Anxiety Therapy in Boulder: Personalized Support for Anxiety

Often anxiety can be treated without medication. Sometimes it can be helpful to be on medication while you are in therapy, but medication by itself usually isn’t enough. Research shows us that medication for anxiety works best in conjunction with therapy. I don’t have the ability to prescribe medication but have providers that I refer to when clients are looking for medication support. If you are interested in medication I’m happy explore it in session and work directly with your medication providers. Bottom line: you don’t have to be on medication to work with me, but if you want to it’s okay and we can talk about it.

This isn’t what you want to hear, but the real answer is that there is no set time frame. First, giving anxiety a deadline is like pouring gasoline on a fire, it will only worsen your anxiety as you put pressure on yourself to feel better by this date. Second, how quickly you start to feel better really depends on you. I am skilled at what I do and I will be by your side, but your progress largely depends on how committed your are to the process of therapy and how open you are to new ways of thinking and feeling. Some clients report progress quickly, others need a little more time.

Many of my clients who come to weekly sessions consistently report improvement quickly in the first few months, and continue to build on that improvement within the year. Sometimes when you come into therapy for one issue, you might resolve it but in the process other things come up that you want or need to address, so while your anxiety might improve after 6 months, now there are other issues to address. This is completely normal and happens all of the time. You are always in control of your participation in therapy and you have the right to stop at any time. This means that even if more issues come up after your anxiety has improved, you don’t necessary have to address them if you don’t want to. You are in control of your therapy involvement and process at all times (and those of us prone to anxiety love to be in control, don’t we?)

There have been multiple clinical studies in peer-reviewed journals that have studied the efficacy of mindfulness and meditation in treating anxiety as well as several other mental health and physical issues. You can read a few of these studies by clicking here, one published by the National Institute for health here and one published by the American Psychological Association here. Both mindfulness and meditation decrease activity in the party of the brain that causes anxiety, and increase activity in the parts of the brain that increase feelings of calm. Some studies have even shown that mindfulness are just as effective as medication in treating anxiety and have lasting long-term benefits in reducing anxiety. Both of these practices help with emotion regulation, help clients learn how to calm their nervous systems and help them feel less reactive overall to things that have caused stress and anxiety in the past. These strategies help us accept things as they are right now, instead of work ourselves up into a frenzy worrying about what might happen. There are more benefits to mindfulness and meditation that I go over with clients, but I only have so much room here. I’d be happy to talk more about it with you and answer more questions in our first session.

This is a great question! We’ve already talked about mindfulness and self-compassion, but those are just two parts of it. I teach all of my clients mindfulness and self-compassion, because as people-pleasers, perfectionists and high-achievers, we really struggle with that, don’t we? No matter what you come to therapy for, those are elements we will work on.

In addition, I use tools from other therapy methods that I have found to be effective in treating anxiety, and many of them are supported by research. I primarily use CBT which stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This basically means our thoughts, or the way we think - heavily influences our feelings, which then determines our actions. By understanding and changing the way we think, we can change how we feel and then change our behavior aka our reactions and responses to situations.

In some cases I will use Brainspotting. Brainspotting is a lot like EMDR - it’s a way we can physically process difficult memories, feelings or situations that we seem to find ourselves back in frequently. Sometimes what we think is anxiety is actually a trauma response and by using brainspotting to process that trauma, we can significantly reduce the anxiety around it. Brainspotting does not necessarily require you to verbally process what happened, which can be beneficial for those who feel like they’ve talked about something before and it didn’t change anything.

Lastly, for some clients I will use a technique called Parts Work. (I use IFS-informed parts work, but there are many types of parts work out there). This isn’t for everyone, but for people who like it parts work can be incredibly beneficial and healing. Have you ever had a situation where you felt really anxious, but didn’t know why? Or you couldn’t make up your mind on something - part of you felt like it was a good idea, but part of you didn’t? In parts work we understand these to be different parts of ourselves that take over, and make it hard for us to feel calm and think clearly. Parts work helps you get to know these parts and understand them, so you can stop just reacting all the time and begin to make calm decisions with confidence.

