Anxiety

Racing pulse? Sweaty palms? Tight chest? Shortness of breath? Difficulty thinking clearly? Feeling “anxiety”?

These are some of the most common signs of anxiety, a normal human emotional and physical state that serves to signal us that something important is going on. Anxiety can signal something good, such as our excitement before we see a long lost friend. It can also signal something potentially bad, such as when we imagine making a blundering error just before we start a presentation.

A little anxiety keeps us alert, such as when we are about to cross the street and our anxiety signals us to be cautious and check for traffic before stepping off the curb. A lot of anxiety can distract us, make us physically uncomfortable, steal our sleep, lead us to avoid important activities in life, and even increase our risk for stroke, heart attack, and other serious illness.

I help clients decrease their suffering from excessive anxiety by working on several fronts: reducing uncomfortable symptoms by increasing coping and relaxation skills; examining and changing anxiety-provoking ways of thinking; and getting to the root causes of the anxiety in order to minimize recurrences and develop mastery over excessive anxiety.