Anxiety Counselor: What Is It & How Do They Help?

 

If you’re struggling with anxiety, a general therapist might not be the best choice for you, and you should consider seeing someone who specializes as an anxiety counselor. After all, having anxiety is very different from having depression or experiencing difficulties in certain areas, so having a therapist who is skilled in treating anxiety can be very helpful.

If you or someone close to you is struggling with anxiety. Make sure you read this article as we share what you can expect from seeing an anxiety counselor and how they can help you feel better. 

 

What Is Anxiety?

It’s normal to feel anxious in life occasionally. On the other hand, people with anxiety disorders frequently experience intense, overwhelming, and persistent concern and panic regarding routine events. Panic attacks, which are abrupt, intense emotions of fear or terror that peak in a matter of minutes, are a common feature of anxiety disorders.

These uncontrollably intense, out-of-proportion-to-the-real-danger emotions cause disruptions to everyday tasks and can last for extended periods. You could steer clear of certain areas or circumstances to stop these emotions. The onset of symptoms can occur in infancy or adolescence and persist throughout maturity.

Generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, particular phobias, and social anxiety disorder (sometimes known as social phobia) are a few types of anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders can coexist in you. Anxiety can occasionally be the outcome of a disease that requires medical attention.

 

Therapy for Anxiety

You don’t have to live with anxiety and dread, whether you’re experiencing panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, constant worries, or an overwhelming phobia. Therapy is frequently the best course of action for many anxiety disorders, and treatment can be helpful. This is because, in contrast to anxiety medications, anxiety treatment addresses the root cause of the issue as well as its symptoms. 

Finding the root reasons for your anxieties and phobias, learning how to unwind, adopting a more positive outlook on life, and improving your coping and problem-solving abilities are all possible with the support of therapy. Therapy teaches you how to use these techniques and provides you with the means to overcome anxiety.

Since anxiety disorders vary widely, treatment should be customized to your unique symptoms and diagnosis. For example, you will receive a different course of therapy if you have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) than if you are experiencing anxiety attacks. The kind and degree of your anxiety problem will also determine how long therapy takes. Nonetheless, a lot of anxiety treatments are only temporary.

Although there are many other kinds of treatment used to address anxiety, exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are the most popular methods. Any anxiety treatment can be used on its own or in conjunction with other forms of treatment. Individual or group therapy for those with comparable anxiety disorders might be used for anxiety treatment. However, the objective remains the same: to reduce your anxiety, relax, and face your anxieties.

 

How Can an Anxiety Counselor Help You?

Notwithstanding their licensure or number of clinical hours, not all counselors provide the same services or possess the same experience. If two counselors work exclusively with anxiety. For example, one may provide cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) while the other would solely do exposure treatment. Therefore, it might be helpful to explore treatment modalities, specialties, and strategies before choosing a counselor. 

Finding mental health practitioners who work in these fields after researching different kinds you might be interested in for your specific symptoms could be a useful place to start. You may also get in touch with an anxiety-focused counselor to find out which method they think will work best for your circumstances.

Experience does not always correlate with a field’s licensing and training requirements. A counselor with years of expertise in treating anxiety may be able to help various clients by drawing on what they have observed to be effective in the past. However, because they have recently finished school, newer providers may also be conversant with more sophisticated treatments as they often supervise more seasoned specialists. 

 

I’ve Found My Anxiety Counselor, Now What?

Some mental health providers may limit their client interactions to in-person sessions. On the other hand, many counselors now only or mostly provide text, phone, or video sessions. These virtual formats could be more pleasant for those who suffer from anxiety and might also be more practical for people who reside in remote places or have difficulty finding a suitable provider nearby. 

To help you decide, you may evaluate online and in-person counselors’ availability and testimonials. 

Prepare a short list of questions to ask possible therapists to learn more about them and see if they are a good fit for you. A lot of providers will offer a short email consultation before the first session to answer any questions you may have. Here are some examples of questions you could ask: 

• Are you working with clients who struggle with anxiety?
• Do you have experience treating symptoms similar to mine? 
• What do the people you work with do to control their anxiety?

 

Conclusion

It’s a common misconception that treatment will make you feel better immediately. Sometimes, this might be the case, yet more often, therapy requires time. However, you frequently have worsening symptoms before improving ones. Interestingly, feeling worse is often a sign of getting better, which makes sense when you think about it.

When you decide to go to therapy, it is usually because you have not been able to deal with your anxiety on your own. As you go through therapy, you will learn more about what is making you anxious. The process will not always feel pleasant, yet in the end, it will be helpful.

 

Quick Ways to Reduce Anxiety and Stress

 

About Life Coaching and Therapy

Life Coaching and Therapy (LCAT) is a therapy and coaching practice that transforms our clients lives through our flexible. Multi-technique approach and pleasure-skills training provided by systematically-trained and licensed therapists!

Get to know our founder and owner, Amanda Pasciucco, (a.k.a. The Sex Healer) PhD, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), and an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist (CST) that has developed innovative therapy programs and therapy videos that get results.

Our team of compassionate, licensed therapists and certified sex therapists help all clients who visit us for a variety of personal, relationship, intimacy and sex problems.

LCAT provides on-site appointments, as well as video chat and text therapy programs.

Learn more about how LCAT can help improve your life at What We Do.