Understanding Anxiety: Embracing Anxiety as a Guide Towards Emotional Well-being

Anxiety Is A Human Experience

Experiencing anxiety is a common part of the human experience.  For some of us we may just want our anxiety and anxious feelings to go away.  Whilst I can completely appreciate the desire for any anxiety and anxious feelings to disappear, I encourage you to pause and consider what these feelings might be trying to communicate to you.  If the idea feels rather counterintuitive please bear with me!

What Is Anxiety?

The term anxiety, much like depression, is frequently used, and its meaning can sometimes become diluted or even lost.  At its core, anxiety represents the distress or unease our complex mind-body system feels at times when sensing potential danger.  This suggests that anxiety is an internal signal indicating that we perceive a potential threat and need to take protective action. In essence, anxiety may be attempting to help us.

Making An Ally Of Our Anxiety

So, consider this: What if we attempt to make an ally of our anxiety and gently enquire to understand what it's cautioning us about?

Anxiety and its associated feelings often stem from our life experiences and sometimes our biological makeup—factors unique to each of us. Hence, investigating what our anxiety and anxious feelings are trying to communicate to us are likely to yield diverse answers for each of us.

For example, our anxiety might be telling us that we need to review how one of our relationships is operating because maybe it is not making us happy.  Feeling anxious might be the first indicator that something is amiss when we have not formulated that thought fully or maybe when we have not been able to, or not wanted to, face the reality that our relationship is not in good shape.

How Can Counselling & Psychotherapy Help With Anxiety?

Counselling and psychotherapy offers a secure space to explore the messages behind your anxiety. Identifying potential triggers, some of which may be outdated, can lead to a realisation that certain fears are no longer valid.  Others might lead you to take action in order to increase your overall happiness. This gentle inquiry, applied to all facets of anxiety, has the potential to contribute to an overall reduction in anxiety levels over time.

Is Person-Centred Therapy Effective In Alleviating Anxiety?

Research indicates that person-centred counselling is effective for clients with common mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. Effectiveness is not limited to you experiencing mild to moderate symptoms of recent onset anxity and depression, but extends to being effective with moderate to severe symptoms of longer duration.