March 2nd, 2011
Stress, anxiety, and depression have become commonplace today. At some level, they can even be considered normal responses to living in our speedy world. But when these experiences begin to accumulate and overwhelm, they can have increasingly negative impacts on the quality of daily life. These symptoms gradually develop from being merely bothersome to becoming serious liabilities to emotional and physical health. Effective anxiety counseling can help transform dis-ease into learning how to live more at-ease day to day, one day at a time.
Through respectful and careful exploration of these emotional challenges, we can discover a capacity to soothe and support ourselves, even in the midst of the most difficult times. We can come up from under.
Stress relief can be found through a compassionate exploration of the origins of stress. By looking at life style and the ways we support or don’t support ourselves, we can see that there is a spectrum of self-care that we can learn to develop, support, and sustain. We can discover that perhaps being stressed out is optional. Mindfulness-based stress relief is a perfectly accessible skill that can bring comfort and even satisfaction.
Some anxiety is perfectly normal. But when it devolves into a persistent sense of apprehension and panic attacks, crippling our capacity for living at ease, it is important to seek support and find some solace. Once again, learning to practice basic mindfulness-awareness can often mediate symptoms of anxiety.
Depression can feel shameful although it has been estimated that twenty percent of the population experiences this debilitating disorder. As with anxiety, medication can offer some relief from depression. However, this relief may tend to mask, not resolve, the roots of depressive suffering. In my counseling practice, I seek to create and cultivate an alliance of support wherein the client can begin to genuinely accept and love themselves. Depression commonly breeds a perpetuating cycle of self-recrimination. Effective psychotherapy seeks to enhance the possibility of long-term relief from depression.
My counseling practice is specifically designed for treating these discouraging experiences. Treatment of stress, anxiety, and depression is a major focus of my work. Perhaps the most difficult step to take is the first one: simply reaching out, admitting that you’re suffering, and asking for support. Just taking that first step can often bring some relief.