Clients often ask how they can completely eliminate their stress or anxiety. The truth is, you can never really get rid of them fully or permanently and it’s inevitable that you may experience them in the future, but that’s ok! It’s common and natural to have occasional stress or anxiety, and when you feel it coming on, there are things you can do to prevent it from taking over or becoming too overwhelming. If you are experiencing high levels of stress or anxiety that interfere with your daily functioning or relationships, Dr. Heather Violante can help. Contact her today to learn how you can cope and start living a productive life.
Are You Feeling Stressed and Overwhelmed?
Stress Doesn’t Have to be Overwhelming.
Everyone deals with stress from time to time. In this day and age, there so many responsibilities between work, school, household chores, and family. While societal expectations and demands increase, it can be difficult to set our own boundaries. Whether your stress is related to life changes, such as a promotion at work, a new job or job loss, an upcoming wedding, the arrival of a new baby, divorce, or illness, all require the ability to manage your emotions and time so you can be productive and reach your potential. It’s important to understand the difference between normal stress that motivates us and allows us to stay on top of our responsibilities. We shouldn’t be afraid of stress in general - it’s a part of everyday life that doesn’t have to be excessive or overwhelming. It may always be there to a degree, so it’s important to know how to cope with stress and let it be a motivator as opposed to a burden.
But when stress starts to elevate and becomes chronic, it takes on an unhealthy form and can impact your overall mental and physical health, further interfering with your daily functioning and relationships. