One of the best ways to deal with anxiety is to learn about your own anxiety: your symptoms, what triggers it, and what coping mechanisms have been effective in the past. When you learn what your anxiety is tied to, it can help you be mindful of what’s really happening as well as prevent and mitigate symptoms by processing and working through the issue in therapy. Other strategies that have been shown to help manage anxiety are meditation, challenging anxious thoughts, exercising, and journaling.
On average, people can tend to attend 15 to 20 session of anxiety therapy (five or more months). However, this number is heavily dependent on the type of anxiety that’s being treated and its severity, with many choosing to attend anxiety therapy for a longer period of time to ensure its effectiveness long-term.
The Most Common Symptoms of Anxiety
As mentioned above, an anxiety disorder is different from every day anxious feelings people experience during situations of heightened stress. Anxiety disorders are characterized by more pervasive symptoms, which can include common feelings such as:
- Nervousness and tension
- A sense of impending doom
- A rapid heart rate or difficulty breathing
- Weakness and exhaustion
- Muscle and body aches
- Difficulty falling and staying asleep
- Trouble focusing
- Problems controlling worries
- Avoidance of anxiety-causing situations
When you’re dealing with anxiety, it can feel like you’ll never be able to calm yourself down. Our licensed therapists and counselors in Grand Prairie, TX, can help you with treating your anxiety symptoms.
The Benefits of Therapy for People With Anxiety
Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is a form of psychological treatment where you and a licensed professional meet to talk deeply about your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This practice helps people with anxiety learn how to identify and work through the thoughts that cause emotional distress and influence their behavior. Anxiety counseling is often done through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), though other types of therapy like exposure therapy or psychodynamic therapy are also helpful.
Sessions can look different for everyone depending on their unique needs. A client with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), for example, may have different treatment options than a client with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there are some general practices taught in therapy, such as:
- Radical acceptance: This skill is about accepting life and your situation as it is, even if you don’t like how things are going.
- Grounding exercises: This can include mindfulness activities such as meditation, yoga, or exercise that help ground you in your present moment.
- Distress tolerance: This includes practices like paced breathing and exercise to help quickly bring you down from a state of extreme emotional distress.
These coping skills can help you reduce anxiety and live your best life. Working with a mental health professional from Thriveworks Counseling in Grand Prairie, TX, can help you learn these types of skills and reduce your anxiety.
Schedule a Session With a Therapist in Grand Prairie, TX
At Thriveworks, we offer sessions in-person and online. We also accept most major insurance plans.
Our clients will also gain access to exclusive online content, and help with scheduling and billing concerns from our support team.
Consider calling our office at Thriveworks Counseling in Grand Prairie, TX, to start anxiety therapy sessions today.
