What is Anxiety? |
What is Anxiety? |
Anxiety / OCD
Anxiety is an activated and dysregulated nervous system. It can feel different for different people or at different times…
- Discomfort being in your own skin
- Tightness or stabbing in your chest
- Sinking weak feeling in your gut or knees
- Going mentally blank
- Light headed floating feeling
- Discordant noise in your head
- Heightened or suppressed energy
- Sleep disturbances
- Appetite disturbances
- Digestive problems
- Challenges with focus
- Headaches
- Forgetfulness
- Irritability
- Frequent worrying
OCD patterns are thoughts and behaviors that we use to try to reduce our distress – but ultimately cause us harm.
- Looping fixation on imaginary bad future events
- Looping fixation on body sensations and imagining worst case health scenarios
- Looping fixation on something that feels off, not good enough, incomplete or wrong
- Looping fixation on trying to figure things out and eliminate uncertainty and doubt in a situation where uncertainty and doubt cannot be eliminated
- Looping self-judgment or shame over the way you behaved in a past situation
- Continual rehearsing of an imagined future situation
- A sense of being, or being at risk of becoming, a defective, bad, harmful, irresponsible or morally corrupt person
- Repetitive behaviors that seek to fix, compensate for or erase fear or uncertainty like googling physical or mental health issues, counting or checking rituals, avoiding situations that cause fear, and/or compulsively seeking reassurance
What are OCD patterns? |
What are OCD patterns? |
Why do I have these patterns? |
Why do I have these patterns? |
People with anxiety / OCD are not inherently less capable of dealing with life
- Those who tend toward anxiety / OCD are often sensitive, empathetic, highly responsible and conscientious
- There is a strong genetic component
- They often have other neurodivergence like giftedness, autism and/or ADHD
- They are often highly attuned to or affected by their own physical sensations and potential threats in their environment
- As a child, they likely lacked attuned support to deal with their imagination, fears, emotions or sensitive nervous systems
We bring compassion and understanding – these are patterns you have developed to try to feel safe in the world and in your body.
- We are consistently gentle and patient with your nervous system and your fears
- We get deeply curious about how you experience anxiety or ocd patterns
- We map your patterns – the thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and behaviors
- We explore varied strategies that help shift your thought patterns, behavioral responses and body sensations and allow you to develop confidence that…
'I have options and strategies to free myself from the torment of anxiety and ocd patterns'
'I can attune to my own needs and feelings'
'I can maintain a stable sense of self based in reasonable expectations of myself and real life evidence of who I am'
'I can handle the painful and scary parts of life'
'I have things I can do to calm myself and deal with the energy coursing through my mind and body'
'I have agency and power to make choices to care for myself even when I am overwhelmed or scared'
How do I feel better? |
How do I feel better? |