Anxiety Therapist in Austin
Takeaway: Anxiety can make it difficult to trust the world around you–and trust yourself. Working with an anxiety therapist in Austin can help you understand the root of your anxiety and learn ways to feel more secure and empowered.
In today's world, the topic of anxiety is a familiar one. Our growing generations are more wired for anxiety than ever. With questions surrounding your adult identity, your career, how you'll raise a family or if you'll raise a family, it's no wonder you're feeling anxious. As an anxiety therapist and anxious person myself, I deeply understand the challenges that come with anxiety. I offer the tools needed to help you challenge your anxiety. In turn, you'll find relief in knowing ways to manage your anxiety disorder and feel better about your day-to-day life.
It's important to know about the types of treatments that work best for anxiety as you consider searching for a therapist. Some of the best evidence-based treatment modalities for an anxiety therapist to have training in include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. If you find yourself struggling with negative thought patterns and don't have the coping skills to stop the negative cycle of thinking, then anxiety therapy is right for you.
Thanks to anxiety, trusting your own thoughts and feelings can be incredibly hard. We will be discussing the different types of anxiety disorders, common sources of anxiety, how I approach anxiety treatment, and who I can help as an anxiety therapist in Austin, TX.
Having a well-rounded understanding about what the anxiety treatment process as a whole will look like can help reduce some of the feelings of anxiety (as you might have guessed) that come with diving into new experiences as an adult.
Take the time to learn about all that Austin anxiety therapy has to offer, as well as what I offer as an anxiety therapist in Austin.
What is anxiety?
Being an anxious person can feel really chaotic. Too often, the perception is that anxiety is just a series of moments of excessive worry, or that it's basically just stress, but anxiety is rarely that black and white.
One of the scarier, more uncomfortable feelings is not knowing what's happening to you, despite feeling like something is happening to you. Being that our mind-body connection is impacted by the presence of anxiety, it can seem like your whole self is failing you, one part after another. Understanding what your mind and body is experiencing and knowing how anxiety will affect you can help move you toward your next step.
I'll discuss the different types of anxiety disorders, the onset of mental and physical symptoms, and common causes of anxiety.
Types of anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health disorders, and yet they often tend to be under-treated. In addition, anxiety can also lead to depression. It can be confusing trying to understand the various anxiety disorders that exist. Relating to the symptoms of any one anxiety disorder can provide a lot of insight and direction for you as you begin considering anxiety treatment.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive fear and excessive worry that is typically irrational in nature. Although the term "anxiety" is often used loosely, it relates to more than your typical stress. GAD causes impairment in day-to-day functioning, such as work, school, and social life.
Social Anxiety Disorder
Another term used loosely, having "social anxiety" isn't simply about being shy or introverted. Social anxiety stems from a person's belief that they're being watched and judged by those around them, especially in public settings. This leads to self-isolation, further exasperating the presence of social anxiety.
PANIC DISORDERS
Although panic attacks are not exclusive to a person with Panic Disorder, when a person suffers from frequent panic attacks, the fear of future panic attacks and avoiding any potential triggers often results in further perpetuating this disorder. Some symptoms include heart palpitations or racing heart, sweating, tingling sensation, and fears of losing control.
PHOBIAS
A phobia is a fear of a specific object or thing (i.e. spiders, heights, flying), resulting in irrational avoidance, and even discussion of the feared thing. Agoraphobia, sometimes confused for social anxiety, is a diagnosis characterized by intense fear of public places where escape may not be possible. Research indicates that around 12.5% of adults will experience a phobia at some point in their lives.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
OCD is the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions that are repetitive and that the individual cannot control. The obsessions are intrusive and occur in the form of thoughts, images, and urges. Some compulsions include intense rituals or habits such as excessive hand washing, double checking, and counting.
Where anxiety comes from
Anxiety can feel really mysterious when you don't understand what's causing it. For some, not knowing the cause can further amplify your anxiety. Taking the time to learn more about the genetic and environmental factors relating to your anxiety can help make coping with it more effective.
Genetic HISTORY
If you're an anxious person, there's a good chance a close relative can relate. Our genetics play a significant role in our mental health. Some families may naturally observe anxious tendencies in one another and discuss the topic and others may never bridged the topic of anxiety at all.
long term stress
Although people tend to use the terms "stress" and anxiety" somewhat interchangeably, they are different. Experiencing stress in our daily life is relatively normal. However, being under stress for extended periods of time can make our bodies vulnerable, causing anxiety and even panic attacks.
trauma
Our bodies have a way of holding on to trauma, and a big warning sign for trauma is anxiousness. Whether it may be a current event or a past event, experiencing any level of trauma can cause severe anxiety and sometimes leads to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The sooner these traumatic events can be acknowledged, the better chance we have at limiting the uncomfortable symptoms of a diagnosis such as PTSD.
