THERAPY FOR ANXIETY IN ORANGE COUNTY, LONG BEACH & ONLINE IN CALIFORNIA
If you could “just not worry about it,”
you would.
We’ll help you manage the anxiety and heal the underlying hurt and unmet needs, so you can care for yourself and thrive.
We get it. You might excel in your classes and stress endlessly over them nonetheless. You might love hiking to adventurous places and feel so anxious beforehand that you want to stay home.
You might juggle many responsibilities, but find yourself losing sleep over the smallest mistakes. You might be successful at work and have close friends, but feel anxious and hopeless when it comes to dating. Parts of you are adventurous and capable, but other parts are anxious.
What are You Anxious About?
Anxiety can cause us to endlessly replay possible, negative scenarios. It can be hard to concentrate on what’s in front of us because we’re preoccupied. It can be hard to fall asleep, worrying about what could happen. And sometimes unwelcome thoughts intrude when we are otherwise seemingly okay.
Common Anxieties
Social situations
Relationships
Public speaking
Performance
Uncertainty
Illness
Death
Medical procedures
Driving, flying, riding in elevators, clowns
Spiritual or existential issues
Fear of more anxiety
Physical Symptoms of Anxiety
Sometimes you don’t know what you’re anxious about but your body tells you that you’re anxious.
In an anxious state, the body goes into a fight, flight, flee or fawn state. Energy surges through your system. It can cause your heart to race or your stomach to be in knots. You might feel lightheaded, have a headache. Or you freeze, your hands or feet might go numb. You may want to get the heck out of a situation. Other physical symptoms can include:
✢ Panic attacks (anywhere from feeling like you might pass out to chest pain where you’re convinced you’re having a heart attack) ✢
✢ Difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much ✢
✢ Digestive issues ✢
✢ Loss of appetite ✢
✢ Overeating ✢
✢ Hypervigilance (on edge) ✢
What is Anxiety?
First, let’s differentiate worry from anxiety. Worry is temporary and can be the impetus for action that addresses your concern. Anxiety is prolonged and makes it difficult to constructively address your concerns.
Secord, not all anxiety is bad. A certain amount of anxiety helps you focus, stay alert and be present. This is known as “optimal arousal” or “peak performance.” But when your system is either hypo-aroused and in some variation of shutdown, or hyper-aroused and overwhelmed, you are unable to think clearly and be present.
Though anxiety can be free-floating and seemingly unrelated to anything in particular, at SRP we understand anxiety as rooted in relational experiences.
It’s the experience of something being wanted or needed from you, and the presumption that there isn’t enough and things will not be okay.
Underlying beliefs may include:
“I will not be enough.”
“I will not be okay.”
“I am powerless.”
“Someone I love will not be okay.”
When we have inadequate or negative relational experiences, we can internalize negative beliefs about ourselves and the world that give rise to anxiety.
Anxiety often emerges from a history of trauma.
Negative, repeated experiences may have been with caregivers or siblings in childhood. We call this developmental trauma. Other kinds of trauma can also give rise to anxiety. However, it’s important to recognize that certain temperaments are more prone to anxiety than others. So, often it’s a mix of nurture and nature.
One more word about anxiety.
If you’re a person of faith, you might beat yourself up for struggling with anxiety.
You might think that prayer, right beliefs or memorizing verses of Scripture should heal your anxiety. We understand why people think these spiritual practices should heal anxiety, but also why they often don’t. Because anxiety is largely outside of our conscious control, our conscious efforts provide limited, if any, relief.
How does healing happen?
CONNECT
The healing of anxiety happens with a safe relationship. As children and adults learn to regulate in the context of relationships, the therapy relationship is an amazing context to help you experience safety in anxious moments.
REGULATE
You’ll learn to regulate your anxiety. You’ll gain tools to help you regulate your nervous system, such as deep breathing, mindfulness or movement.
EXPLORE
You’ll identify the patterns of your anxiety. You’ll discover how different parts of yourself have different and sometimes conflicting feelings, and how this can give rise to anxiety. For example, part of you wants to attend a large networking event, but another part of you feels very insecure about meeting new people. Understanding your deeper needs and the injuries or trauma that gives rise to your anxiety is central to creating long-lasting change
INTEGRATE
Understanding the patterns and your deeper needs, you’ll learn how to connect more deeply with yourself and others. The journey from anxiety to emotional-regulation involves experiencing connection, co-regulation, self-regulation and nurture; it increases your capacity for healthy risk-taking in relationships and in life.
At SRP, therapists will use a combination of trauma-informed, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, somatic, mindfulness and relational interventions.
Is this your time to heal and grow?
If so, let’s connect!
Find your therapist.
Schedule a free consultation.
Begin a new healing journey.