21 Things to Expect when being Treated for Anxiety

  Affiliated COUNSELING AND REFERRAL SERVICES (ACRS)

 DR. Michael Shery, clinical psychology

  2615 Three Oaks Rd, Ste 2A,  Cary, IL 60013

 www.carypsychology.com  847 275 8236 (24 Hrs);  drmike@carypsychology.com

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21 Things to Expect when being Treated for Anxiety

By Dr Michael Shery

As a psychologist and counselor practicing in the Cary-Algonquin-Crystal Lake area of Illinois, I find that there are 5 essentials you can expect in your treatment for anxiety here.

But first, what are the symptoms of anxiety?

1. Excessive worry that is disproportionate to the situation
2. Muscle tension, restlessness or shakiness
3. Palpitations, "butterflies," or nervousness
4. Being "on edge," concentration problems or insomnia

If you have these symptoms you should seek counseling or psychotherapy.  But if you begin treatment, what will your counselor do- how does therapy work?

1. Your therapist will ask you to explore your thought processes-the way you think.  In many cases the type of thoughts you have cause your anxiety.  Fearful, dreadful, pessimistic thoughts are, what I call, anxiogenic.  That is they lead to anxiety.
2. You will be asked to identify major life conflicts, past and present, to determine how they may be affecting your anxiety.  Often history still lingers in the present.
3. Your therapist may train you in various relaxation techniques to subdue the "butterflies" or worries.  One such technique is the therapist guiding your imagination to condition more pleasant relaxed feelings to the anxiety-provoking stimuli.
4. The therapist may train you on how to "sculpt" your anxiety-provoking thinking patterns so your thoughts are not so pessimistic, scary or catastrophic.
5. You may be asked to identify a list of negative consequences resulting from you’re your anxious thinking processes which interfere in your life.
6. The possible benefits of herbs or medications might be explored to assess whether or not one or more might be helpful in making your life more comfortable.
7. You might be asked to consider that your anxiety has its own unconscious "sales pitch" which tricks you into believing that it is necessary and helpful.  Some of these "sales pitches" convince the patient that without the active worrying, his life will be ambushed by a terrible event or catastrophe that will be unmanageable.
8. Once the "sales pitch" has been figured out your therapist will teach you how to dispute it so that your mind believes your disputation rather than the deceptive pitch.
9. Your therapist may hypnotize you so that your subconscious mind learns that you don't have to worry to protect yourself.  When your subconscious believes it, so will your everyday conscious mind and the anxiety will disappear
10. The therapist may prescribe that you read and study some pamphlets or articles about anxiety and ask that you select relevant concepts to discuss with him in the session.
11. Your therapist will likely help you to develop an awareness of your relapse triggers and constructive ways to manage them.
12. You may be required to verbalize how your current living situation contributes to your anxieties and acts as a hindrance to your recovery.
13. If your living situation is seen as aggravating your anxiety, other interventions, such as marriage or family counseling, may be introduced to deal with it.
14. Your therapist will assist you in developing insight into the personal and/or career changes that may be needed in order to prevent a relapse of serious anxiety.
15. You may be encouraged to increase your awareness of how your upbringing may have affected you psychologically.  Remember that often a traumatic past may linger or even lurk in your present.
16. Your therapist will likely support and encourage you when you begin to express relevant fear, rage and rejection relating to any abuse or neglect
17. In helping you to manage a traumatic past, your therapist may help you identify the role you played in your family and the feelings associated with it.
18. The therapist may help you to identify self-defeating patterns relevant to your anxiety that exist in your present family or career situation and suggest ways of modifying them.
19. The therapist may prescribe psychological testing to expose any factors that may be neglected in isolating the causes of your anxiety.
20. You will be helped to identify sources of ongoing support and reassurance to effectively curtail and manage your anxiety.
21. If you are taking any related medications, their clinical and side effects will be monitored to be sure that they are contributing efficiently to a therapeutic outcome and not hampering it in any way.

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