How Entering Into Therapy Can Help Clients Overcome Their Anxiety: Effective Approaches and Soothing Strategies
Today more than ever, anxiety is one of the most common mental health concerns that we face. Anxiety affects millions of people worldwide across all ages, races, genders and socioeconomic levels. Anxiety manifests in various ways, from generalized anxiety and panic attacks to social anxiety and phobias. As a therapist, helping clients navigate their anxiety is a complex but deeply rewarding endeavor. Lasker Therapy Collective is here to help you overcome your struggles with anxiety and move into a life that is free of worry, fear and the paralysis that anxiety creates. In this blog post, we’ll explore how the therapists at Lasker Therapy Collective can effectively support you with your your anxiety and provide you with practical tips and tools for soothing your anxiety both inside and outside of our therapy sessions.
The First Step is to Understand Anxiety
Before diving into some of the different therapeutic approaches we will use to help you, it’s crucial to have a better understanding of what anxiety is. At its core, anxiety is the body’s natural response to stress, perceived danger, or uncertainty. While some level of anxiety is normal and even beneficial in certain situations, chronic or intense anxiety can significantly impact a person’s quality of life, relationships and overall health.
Common symptoms of anxiety include:
- Persistent worry or fear.
- Racing thoughts.
- Physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, sweating, and muscle tension.
- Avoidance behaviors.
- Difficulty concentrating.
- Sleep disturbances.
Anxiety can stem from various factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, trauma, or life experiences. For therapists, understanding the root causes and manifestations of a client’s anxiety is essential for developing an effective treatment plan.
Core Therapeutic Approaches for Treating Anxiety
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is one of the most evidence-based, imperially validated treatments for anxiety. It focuses on identifying and challenging distorted thought patterns that contribute to anxious feelings. Through CBT, clients learn to replace their unhelpful, maladaptive thoughts with more balanced and realistic ones. Key CBT techniques that the therapists at The Lasker Marriage and Family Therapy Group use include:
- Cognitive restructuring: Helping clients recognize and reframe negative thought patterns.
- Exposure therapy: Gradually exposing clients to feared situations or stimuli to reduce avoidance behaviors.
- Behavioral experiments: Encouraging clients to test their anxious predictions and evaluate outcomes.
Mindfulness-Based Interventions
Mindfulness techniques, such as meditation and grounding exercises, can help clients stay present and reduce rumination. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are particularly effective for managing anxiety.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT, originally designed for borderline personality disorder, has been adapted to address anxiety. It combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with mindfulness and emotion regulation strategies. Clients learn to tolerate the distress they are experiencing and to reduce their emotional reactivity.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is especially beneficial for clients whose anxiety is rooted in trauma. By processing distressing memories through guided eye movements, clients can reduce their emotional charge and develop healthier perspectives.
Somatic Therapies
Anxiety often manifests physically, making somatic approaches like body awareness, breath-work, and progressive muscle relaxation valuable tools. These techniques help clients to reconnect with their bodies and to release their stored up tension.
Building a Therapeutic Alliance
The therapeutic relationship that we will create together is a cornerstone of effective anxiety treatment. We believe wholeheartedly that our clients need to feel safe, understood, and supported to fully open up and explore their fears and vulnerabilities. As therapists we work to foster this alliance by:
- Creating a nonjudgmental space: Validate our client’s experiences and emotions without minimizing or pathologizing their feelings.
- Collaborating on goals: We actively involve our clients in setting realistic, achievable and meaningful therapy goals.
- Maintaining consistency: Reliability and predictability in sessions will help build the trust necessary to travel this journey together.
- Being transparent: We will always share and explain the rationale behind the therapeutic techniques and interventions that we will be utilizing in our work together. If at any point during our work together something doesn’t seem to fit your needs, please speak up! We are here for you and need to hear from you.