I tailor my approach to my client’s comfortability and for what works best for them. What I can say with confidence is that if you work with a therapist who uses methods that work for you, and if you are committed to making changes, you should see results. I have yet to work with a client who did not see improvement with one of those methods, but you have to be willing to give it time and be consistent in order for any kind of anxiety therapy to “work”.

My style is not to assign homework like worksheets, etc. I will ask you to practice some of the skills I teach you outside of our sessions together. Sometimes I will recommend books, podcasts or articles to clients who find it helpful. Supplementing what we’re working on in therapy with something that continues to support or challenge you outside of session can help you meet your goals and build confidence.

Yes, because anxiety is treatable. You might have to spend a little time to find the right therapist, or even the right medication in some situations, but therapy can and should help with anxiety. Therapists are trained in a variety of mental health issues and the goal is always to work ourselves out of the job. We want you to feel better, and therapists have special training and tools we can teach clients to help significant reduce anxiety. Remember, not all anxiety is bad so we’re not trying to get rid of it altogether, just get it to a level that feels manageable and make sure you have the skills you need to manage it on your own one day.

Sometimes when you first go to therapy to start working on an issue it can worse symptoms initially, because you’re talking about things you’ve probably avoided for a long time, or have never thought about before. If you’re starting to feel worse it’s important to talk to your therapist about whether this is a normal part of the process, or if something else is going on. Not all therapists are the right fit for all clients, so sometimes it can be a issue as simple as not a good fit based on personalities or the modalities the therapists uses. Other times, anxiety can worsen because it’s pointing to other issues that need to be addressed. Either way, it’s important to have a conversation with your therapist if you are feeling worse or if you are concerned.

Each state has slightly different rules about diagnosis but generally speaking licensed therapists can diagnose most mental health conditions in most states. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and in Colorado I am allowed to diagnose any mental health condition. Psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners and primary care doctors can also provide an anxiety diagnosis. Diagnoses can be a helpful way to understand the anxiety that plagues you, but essentially they are used for insurance in order to get payment or reimbursement for services. A diagnosis basically tells others what you are being treated for, but you don’t always need a diagnosis to go to therapy or be seen by a therapist, especially if you are not going through your insurance.

It’s important to know that there are many different types of anxiety, and that’s why not every anxiety therapist is a good fit for every client. Some therapists specialize in panic attacks, phobias, OCD, eating disorders (yep, they are a type of anxiety disorder), agoraphobia, debilitating social anxiety, and etc. It’s important that you work with the therapist that can best support you, especially if you are experiencing debilitating symptoms. If you feel like what you’re experiencing is significantly different from what you’ve read about here, then there are other anxiety therapists out there who might be a better fit. You can search for other therapists who specialize in anxiety on psychology today, or fill out the contact form and I’ll be happy to provide referrals for providers who specialize in other types of therapy for anxiety.

The frequency and intensity of your anxiety, along with how significantly it is impacting your day to day life often determines how how and how often you should come to therapy for anxiety. At Denver Therapy all clients are expected to attend weekly sessions for the first several months in order to best understand each client and their issue as well as develop a treatment plan and begin to make progress quickly. Once clients start to feel better consistently, frequency is reduced.

Absolutely. Chronic anxiety can cause chronic stress, which results in burnout. Whether the stress or anxiety drove us to burnout, we end up in the same place - worn out and exhausted and often feeling hopeless and frustrated thinking nothing will change. Research has shown that chronic stress and anxiety can also have negative impacts on our immune systems where they essentially get worn down from being on high alert all the time, so it becomes easier for us to get sick and feel exhausted, even when we are sleeping. So yes, anxiety can cause burnout, but it doesn’t have to. Treating anxiety by going to therapy can not only improve anxiety but also prevent burnout.