With summer less than a couple of weeks away, many of us are gearing up to start spending more time with friends and family.
Whether it’s going to parties or family gatherings, hitting the beach, meeting up for dinner and drinks, or something else entirely, these kinds of outings can be a lot of fun.
But they can also cause a lot of anxiety, and that can quickly ruin our fun, making things that should be enjoyable feel like a chore.
There are many reasons for this, including social pressures, body image concerns, changes in routine, fear of missing out (FOMO), and more, but regardless of what’s making you anxious, these emotions can be very hard to handle.
That being said, if you’ve managed to find this article, then you’re probably looking for an anxiety counsellor online.
But when you’re looking for an anxiety counsellor online, it can be tough to know whom you can trust, if you’ll get along with them, or if they’ll be able to relate to what you’re going through.
With that in mind, I’d like to introduce myself to you, dear reader.
My name is Paige Hollingsworth. I’m a clinical counsellor with a history of anxiety in my family, and for many years, I’ve dealt with anxiety myself, so I know exactly what you’re going through.
I’ve also spent a lot of time learning how to cope with anxiety, and helping our clients to do the same.
So, if you’re looking for an anxiety counsellor online to help you learn how to handle panic attacks, deal with social anxiety, or just cope with anxiety in general, then you’re going to want to keep reading because this article is for you.
Searching for an Anxiety Counsellor Online? Here’s What Sets Me Apart
I may be an anxiety counsellor, but that doesn’t mean I don’t experience anxiety myself.
On the contrary, I’ve had to deal with anxiety for many years, and it definitely has the potential to ruin my fun, not least in the summer months.
I absolutely love hiking, for instance, but in recent years, I’ve been quite anxious about some of the potential dangers of walking around out in the wilderness.
In spite of how rare these events actually are, and the fact that I’ve never experienced them, I’ve found myself worrying about things like bear attacks or rattlesnake bites, and there have been times when this anxiety has completely destroyed my ability to enjoy hiking.
At some point, this even started to devolve into full-on risk avoidance, and I’d start coming up with every excuse in the book to avoid hiking, which gradually decreased my enjoyment of it, and for a while, I even stopped participating in it altogether.
But using my counselling skills, I’ve been able to deal with my anxiety in a healthier way, bring it down to a manageable level, and actually start to enjoy hiking again (and I haven’t experienced any bear attacks or snake bites, either).
That being said, one of the main things that sets me apart from other anxiety counsellors is my personal experience with anxiety, and having been able to learn how to effectively manage it with the same methods I use for clients.
So, not only do I have my formal training, and academic knowledge of this affliction to inform my understanding and ability to treat anxiety, but I also have my own experiences, both in dealing with anxiety and learning how to manage it.
I’m also able to treat clients with an array of issues, aside from just anxiety, including depression, substance abuse, compulsive behaviour, ADHD, grief, relationships, complex trauma, and even major life transitions.
This allows me to help clients with more than just anxiety, which is often accompanied by other afflictions, so no matter what you’re dealing with in addition to your anxiety, I can help.
So, now that you know what sets me apart from other anxiety counsellors, let’s look at how I can help you with your anxiety.
How I Can Help You With Your Anxiety
If you’re not off the grid living in the middle of the woods somewhere, it’s pretty much impossible to avoid anxiety in today’s society, so most of us will have to deal with it in some respect.
Some of us can deal with it all on our own, whereas others will need some help from a professional, such as myself.
But when you’re searching for an anxiety counsellor online, it’s important to understand the approach they’re going to take, and what exactly it is you’re signing up for.
My approach to anxiety counselling is to help you feel less conflict with this aspect of yourself, and relate to it in a healthier way.
So, instead of fighting with your anxiety, you can make better use of your time and energy by learning how to adapt to stressful situations, have better control over how you react in these scenarios, and expand your window of tolerance for dealing with distress, while accepting the existence of your anxiety, and learning how to coexist with it.
I also have experience with a wide range of modalities, but when it comes to treating anxiety, I prefer using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model.
In the context of anxiety counselling, I like to focus primarily on IFS, as it really gets to the core of the anxiety and allows me to help you transform your relationship to it. IFS is great for treating anxiety because it focuses less on what you’re doing “wrong” and more on how these behaviours may have started as helpful adaptations in adverse circumstances.
At the same time, IFS can also help you to develop a better relationship with your true self, while learning self-leadership and self-compassion, and it gives me the ability to dig deep into the origins of your anxiety by looking at how traumatic experiences have shaped your behaviour.
In addition to IFS, CBT allows me to help you with your anxiety by teaching you how to identify and challenge negative thinking patterns, and understand the connections between thoughts, behaviours, and emotions, while helping you to desensitize yourself to anxiety-inducing situations, develop coping strategies, and modify behaviour patterns.
DBT, on the other hand, enables me to help you with your anxiety through the development of emotional regulation skills, distress tolerance techniques, and problem-solving strategies, while teaching you how to set realistic boundaries, better navigate social interactions, build healthier relationships, and be more present through the use of mindfulness.
But even though I prefer to focus on these methods, I will always personalize my approach to your unique needs, utilizing other modalities whenever necessary, including Mindfulness, Motivational Enhancement, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy, and Somatic Experiencing.
All things considered, I know that looking for an anxiety counsellor online can seem like a daunting task, and it can definitely be a stressful thing to do, especially with how tough it can be to find a counsellor whom you actually connect with.
But after learning how to manage my own anxiety, and helping countless clients to deal with theirs, I know I can help you with whatever makes you anxious.
After going through all of this stuff myself, it gives me great joy to help clients overcome their anxiety, and seeing them learn how to better deal with it has been incredibly meaningful for me.
So, if you’re looking for an anxiety counsellor online, and you’d like to connect with someone who understands exactly what you’re going through, I would be very excited to hear from you.
Looking for an anxiety counsellor online? Check out Paige’s bio for more information, or book an appointment with her today.
