of time.
The severity of an attack can be different too, panic attacks often being more intense.
Left untreated anxiety may lead to depression. Whether you are struggling to live a happy life as a result of anxiety or panic attacks, there is a way out.
What are the symptoms of anxiety?
Increased heart rate
Catastrophizing thoughts
Mental tension
Inability to sleep
Fatigue
Chest pains
Headaches
Detachment/Dissociation
Increased blood pressure
Persistent worrying thoughts
Physical tension
Dizziness
Restlessness
Numbness
Chest pressure
Feelings of terror
Avoidance
How I can help with your anxiety
My comprehensive methodologies include my own unique step by step process which can help to assist you if you are suffering from anxiety and other mental health disorders.
While anxiety may feel as though it is occurring for no reason, I will help you to identify your triggers.
Sometimes sufferers can find themselves in the grip of anxiety without any apparent/overt cause or trigger, and this can often make the problem even worse. There are a number of ways we can work to combat this.
In some situations we will work towards letting go of your need to know why anxiety is happening. This may assist you to eliminate or lessen the grip that it has on you.
Another treatment option is to find a distraction or a shift in your attention to take your mind off what is happening to you. It can be anything, a conversation about something else, a focus on something else that is happening around you or thoughts about positive things that have happened that day.
Together we will find the most effective treatment for you.
My Step-by-Step process
In our initial session I will deeply listen and attend to your full life story. I’ll ask you about your life passions, the things you feel are challenging your well-being, and your medical history. From here I’ll help you to start healing and feel at peace with yourself. In counselling and psychotherapy sessions, I help you resolve your problems and any past traumas by focusing on a proven 6 step process
Step 1: Develop Safety and Trust
We will first work to ensure that you feel safe in your relationship with me. I will do whatever I can to help you feel comfortable and to meet your needs. I will be accepting of you and whatever issues you want to discuss with me. Building a trusting relationship with me will help you feel more safe, secure and confident within yourself and with others.
Step 2: Discover How to Calm and Soothe Yourself
When you have had long-standing problems such as depression, anxiety, and troubled relationships, your emotions are often on high alert and can feel out of control.
In therapy, we will work to help you relax your mind and your body so that you feel calmer and more at peace. This will make it easier to live your life feeling more comfortable and in control
Step 3: Feeling More at Ease in Your Relationships
As you progress in therapy, you will increase your understanding of how your relationships with others have been impacted by the stressful events in your life.
You will develop a stronger sense of yourself in your relationships, set better boundaries, and become clear on what you need and want from them
Step 4: Increasing Self-Awareness
As your self-awareness of your problems and the role trauma has played in your life increase, you will be able to respond to your life and others in a more positive way.
You will no longer feel like a victim to your emotions and behaviors. You will feel good about the choices you make and your approach to life.
Step 5: Helping You Improve Your Mood
As you heal in therapy, you will begin to experience more joy and pleasure. You will unearth your creativity and experience a greater sense of competence and mastery.
Step 6: Integrating Your Learning into
Your Life You will feel stronger in yourself and feel more whole. Problems and distressing events from the past will no longer have a “hold” on you. You will have a sense of being free and alive.
Why Choose Me?
- I work with you from a framework of compassion and collaboration to help you solve your problems.
- I commit to working with you until you heal. My core philosophy is that there is always hope for you to feel better about your life.
- I help you manage strong emotions, as well as change your thinking and behaviors so that your life improves
- I will listen to you and accept you, regardless of the problems you bring to therapy.
- I support you towards being more loving and caring towards yourself, increasing your self-confidence, having better relationships and feeling good about your life.
- I provide comprehensive mental health assessment and accurate diagnosis.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the common symptoms of anxiety?
Anxiety can cause a large number and broad array of symptoms when it takes hold, both physical and mental/emotional, such as feelings of tension, nervousness and fear, experiencing a sense of panic, of something bad that is about to happen, rapid breathing and increased heart rate, difficulty concentrating, sweating, trembling, a racing mind, pain and headaches and several more.
How do you cope with anxiety?
There are several ways to approach coping with anxiety. Taking prescribed medication is one. There are mind and muscle relaxation techniques that you can utilise to help you calm yourself. Distraction is also a commonly used approach, diverting conversations or activities. Exercise is also an excellent way to relieve anxiety, in several different ways: it is a distracting activity, it releases chemicals in the brain that can work to counteract the ailment, it works off nervous energy and makes the exerciser feel better about themselves.
Can anxiety be fully cured?
You can live a life without anxiety and stress. Many people have managed their anxiety to the point where their symptoms very rarely or even never occur. You can too
