Therapy for Anxiety

By far the most common reason folks reach out to me for therapy in NYC and Brooklyn is their struggle with anxiety. Whether it is social anxiety, ruminating thoughts, excessive worry, or panic attacks, anxiety can really inhibit one’s ability to lead a full and active life. 

Understandably, folks who come to me suffering from anxiety want anxiety therapy to remove their symptoms as soon as possible. Step one is always to help patients at a practical and concrete level with some skills to help cope when they feel anxiety begin to impact them and become a barrier. When symptoms begin to reduce and as our relationship builds, we can begin to contextualize anxiety and understand its roots for a deeper, long lasting change.

Anxiety is Just a Feeling--but an Important One!

Because the experience of anxiety can be so strong and impactful and the way it has been medicalized into a diagnosis, patients often come in with the understanding that their anxiety is abnormal-- a disorder or imbalance that is happening to them that is impossible to understand. Most folks seeking anxiety therapy in Brooklyn and NYC describe their anxiety or panic as something that comes out of nowhere and for no apparent reason. What’s hard to see in those moments is that anxiety is powerful, but really a feeling that we have in response to our environment whether that’s a type of situation or interpersonal interaction.

The key to unlocking the puzzle of overactive and disruptive anxiety is to understand what is triggering the anxiety and the significance of that trigger to the individual. People are complex and have complicated histories that can wind their way into the present in unexpected ways. I have a deep faith in the belief that our feelings make sense if we’re seeking the important messages they’re trying to communicate. In therapy, we can decode these messages and learn what our bodies are trying to tell us without symptoms of anxiety preventing us from things we want like feeling happy and comfortable in social situations or riding the subway without panic.

Anxiety is Adaptive

While the goal of anxiety therapy is to help reel in overactive anxiety, anxiety can’t and shouldn’t be completely eliminated because anxiety serves important functions in our lives. Anxiety helps us be concerned about a car hitting us as we walk across the street and encourages us to look to be sure it’s safe. Everyone has had the experience of anxiety when anticipating a big exam or project at work, and when anxiety isn’t so severe that it makes you freeze, it can give you a big boost of energy and motivation to complete the task.

Through anxiety therapy, I have helped many smart and savvy New Yorkers find the power of increased self-knowledge to transform their relationship with anxiety. When anxiety is no longer a roadblock, this sensitivity can be transformed into a strength through using the information they get from the feelings can powerfully and perceptively inform their path forward in the life they desire.