Holistic Therapy and Anxiety
Anxiety causes us to experience intense inner turmoil, particularly when combined with panic attacks, and it can impact all areas of our lives. As well as this, anxiety is one of the most significant causes of insomnia, emotional eating and anger.
An essential aspect for assisting in treating this anxiety is understanding how these symptoms can offer us to build up new wisdom.
Many different factors can contribute to us experiencing anxiety and stress. Stress can be defined as the brain’s response to any flight, fright or freeze situation, and it is commonly perceived as an entirely negative phenomenon. However, we need a certain level of healthy stress to motivate ourselves and moving forward in life.
Effects of Anxiety on your well being
Negative stress can be triggered in a variety of ways. Sometimes through a specific, traumatic or upsetting experience such as an accident or bereavement.
Other times it can happen through the build-up of many individual and minor stresses in life. These can suddenly accumulate to produce a much higher level of distress. It seems as if suddenly our resources are no longer enough to cope. Anxiety kicks in, and it makes us feel unable to deal with situations that seemed so easy to handle before.
Change is one of the most significant sources of stress. It can be positive or negative, as well as real or perceived. It may be recurring, short-term, or long-term. It may include small or big occurrences such as commuting to and from work every day, falling ill, the break-up after a relationship or moving home.
Our capacity to cope with and respond to life’s stresses and challenges is significantly shaped by our early attachment relationships and early emotional experiences.
As babies and children, we depend entirely on others, particularly our primary caregivers, such as parents, to meet our needs. Feeling safe and secure within these early relationships allows us to internalise a sense of self that feels secure, allowing us to feel capable of responding to life’s challenges and seeking out support from others. If the initial relationship has been successful, we will have an internal strength that will be much more successful in setting boundaries and respecting them, thus keeping anxiety and stress at bay. This will also reinforce our sense of self-worth.
How therapy can help with anxiety
When we seek support for anxiety and stress, we often want to “get rid of” the symptoms. We want a quick fix. Although this is very understandable, an essential aspect of healing anxiety is understanding the opportunity to explore these aspects of our lives that trigger anxiety and stress.
In our therapeutic work together, I provide a safe and warm space free of judgement and expectation, wherein you can begin to express these pent-up feelings and emotions. Giving voice to these unexpressed aspects of ourselves can be experienced as profoundly healing and validating.
At the same time, your body can free some build-up emotion that can deepen your connection with yourself so that you can look forward to a love affair with yourself through self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-love.