Anxiety
Anxiety is a common and natural emotion that all people experience and most would recognize. Anxiety is characterized by a sense of worry and while anxiety is a natural and even healthy emotion at times, when people find that their worry becomes unhelpful and unproductive to their life, counselling can help. While anxiety is a blanket term for worry, there are actually several different types of anxiety that a person can experience. Below are types of anxiety that we treat at Richardson Counselling.
General Anxiety
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is characterized by excessive worry and an inability to tolerate uncertainty. While every person worries, people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder worry excessively and will worry about many different things. They will find that their worry is causing serious disruption in their life. By engaging in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, you may find a reduction in symptoms and an increased ability to tolerate worry and uncertainty so you can live a life connected with your values and goals.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health issue where people have unwanted, upsetting thoughts (obsessions) and feel the need to do certain actions (compulsions) to calm those thoughts. For example, someone might worry a lot about germs (obsession) and wash their hands repeatedly to feel better (compulsion). Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is considered the gold standard for the treatment of OCD, and with treatment, you may start seeing a reduction in your symptoms and improved quality of life.
Social Anxiety Disorder
If you suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder you may find that you avoid social situations, whether they are large crowds or one-to-one interactions. Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by an excessive amount of worry during social situations. Often, there is a fear of being judged negatively or becoming embarrassed or humiliated. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy will look at how your thinking and behaviours maintain this anxiety and find new ways to think and behave so that you can reduce the anxiety, enter social situations and live the life you want to live .