Worry

What if my kids get sick?
What if I run out of money?
What if my boss is mad at me?

What if…
What if…
What if…

You probably already know that the what ifs are sinking you. The worry, the sense of dread, the fear you feel in your head, and the awful tension in your body.

Anxiety sure has a way of taking over. Worrying too much is the most common form of anxiety.

You know the worry like the back of your hand…it nags at you constantly. Even when you’re doing other things, you still can’t get a break from it. You wish it would go away, but the harder you try to get rid of your worries, the worse things get. Before you know it, you’re not even worrying about the initial issue, you’re worrying about your worry. You think, what if I get anxious on vacation? What if my anxiety never goes away?

Nothing you try seems to work. You tell yourself not to worry, to stop thinking about it, but the worries come roaring back. You avoid things that make you anxious, but the fear just seems to increase over time. And you know you can’t keep avoiding things. You try reasoning with your worries or reassuring yourself that things will be okay, but the anxiety always comes back.

You wonder, What is wrong with me? Why can’t I be less anxious? And things just escalate from there.

On one hand, you know that most of the things you worry about…don’t happen. But that fact only makes you more angry with yourself for not being able to control your anxiety. On the other hand, you might be thinking that if you don’t worry, things will get worse. Somehow you think, if I just keep thinking about this for long enough, I’ll figure it out and feel better. But then you never do, or only for a short time.

There is a way out of this awful loop, and that way is to get really good counseling for your worry and anxiety. At Life Counseling Institute, we use forms of therapy that are scientifically shown to work, such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness strategies, and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Here, you will learn that it’s understandable to worry. Your brain is doing its job, and that is to try to anticipate what could go wrong and alert you to that. Our brains are biased toward anticipating danger (even when it doesn’t exist!), as that is what made us the most biologically fit species.

When you seek help for your worries here, you’ll learn:

• That while your tendency to worry is understandable, you can take action to disengage from it
• To change your “relationship” with worry and your approach to it
• To feel less ashamed about your anxiety
• To work with your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations rather than fighting against them
• To let go of what is going on in your head and reengage with life

Sound good?

It is! You really can learn how to manage your worries more effectively and be free of the anxiety that has been holding you back. Come in for a session and find out for yourself how helpful counseling can be for worry and anxiety.