Anxiety Treatment
Our therapists specialize in treating adults who struggle with anxiety in both mild and severe forms. We use a cognitive-behavioral and solution-oriented approach to ensure that you’ll not only have a space to work through and challenge anxious thoughts that arise throughout the week, but that you’ll also have applicable tools to use to alleviate symptoms in real-time outside of sessions.
While anxiety manifests a bit differently in each person and in each circumstance, these are a few of the most common symptoms our clients experience:
Physical symptoms of anxiety:
- Chest tightness
- Shortness of breath
- Digestive issues
- Rapid heartbeat
- Insomnia or sleep disturbances
- Headaches
Cognitive symptoms of anxiety:
- Over-thinking/over-analyzing
- Worrying
- Negative thoughts
- Self-doubt
- Fear of the future
- Obsessive thoughts/ruminations
- Low self-esteem
Q: What is “high-functioning anxiety”?
A: While high-functioning anxiety is not a formal mental health diagnosis, it can be used to describe people who are appear driven and highly successful to others, but who find themselves dealing with high levels of internal stress. While they are able to function reasonably well in most areas of their lives, they often experience high levels of anxiety in order to do so. People with high-functioning anxiety may be perfectionistic, people-pleasing and/or identify as over-thinkers. The main difference is that their anxiety does not drastically interfere with their level of functioning.
Q: What’s the difference between anxiety and stress?
A: Stress is typically the response to an external factor and typically subsides after the external concern has resolved, while anxiety’s origin is often more internal, long-lasting and can take place even in non-threatening situations.
Q: What are some examples of tools you might help me to implement to cope with my anxiety?
A: We tend to tailor our tools and resources to meet each client’s unique situation, needs and preferences, but we have an endless list of resources, meditation exercises, writing prompts, thought challenging exercises, books, articles, podcasts and routine-based strategies that we may encourage our clients to implement in addition to therapy sessions if applicable.
Q: Do I need medication to treat my anxiety?
A: Not necessarily. While anti-anxiety medications can be a great addition to anxiety treatment, our clients sometimes see major changes just from therapy alone. If we find that we’re not making progress in our work together, if you’re finding it difficult to implement the strategies we discuss or if your symptoms appear to be predominantly physical in a way that is physically interfering with mental health treatment, we may recommend a consultation with a psychiatrist to explore medication options.
Q: How long does anxiety treatment take?
A: This is different for each unique client, with some clients seeing progress within 1-3 months and some requiring or preferring more consistent, long-term treatment. As with anything, the client’s commitment level and action or inaction outside of therapy sessions will impact their results. We are constantly checking in with our clients about what is or isn’t useful so we can shift gears and continue tailoring our approach to suit their needs and help them get the results they want to see.
Anxiety is common for young professionals living in New York City and surrounding areas due to the fast-paced, goal-oriented and achievement-driven culture. We help our clients find a healthy balance and learn to cope with their anxiety and stress in ways that allow them to continue to function and thrive. Online therapy makes getting anxiety support accessible and flexible, so it doesn’t become just another stressor in your life.
Curious about online therapy for anxiety? Contact us for a free consultation to learn more.
Not quite ready for therapy? Check out these blog posts:
5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Faced With a Difficult Decision
6 Ways to Beat the Sunday Scaries
10 Tips for Protecting Your Energy
How to Stop Black-and-White Thinking