Counselling Can Help Your Anxiety

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Everyone at some point experiences anxiety.  You may experience anxiety over starting a new job,  moving to a new city, making a major life decision. Its normal to experience moments of anxiety around changes in your life.  However when your anxiety begins to affect the quality of your life, then you may have an anxiety disorder. An Anxiety Disorder is defined as an excessive feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease. Having an anxiety disorder can result in recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns.  

Are You Experiencing Any Of The Symptoms Below?

 Symptoms Of Anxiety

· Excessive Worrying

· Tense Muscles

· Difficulty Concentrating

· Restlessness

· Fatigue

· Feeling Agitated

· Trouble Sleeping

· Avoiding Social Situations

· Irrational Fears

What are the different types of anxiety disorders?

· Panic Attack : Experiencing recurring panic attacks at unexpected times. 

· Phobia: Excessive fear of a specific object, situation, or activity. example, fear of driving.

· Social Anxiety Disorder: Extreme fear of being judged by others in social situations

· Obsessive Complusive Disorder: Recurring irrational thoughts that lead you to do repeated behaviors

· Separation Anxiety Disorder:  The fear of being away from home or loved ones

· Illness Anxiety Disorder: Anxiety about your health.

· (PTSD)Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Anxiety following a traumatic event/

How To Confirm If You Have An  Anxiety Disorder ? 

If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms on a regular basis and feel that your anxiety if entering in your daily life, the first thing to do is to book an appointment with your doctor. Your doctor will start off by checking to confirm that there isn't any underlining medical issue that could be causing the above symptoms. 

If you have mild anxiety, your doctor may recommend speaking with a counsellor. A counsellor can assist you in identifying what triggers your anxiety and teach you techniques to help you when you feel anxious.

 If you are experiencing severe anxious symptoms as listed below tour doctor may recommend you seeking a psychiatrist or psychologist to get a psychological evaluation. During the psychological examination the doctor will discuss your feelings, behaviours and do an intense assessment before giving you a  diagnosis.

Symptoms of Severe Anxiety and Panic

• Fast heart rate and fast breathing.
• Sweating.
• Nausea.
• Trembling and feeling weak in the knees.
• Being unable to move or run away.

Have You Ever Had An Anxiety Attack?

An anxiety attack is an overwhelming feeling of worry, stress, or fear. It can feel like you are having difficulting breathing. Symptoms are different for everyone. Below are a few symptoms of an anxiety attack:

• feeling faint or dizzy
• shortness of breath
• dry mouth
• sweating
• chills or hot flashes
• apprehension and worry
• restlessness
• distress
• fear
• numbness or tingling

Healthy diet:  Although changing your diet alone is not enough to treat anxiety, it can help.  Vegetables, fruits, fish, nuts , whole grains can help to reduce your anxiety symptoms. Also adding probiotics to your diet can be very beneficially in reducing your anxiety symptoms. Limiting your intake of both caffeine and alcohol is also a great way to help your anxiety disorder. 

Exercising often: Exercising  can help in reducing your anxiety symptoms. Going to the gym, a walk or participating in any physical thactivitieat you enjoy. 

Medications:  Medications  used to treat anxiety include antidepressants and sedatives. These medications work by balancing your brain chemistry, to prevent episodes of anxiety.  

Yoga & Meditation: Yoga and meditation have been shown to help in calming and reducing symptoms of anxiety. Breathing exercises can place your body and mind in a calm state. 

Counselling:  Counselling allows you to have a one on one session with a counsellor to discuss your feelings, thoughts, behaviours associated with your anxiety. Your counsellor will work with you to identify triggers, and what may be contributing to your anxiety. Your counsellor will help you with  techniques that can assist in calming you when your feeling overwhelmed, nervous or worried..  Counselling can help reduce your anxiety symptoms, it is a very powerful in treating anxiety. Counselling isn't an instant treatment, it will take time working with your counsellor to help you with your anxiety. 

What  Happens In A Counselling Session?

During your counselling session your counsellor will start off by asking specific questions to get a strong understanding of your anxiety and how it has been affecting your quality of life. The counsellor will listen and provide a non judgmental space for you to share your feelings and  behaviours. Each session will get deeper into your thoughts, triggers and how to change the negative thoughts into positive ones. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy can be very effective in treating anxiety because it helps in changing your negative thoughts into positive ones. Occassionally your counsellor will provide homework that will be beneficial for you to complete and will be reviewed the next session. This homework is usually very easy and continues to help you in between your sessions. 

How Can Our Counsellors Help?

Our counsellors have years of experiencing counselling individuals with anxiety. In a non judgemental space they discuss your feelings, thoughts, behaviours and work with you to find the triggers and cause of your anxiety . They help you identify past traumas, and patterns in your life that may be the source. At times it is hard to identify why you are feeling anxious, our counsellors, can help to provide clarity and help you to start feeling better. Our counsellors  teach you how to change your negative thoughts into positive ones, and healthy ways of handling negative thoughts and feelings when they do come. 

Counselling can help your anxiety. It can help you to get a better understanding of why your feeling anxious and what to do when you feel anxious.  You want to feel better, you just don't know how. Our Counsellors can help. 

Can You Afford Counselling?

We know  the  cost of counselling can be expensive and is sometimes one of the reasons people don't start counselling. Virtually Calm has made sure that our counselling costs are affordable. We believe that counselling shouldn't be expensive when counselling can help your anxiety. 

We charge $65 per session and right now we have a 10% off of our regular rate. 

Don't let Anxiety stop you from spending time with friends or family, meeting new people, starting a romantic relationship, working, travelling, living your best life. Counselling can help your anxiety, it has helped many others. 

Fill out the form below if you would like to start counselling for your anxiety and to start feeling better.