ANXIETY THERAPY IN NEW JERSEY
Do Anxious
Thoughts Keep You
In An Ongoing State
Of Distress?
Has anxiety become an obstacle to your happiness?
Do your perfectionistic tendencies cause you to feel like you’re a failure?
Are you a parent who feels stressed out all the time and is struggling to maintain a healthy balance with your career and family?
It may feel like life is always moving so fast that you can’t keep up with the pace. If you’re a working parent, you might feel like the burden falls on you to keep all the plates in the air but that nothing gets done right unless you do it yourself. You might feel frustrated all the time—especially with your partner—but behind that frustration, you’re actually angry and resentful of the pressure you’re under. Oftentimes profound guilt follows anger and resentment, and then the cycle repeats itself.
Anxiety Is On The Rise In America - Especially For Parents
The conditions we face in today’s world mean that we are all prone to anxiety and depression, now more than ever. As we bear witness to an increasingly challenging environmental, political and social climate, it should come as no surprise that anxiety disorders are on the rise in the United States. [1]
In particular, the pandemic has placed unprecedented demands on families with young children. A recent study found that since the onset of Covid-19, nearly half of parents—48 percent—said the level of stress in their life has increased compared with before the pandemic. [2] The demands working parents have been put under to juggle career and families has created a chronic stress paradigm that is difficult to navigate.
In a broader sense, the ongoing sense of uncertainty perpetuated by COVID-19’s unpredictable trajectory has had a significant impact on how we all manage our anxiety. As we wonder what’s coming next, we remain in a perpetual state of worry and unease.
Many Who Suffer From Anxiety Don’t Seek Help
Unfortunately, the stigma that our culture places on self-care is often the reason why many of us don’t seek help for our anxiety. We may feel that seeking help for ourselves is a selfish act. Instead, we put our own needs last and continue to suffer as a result. But in truth, if we ignore our own needs, we get worn down and have little left to give to those we love the most.
Moreover, social media creates a false narrative that everyone around us has it all together—it can make us believe that we are failing to achieve a level of perfection that is unrealistic in the first place.
Once you acknowledge that your life circumstances are challenging and you may need help overcoming your anxiety symptoms, you can begin the path to well-being and peace of mind. With the proper tools and education, anxiety no longer has to negatively impact your sense of well-being.
Life is hectic. You have so little time to process what is occurring within yourself—let alone figure out how to communicate what you’re feeling to others. As a therapist who specializes in treating anxiety, sessions with me will give you a dedicated safe space to be heard and validated. Therapy for anxiety provides you the opportunity to process what you are experiencing.
Our therapy sessions will provide you the opportunity to explore feelings of guilt, anxiety, failure, and sadness. By exploring your feelings together, we will begin to challenge untrue thoughts. Over time, you will learn how to allow your thoughts to be just thoughts so they don’t overtake your well-being.
Anxiety Treatment
Can Improve Your
Quality Of Life
What To Expect In Sessions
Before you schedule your initial session, I will first have a free 15-minute phone consultation with you. This allows each of us to make sure we are a good fit before proceeding. Once we begin working together, I tend to be solution-oriented. You need tangible, practical solutions to cope with and manage your anxiety symptoms. You are likely looking for tools you can implement to get results in the near term because you don’t have time to remain stuck in anxiety.
In ongoing sessions, we will explore how anxiety presents in your daily life and how you can respond to it differently. As you examine your thought patterns associated with anxiety, I will help you reframe them more positively. Over time you will realize that you don’t have to believe everything you think.
I will challenge you to find new ways to view situations that normally induce your anxiety, as though you are looking at them with fresh eyes. For example, if you suffer from perfectionistic tendencies that exacerbate your anxiety, any thought patterns associated with these tendencies can be reworked and reframed while reinforcing self-compassion and grace.
If you are a parent, I will provide you with useful strategies to address anxiety in the here and now so you will be able to care for your children. Additionally, I will help you develop an effective way to communicate with your partner to prevent your frustration from spilling over into anger.
CBT Can Help You Manage The Symptoms Of Anxiety
Anxious thoughts tend to fall into one of a few categories. With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety, we will identify which of these patterns you default to most often. You will learn to notice when these unhelpful thought patterns occur and learn how to reframe them so they no longer pose negative beliefs.
For example, catastrophizing is a common anxious thought pattern. You might predict a situation will occur and if it does, that a certain negative outcome will naturally follow. CBT will help you realize that you have the tools within yourself to cope, even if the predicted situation occurs. You are more capable than you think.
I often tell my clients that there is nothing they can tell me that I have not either felt and experienced myself or heard before. I understand you. I got you. Together, we can find your joy again.
But You May Be Wondering If Anxiety Treatment Is Right For You…
I have so little time for anxiety therapy.
Time is one of the single most limiting factors that stop us from getting help with anxiety. That is why I offer shorter, 30-minute sessions after our initial 45-minute evaluation sessions. I also strive to keep treatment brief, focused—I only schedule sessions as often as is clinically necessary. Once we determine you are finding the relief you have been searching for, we can discuss how to maintain these gains and begin spacing out sessions to a couple of times per month.
I’m not sure about online therapy for anxiety–is it private and secure?
Online therapy is incredibly convenient. But I understand privacy is a concern. Your privacy is of the utmost importance to me. Every practice decision I make begins with the question, “Is this HIPAA compliant and secure?” Telehealth sessions are conducted through a secure, HIPAA-compliant video conferencing platform called Telehealth by SimplePractice. You can use any computer with a webcam, smartphone, or tablet, knowing the session will be confidential.
Anxiety treatment is expensive and I can’t afford it.
Treatment is an investment in yourself. We can quantify how much therapy will cost, but the impact of not getting treatment for your anxiety is not as easily quantified—especially if your symptoms are severe.
I encourage you to check with your insurance plan to find out what your out-of-network benefits will cover. You may be surprised that they are more generous than you imagined. Additionally, I accept payment via FSA cards and am a provider with the Lyra network. Many large employers are offering therapy benefits through Lyra now because they realize the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on their employees.
Not sure if your company is partnered with Lyra? It's quick and easy to find out. Simply click the link below to go to Lyra's site and type in the name of your company. Check your spouse's company as well. Many offer benefits for all benefit eligible members of the family. You can also check with your Human Resources Representative.
Many Symptoms Of Anxiety Are Physical In Nature
You might not realize how much your anxiety manifests in your body. Perhaps you have trouble sleeping, feel weak or tired, or experience frequent body pain, headaches, and gastrointestinal problems. For newly postpartum moms and even parents of older kids, these symptoms are often explained away as a normal part of parenting. Talking with your health care provider to determine whether or not your symptoms are medical in nature can be the first step in evaluating if anxiety therapy may benefit you.
There may be times you hyperventilate, sweat, tremble or have a rapid heart rate. Moreover, you might often feel nervous or irritable along with a sense of impending danger or doom.
When you feel anxious, all aspects of your life are impacted. You might feel at odds with your partner and be overwhelmed at work. Rather than feeling grounded in the present moment, you may project worst-case scenarios of the future that leave you distressed and disconnected from how you want to feel. You could feel robbed of joy and want to return to a sense of well-being.
Fortunately, however, there are effective ways to manage your physical and mental distress. With anxiety treatment, you can learn how to reframe your negative thoughts and slow down your racing mind.
