About Anxiety: What It Is And How I Treat It.
What is anxiety in psychology?
Everyone worries or feels nervous from time to time. Anxiety is a normal human reaction to stressful life situations. For people with anxiety disorders, the fears and worries aren’t temporary. The anxiety persists, and can get worse over time.
Anxiety is common, but it can become disruptive when worry, fear, avoidance, or physical symptoms begin interfering with daily life, work, sleep, or relationships.
Anxiety can take several forms, including:
Generalized anxiety disorder
Panic disorder
Phobias
Social anxiety disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Evidence-based therapy can help many people better understand anxiety, reduce avoidance, and build more effective ways to respond to distress.
How is anxiety treated?
My approach begins with understanding where anxiety is affecting your daily life, work, relationships, sleep, or ability to feel present.
There are many different types of anxiety disorders, and research suggests that most are driven by similar underlying processes. People with anxiety tend to become easily overwhelmed by emotions, and tend to have negative reactions to these unpleasant feelings and situations.
More often than not, people try to cope with these negative reactions by avoiding situations and experiences that make them anxious. However, avoidance can actually backfire and feed the anxiety. When this happens, people tend to form anxiety-driven bad habits.
My role is to help you understand the patterns that keep anxiety going and practice healthier, more effective ways to respond. Depending on your needs, therapy may incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), trauma-informed care, mindfulness-based strategies, and practical coping tools.
The goal is for my clients to gain back control of their lives, specifically, in stressful situations.
Therapy with me, Ashley Partin, MSW, LISW, is collaborative, warm, direct, and practical. We will identify the concerns most important to you, develop strategies that fit your life, and practice skills between sessions when that would be helpful.
Therapy does not follow a one-size-fits-all timeline, but it can provide a structured place to understand what is happening and work toward meaningful change at a pace that fits your needs.
Life Success Counseling provides private-pay online therapy for adults and couples throughout Ohio. To get started, view current availability and request your first appointment through the secure client portal.
