Finding the right professional help can be difficult when you suffer from anxiety. But there are many different treatment options for anxiety disorders, and a good therapist can make a big difference in your recovery.
Therapy for anxiety can take time and commitment, but it’s worth it if you stick with it. Learn all you can about anxiety and its causes before going to therapy so you’ll be better able to work with your therapist.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a type of psychotherapy that teaches people to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. It’s often used to treat depression and anxiety, but it can also be helpful for other mental and physical health problems.
CBT therapists teach patients to challenge negative thoughts and change their views about themselves and their lives. It’s based on the belief that a person’s thoughts and feelings are connected to their senses, behavior and health. Negative thoughts and emotions can cause you to become anxious, depressed or angry. This can affect your mood and make it harder to cope with life.
You and your therapist will work together to identify the thoughts contributing to your symptoms during therapy. You will also learn ways to replace these unhelpful thoughts with more adaptive ones. These techniques include reframing, challenging ideas and social perspective-taking.
You and your therapist will use these skills to change how you react to specific situations causing anxiety. For example, you may be taught to reframe an anxious thought about a work interview by thinking of it more positively. This may help you relax, reduce your distress and improve your performance.
Your therapist for anxiety can also teach you relaxation skills, such as breathing and mindfulness exercises, to calm your body and mind during anxiety-inducing moments. This can be done through breathing exercises, guided imagery or progressive muscle relaxation.
Another way therapists can help you with anxiety is through exposure therapy. This type of behavioral treatment exposes you to anxiety-provoking situations or events in real life, in the imagination or through computer simulations.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most commonly used treatment for anxiety disorders but it can also help treat other mental health problems. In particular, CBT is effective for generalized anxiety disorder and phobias.
It is a short-term, skill-focused treatment that targets the maladaptive emotional responses associated with anxiety disorders. It is more effective than other types of psychotherapy for anxiety disorders, such as exposure and behavioral techniques.
Exposure Therapy
If you have a fear, anxiety or panic, exposure therapy is an excellent option for treatment. You’ll work with a psychologist in this therapy to face your fear in a safe environment.
The therapist will help you build confidence, allowing you to confront the situation that makes you nervous. This is a crucial step in recovery.
Getting used to doing this can take a lot of time and practice, but it’s worth it in the long run because you’ll be able to face your fears without as much anxiety. It’s also essential to stay consistent and don’t stop doing the exposure if you start feeling anxious.
Exposure therapy works by gradually increasing the time you spend with your feared stimulus, slowly replacing your fear response with a relaxation response. You can use various methods for this, including graded exposure and flooding.
With graded exposure, the therapist helps you build up a hierarchy of feared objects, activities or situations, starting with the least dangerous ones and progressing to more difficult ones. This method can be used for various conditions, including social anxiety disorder and phobias.
Flooding is similar to graded exposure but involves exposing clients to the fear-evoking stimulus rather than slowly building up to it. This approach is particularly effective for phobias and trauma.
Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud founded psychoanalysis as a therapy that promotes awareness of unconscious thoughts and feelings. It is also used to help people overcome depression and anxiety disorders.
Psychoanalysis is a process of self-exploration that is often time-consuming. It requires regular sessions with a qualified therapist, which can take months or even years.
Psychoanalysis aims to uncover your problems’ roots and develop a plan for overcoming them. This can help you to achieve a sense of control over your life and overcome your anxiety.
When you first start therapy, your therapist will get to know you and your past. They will ask questions about your childhood, family history, and current thoughts and feelings. This helps the two of you build a relationship based on trust.
Your therapist will then ask you to express your emotions without filtering them. This can be a difficult task, but it is essential to do so as it gives your therapist a better understanding of your problems.
After you have expressed your reactions, the therapist will guide you to reflect on what you have said. This can be done differently by writing or speaking about what you have just said.
You may experience many uncomfortable emotions throughout this process, significantly when they are not repressed. Your therapist will try to encourage you to express these emotions openly and honestly so that you can learn to recognize them.
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
If you cannot find relief from anxiety and depression through medication, interpersonal therapy may be your best option. This therapy focuses on your relationships and teaches you how to manage your emotions healthily.
This form of therapy can be used alone or in conjunction with other forms of treatment, including medications. You and your doctor should decide to use IPT or a combination of therapy and medication.
During the first few sessions, your therapist will assess your symptoms and relationships. These will help them decide how to approach the therapy and which areas need attention.
The therapist will also ask you to list any interpersonal issues that bother you and rank them in order of importance. This will allow the therapist to focus on these problems during therapy and ensure adequate time spent.
When choosing a therapist, look for one with experience and expertise in this type of therapy. You should find an in-network provider offering IPT and other treatment types if you have mental health insurance.
IPT is a short-term, evidence-based psychotherapy that focuses on the effects of a person’s relationships on their mood and mental health. It benefits those suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other disorders that affect the quality of their relationships.
Studies of IPT have shown it to be highly effective in the treatment of many different types of disorders, including depression and anxiety.
