Anxiety and Depression
It came to visit me again last night…
That sinking feeling.
I felt it under my skin and watched as it crawled through my veins. It briefly made its way through my veins into my stomach, just long enough for me to feel its teeth eating me from the inside out.
It eventually made its way to my heart, with its insatiable need to cause detrimental pain and suffering.
I thought to myself, “Maybe if I just reach in and rip my own heart out of my chest, this eroding parasite will leave me alone.”
I got out of bed, walked to my bathroom, looking blankly at my reflection. “You can do this… just cut your own heart out. It can’t make your heart hurt anymore if it’s not even beating,” I said to the image staring back at me.
Just as I was about to reach in, break through my rib cage, and snatch out my heart, it moved again.
This time, it made its way to my brain…
Thoughts raced as it ate away at my memories –opening doors I had kept closed for a reason. It seems to enjoy festering there – the forbidden areas – the dark corners of my mind. It tells me it’s never going to leave – that I’ll never have the luxury of feeling normal again.
Maybe it’s right, this parasite. I mean… all my fears, my hurt, my anger, my insecurities… they’re all working as one against me. Maybe normal isn’t meant for me.
Every once in a while, the sun shines and I can feel it loosen its grip on me. I
Think maybe it’s gone for good this time, but before long it’s back, that sinking feeling –
It came to visit me again last night.
The preceding description of anxiety was inspired by an anonymous author.
Making the changes you want for your life…
My typical clients are anywhere from a college student to an entrepreneur earning millions a year, and they’re seeking guidance in managing their fearful and self-deprecating thoughts. They seek guidance in regaining control from overwhelming body sensations developed from traumas or previous life experiences.
I help couples who struggle with communication and rekindling love, individuals who are trying to improve their life but continuously find that they are self-sabotaging or feeling afraid of what others might say or think, and clients who are tired of the same way of living and doing things and want to experience a new way of life.
I also help individuals who believe that their current life is a facade and want to feel more connected to their true purpose in life.
As a psychotherapist, I will teach you how to identify and tap into this inner resource so that you can experience the change you need to live the life you deserve, but it starts with you understanding that only you can make this inner change.
If you struggle with anxiety or depression, you’re not alone!
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults.
Depressive disorders are the leading cause of disability in the United States for individuals aged 15-44, with 32 being the average age of on-set.
Unfortunately, only 65% of adults diagnosed with depression and 37% of adults diagnosed with anxiety are receiving treatment.
And, guess what? There’s a 50% chance that a person who struggles with anxiety also struggles with depression.
(*Data gathered from the Anxiety and Depression and the National Institute of Mental Health.)
How I can help…
When it comes to anxiety and depression, I prefer to focus on the root cause of the depression and anxiety and addressing that. By doing this, you will notice a change in your present ability to manage your anxiety. How do I accomplish this?
I use modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Internal family Systems, or Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) to help you address the anxiety and depression at the source.
I study Adaptive Internal Processing and interweave Internal Family Systems and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help you better understand your memories and how to alter your thoughts.
How therapy can help…
In therapy, you will learn that your thoughts influence your emotions; your emotions influence your behaviors; your behaviors influence how the world interacts with you and this will strengthen the thought you initially had.
So, if you have a negative thought, you will have a negative emotion. This negative emotion will influence a negative behavior, and others will interact with you in a negative way that will confirm your negative thoughts, and the cycle continues.
These negative thoughts are stored on memory networks in your brain, and in general this network will influence future behaviors that will solidify this negative memory network. This is why you may feel like you are repeating the same behaviors or experiences. What strengthens each memory on the network is the emotion, more so, than the event or the thought you had.
Therefore, if we are able to lessen the intensity of the emotion in the memory by teaching your younger self a more adaptive way to perceive and handle the situation, the memory would not be as overwhelming; this would become a reprocessed-memory.
Because it is on a network, the memories linked to the, now, reprocessed-memory will also change and become less overwhelming. This phenomenon will continue to the most present memory or trigger (the reason you sought therapy).
You cannot change the memory, but you can reset its path to one that is more suitable for you. Using Internal Family Systems to connect to your older memories, we can interweave Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, and other theories and techniques to help you change the thought, lessen the emotion, and plan for an ideal future.
It’s a delicate science of the mind that I have studied in length and practiced for over 10 years.
It’s time to take back control of your life!
You are not depression. You are not anxiety. You are a confident, strong, and capable person who happens to experience depression and anxiety.
You can experience happiness, have fun with friends, have a family, and feel the warmth of the sun without the lingering feelings of doubt and shame.
Take anxiety and depression out of the driver’s seat and finally live the life you dream of living!
It’s time to start loving the reflection staring back at you. Call me today at (321) 333-4158 for a free phone consultation.