Maybe it’s your first time starting anxiety therapy and you’re a bit unsure or worried about how this whole process works. You’re unsure what you’ll need to say or do in the first appointment and in the ones to follow. So let’s give you a snapshot of how this all works.
The Inside Wellness team believes in doing a thorough assessment of your history with anxiety as well as current stressors in your life.
Oftentimes there can be things that cause or contribute to anxiety in a few areas of our lives. We like to assess the three main areas that contribute to overall well-being. These include your biology, such as how are you sleeping if you’ve seen a shift in your energy levels, and your current medical presentation or history. We look at what’s going on in your environment - how much connection or isolation you’ve been experiencing, whether have you recently had a breakup, lost a job, been promoted to a position that overwhelms you, or are knee-deep in school stressors. We also look at your lived experiences and how they’ve shaped your current and past beliefs about yourself and the world.
When we overlap all of these areas it often makes sense why you could be experiencing an uptick in anxiety or possibly you’ve had an underlying anxiety issue for years that you’ve just chalked up to stress or worry and you finally want to be ‘driving the bus’ if you will, vs having the anxiety bus driving you. There are so many things that therapy can provide to increase your toolset, help you feel understood & supported as well as free you up from your current levels of overwhelm and distress.
Following The Anxiety Therapy Assessment
Once an assessment is conducted (which includes some forms you’ll fill out prior to the appointment and in talking to the therapist in your first session), we will then collaborate with you to discuss treatment goals & outcomes you’d like to see. From there, we will create a plan to help you gain traction. This treatment plan will be collaborative and ongoing, as we see what type of anxiety you have and how you respond to various tools we will try.
Perhaps you struggle with the most common form of anxiety which is called GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). This means you have anxiety that shows up in various situations and it feels like your brain will never turn off when you need it to. Sometimes anxiety is what we call “subclinical” meaning that there are current circumstances or stressors or thought patterns that can easily be spotted. We can then put tools in place to help you resolve your anxiety.
Some people struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder wherein you have to engage in particular behaviors or actions in order to reduce the stress of unwanted thought patterns. We can treat you for OCD and help you understand why your brain is working the way it is and how to take control of the outcomes. Other forms of anxiety can manifest in social situations as social anxiety or with a very specific intense fear or phobia that is impacting your ability to show up as yourself in your day-to-day living. In these cases, we will focus on looking at beliefs, prior experiences, and current thought patterns. We can develop the support and interventions needed to allow your anxiety to lessen over time so that you no longer feel controlled by the grip of that fear.
The goal of all therapy is to gain support and insight and to make progress in ways that will get you more freedom in thought and action from the current fears, worry, and self criticism that is dragging you down. Life will always have difficult moments and events, but we believe that you can love your life again even while navigating those challenges.
Begin Therapy for Anxiety in Salt Lake City, UT
You don’t have to struggle with the stress of anxiety alone. Our team is passionate about ensuring that individuals get excellent mental health support from our Salt Lake City-based practice. You can receive the support you deserve by following these simple steps:
Reach out to us about scheduling a free 15-minute phone consultation.
Learn more about our counseling services and our anxiety therapists.
Get set up with an anxiety therapist who is right for you!
Other Services Offered By Inside Wellness Counseling
Our team knows that you may experience a variety of mental health concerns in addition to anxiety. This is why we are happy to offer a number of mental health services. Other services offered include body image counseling, eating disorder therapy, and online Therapy in Utah. Feel free to visit our blog or FAQ to learn more helpful information!