Our therapists provide anxiety therapy in Colorado Springs, CO

My go-to approach for treating anxiety is to utilize cognitive behavioral therapy and somatic awareness. CBT for anxiety can help clients verbalize their anxious experiences while working to identify thinking errors, imagine ideal outcomes, and work with the anxiety as opposed to against it. Somatic experiencing for anxiety helps clients bridge the gap in their mind-body connection. Anxiety can push people into a fight or flight response even if there is no real threat; somatic awareness helps clients notice how anxiety feels in their body and then engage in techniques to slow or stop the fight or flight response, allowing the mind to utilize thinking and logic again.

Some tools I teach in therapy for clients with anxiety include:

• Nervous system reset coping skills: tools that physically help a person's body disengage from the stress response loop
• Emotional regulation: learning to identify symptoms of anxiety before it becomes unmanageable
• Mindfulness exercises: learning to take time between something happening and choosing a response

I know a client is making meaningful progress in therapy for anxiety when they report an improved ability to manage anxious thoughts, symptoms, and experiences. Anxiety is a function of fear, which is an emotion we all need as humans in order to survive. Learning to manage anxiety is not the same as never feeling anxious, but rather the ability to regulate and cope with anxious moments.

Clients can supplement their time in anxiety therapy by setting small, attainable goals, maintaining a support system, and gently challenging themselves.

The first intake session likely brings up anxiety for even the least anxious client, but if you are coming to therapy specifically for anxiety, I imagine it can feel even more intense. To prepare for your first anxiety therapy session, be sure to locate the address or video link prior to the day of your appointment, and give yourself ample time to get set up for the first appointment. Besides that, all you need to do is show up. This would already be a step toward healing from anxiety, all before your first appointment!