Childhood & Upbringing
It's difficult as children to have a real understanding around the impact of our childhood experiences and upbringing as it's occurring. It's not until we're adults that we're able to recognize how the experiences of our past have impacted our development. This includes both positive and negative influence from social, familial, and cultural life events.
Self-Esteem
Our self-esteem is made of many parts, all of which determine our self worth. When a person struggles with their self-esteem, they are essentially struggling to trust, value, respect, and all-around accept themselves as they are. This ultimately leads to difficulties in decision making and socialization, further causing feelings of anxiety.
health issues
When a person experiences a decline in their physical health, this can feel really scary. Whether the health issues are short term or long term, it's understandable that a person can feel anxious around the idea that they cannot fully rely on their body to be functional.
Meet Alissa Martinez, Austin anxiety therapist
Credentials: Licensed Professional Counselor
License number: Texas #81826
Education: Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Years in Practice: 5
Modalities Used: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Attachment-based Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Gottman Method, Motivational Interviewing
Google Rating: 5.0/5.0 stars
Despite such a strong prevalence of anxiety in society today, when people experience anxiety, it can feel incredibly isolating. Finding support through an anxiety specialist can help you express your feelings related to this disorder, including learning how to manage daily life as a generally anxious person.
As a teenager, one of the first psychological concepts I understood was anxiety because it had a profound resonation with me. On my journey to becoming a psychotherapist, I felt strongly about making anxiety the focal point of my work. I spent a significant amount of time growing my knowledge base and training to work with anxious clients through the use of strong evidence-based treatments for anxiety disorders.
Being an anxious person myself, I deeply understand how challenging it is to feel like your life is out of control, like you can't trust yourself, and like the dreadful feeling of fear and worry will never go away. Having experience with this on both a personal and professional level, I know how valuable it is to provide support to others as they regain control of their lives and develop coping skills to overcome their fears.
My approach to Austin anxiety treatment
Knowing and understanding how your anxiety therapist approaches the treatment of anxiety can help give you a more clear picture about what you can expect during a traditional therapy session. It can also help reduce the likelihood that you will feel anxious as you embark on this journey (but if you do, that's totally ok too!).
As an anxiety specialist, it's important for me to learn about my clients' personalities beyond their feelings of anxiety. Getting to know the individual provides me the opportunity to effectively assess what modalities may be most effective for what they bring to the table. This is why I enjoy an integrative approach that allows for a combination of psychodynamic and cognitive work to take place together. I utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as a means to help the client understand more about the unhelpful thinking distortions, patterns, and behaviors that exist within them, as well as restructure the thoughts and learn to effectively problem solve. I also incorporate aspects of Psychodynamic Therapy to understand the more deep rooted conflicts related to the presence of anxiety in the individual. In addition, I also find it deeply valuable to utilize aspects of humor and laughter when appropriate with clients who connect with this sort of language. In those cases, it's key to their capacity to feel comfortable.
I find this approach to be highly effective for anxious individuals because it speaks to the internal struggle in a variety of ways. We are able to closely analyze the client's valuable life history, make connections through this history, restructure the unhelpful tendencies, and do it all while sharing a few laughs about the feelings of chaos that are encompassed in the experience of the anxious person. It's important to me that I share this collaborative environment with a fellow anxious individual to help create an experience that is validating and life changing.
Who I help as an anxiety therapist in Austin, TX
It's easy to get discouraged when looking for the right therapist to treat your anxiety. Maybe you're confused, unsure if your personalities will mesh well, or concerned that you won't understand if they can help you during this turbulent time. That's why it's important to know about who I can help as an anxiety therapist in Austin. If you're struggling with some or all of these issues, I can help.
Excessive worry
We all worry. That's pretty normal. However, worrying every day about most things all the time is not. Excessive worry can cause you to experience both physical symptoms and other mental symptoms.
FATIGUE, RESTLESSNESS, & SLEEP ISSUES
If you're feeling tired, are not sleeping well, experiencing insomnia, or are on edge, you can thank good ol' anxiety for that. Feeling anxious so frequently can create mental exhaustion, which leads to physical exhaustion. For some, it can feel like you just worked out (minus the health benefits of exercise, sorry).