Practical Tips for Soothing Anxiety in Therapy
The therapists at Lasker Therapy Collective are adept at equipping their clients with a wide range of tools to manage their anxiety in real time. Here are some effective techniques:
Breathing Exercises
Teaching clients how to regulate their breath can immediately reduce anxiety. Techniques like diaphragmatic breathing or the 4-7-8 method (inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds) can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is the part of your body’s nervous system that when activated, calms you down after a stressful situation. By utilizing the breathing techniques that we will teach you, you will actively slow your heart rate and promote a relaxing sensation within your mind and body. Breathing works!
Grounding Techniques
Grounding helps to clients anchor themselves in the present moment. Examples include:
- The 5-4-3-2-1 method: Identify 5 things you see, 4 things you feel, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you taste.
- Focusing on physical sensations, such as pressing feet into the floor. Feel your backside leaning against a chair or a couch.
Spotting and naming objects in your immediate surroundings. Look around the space that you are in and identify the objects that you see by color and name (brown couch, yellow flowers, white lamp etc).
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
PMR involves tensing and then releasing each muscle group in the body. This helps reduce physical tension and creates a sense of calm. Start with your toes and move your way up to your head.
Visualization
Guided imagery exercises, such as picturing a “safe place” or imagining anxiety as a wave that ebbs and flows, can help clients gain perspective and feel more in control.
Journaling
We often encourage our clients to write about their thoughts and feelings. Journaling can help you to identify triggers, track progress, and externalize worries. Writing out the worries and feelings that are causing your anxiety is a proven exercise that helps clients to release and let go of the thoughts that are no longer serving them.
Self-Compassion Exercises
Anxiety often comes with self-criticism. At Lasker Therapy Collective, we teach our clients to practice self-compassion through affirmations, gratitude exercises, and loving-kindness meditations.
Helping Clients Develop Long-Term Coping Strategies
While immediate anxiety relief is important, as your therapist, we believe that it is also necessary to focus on building your long-term resilience. Below are some of the strategies we will help you employ:
Lifestyle Adjustments
We educate our clients on the impact of their physical health on their mental well-being. We encourage:
- Regular exercise.
- Balanced nutrition.
- Consistent sleep routines.
Building a Support System
It is our belief that having strong relationships within your community is a protective factor against anxiety. We encourage our clients to strengthen and to build relationships with supportive friends, family, or community groups. Social connection is a powerful buffer against anxiety.
Time Management and Organization
Anxiety often increases when tasks feel overwhelming. We teach our clients to break tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, to set realistic goals, and to use tools like planners or apps to stay organized.
Addressing Underlying Issues
We will help you to explore the root causes of your anxiety, such as unresolved trauma, perfectionism, or fear of failure. By helping our clients understand and address these underlying factors, we have seen lasting changes in their quality of life.
Teaching Emotional Regulation
We feel that it is imperative that we equip our clients with the skills to identify and regulate their emotions. Techniques like labeling emotions, using distress tolerance tools, and practicing acceptance can reduce emotional intensity.
Referring and Collaborating are an integral part of the Treatment Plan
Sometimes, anxiety requires a multidisciplinary approach. The therapists at Lasker Therapy Collective will always consider collaborating with or referring clients to other professionals in cases such as:
- Severe anxiety that interferes with daily functioning.
- Co-occurring conditions like depression, substance use, or eating disorders.
- A need for medication management alongside therapy.
- Specialized interventions, such as group therapy or psychoeducation workshops.
Encouraging Hope and Empowerment
Finally, it’s essential to instill hope in our clients. Anxiety can feel overwhelming, but with the right tools and support, it is manageable. We will celebrate your small victories, remind you of your strengths, and emphasize the progress that you have already made.
Conclusion
Helping clients with anxiety requires a unique blend of empathy, evidence-based techniques, and individualized care. At Lasker Therapy Collective, we believe that by fostering a strong therapeutic alliance with your therapist, learning effective coping strategies, and addressing the underlying causes of your anxiety, you will feel empowered and prepared to regain control over your life. With patience and persistence, working together we will help you to navigate the journey toward a calmer, happier and more fulfilling life.
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