DIFFICULTY CONCENTRATING
If you're difficulty with concentration has you thinking you "might be ADHD" (i.e. you think you have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD]), you should also consider if it's your anxiety causing you to lose focus. Having anxiety causes our brain to feel overloaded, ultimately making us less effective at accomplishing tasks and more susceptible to distraction or lack of focus.
FEELING IRRITABLE
When we are feeling anxious, our emotional baseline changes, making it more difficult for us to deal with our day-to-day without feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. The longer we experience anxiety, the smaller our capacity to deal with day-to-day situations gets.
AVOIDANCE
When anxiety becomes too much for you, you may find that it's easier to altogether avoid dealing with the situations that have caused anxiety in the past. Over time, the tendency to avoid grows and transitions to other parts of our life, further exasperating the presence of anxiety.
MEDICATION ISN'T ENOUGh
You've made the decision to start taking medication to treat your symptoms of anxiety, but for some reason you're still finding yourself struggling with life. Unfortunately, there is no magic pill. Although the physical symptoms may have gone away, for certain people, the source(s) of your anxiety remains the same, and that's where therapy comes in.
FAQs about anxiety counseling in Austin
If you're feeling anxious, that's ok. In fact, it's expected! Making life-changing decisions, such as starting therapy, are among the many things that cause anxious individuals to feel worried and fearful.
Below are a few common questions I frequently receive about what to expect throughout the anxiety therapy process in Austin.
If you're still feeling unsure about starting therapy or you have any additional questions about the process, don't hesitate to reach out to talk to me directly.
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Most people can benefit from therapy, even if it's very short-term. However, if you're feeling unsure, here are some of the more common signs that you may need an anxiety therapist.
• You feel unusually worried or fearful about things or notice you worry too much about things others don't normally feel worried about
• You are experiencing a lot of physical symptoms of anxiety, such as heart palpitations/racing heart and body tension, that makes it hard to function day-to-day
• You have long been an anxious person, but now may also be struggling with feelings of depression
• Accomplishing daily activities and tasks has become significantly more overwhelming
• Those around you have observed your stress increase or behaviors change
Although it's important to acknowledge the need for anxiety therapy when symptoms arise, you certainly shouldn't wait for your symptoms to be "bad enough" to validate your need for therapy. The sooner you embark on your therapeutic journey, the less challenging it will be to break the anxious patterns that presently affect your life.
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Among some of the most evidence-based and common treatments for anxiety are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Exposure Therapy. CBT relates to challenging unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, and cognitive distortions. In relation to CBT is DBT, which encompasses components of CBT and adds in mindfulness and emotional regulation. Exposure Therapy is among the oldest treatments for certain anxiety disorders, as it exposes the individual to the thing they most fear that has created the anxiety.
The beauty of therapy is that, because each person is unique, treatment can look different for everyone. Ultimately, finding what works best for you is most important. Many therapists, like myself, focus on creating a treatment plan that's made to fit your specific therapeutic needs.
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The process of anxiety therapy is more than just learning to reduce your anxiety symptoms. Although reducing the symptoms of anxiety is very important, there is also a lot of value and meaning in learning about your roots. The hope is that throughout the process you will discover things that you did and did not know about yourself in a new way and with new meaning. Speaking to the challenges that created some of your anxious tendencies can provide a lot of valuable insight that, in turn, positively challenges the way you think.
Although the general goal for all clients is to make some form of progress, big, small, or teeny tiny, your experience in therapy should be unique to you. We'll work together to create a therapeutic experience that is customized according to your need
Anxiety counseling in Austin can help you grow past insecurity and self doubt
For most anxious people, making decisions, such as starting therapy, can feel quite difficult. Sometimes it feels like a decision carries the weight of the world. The anxious voice in your head will likely consider all the ways that therapy isn't a good idea for you or could go wrong. At the same time, maybe you've been considering this for some time, but have felt too anxious to take the leap. Know that that's ok.
Through an integrative approach that is formulated by evidence-based theories, my priority will be to create a space for you that feels safe, comfortable, and will reduce your feelings of anxiety. Come as yourself and we can work together to create the changes you have desired, or perhaps didn't even know that you needed.
Find out what kind of relief anxiety therapy can provide for you. Reach out now for a free consultation to talk and start the process or to schedule an appointment.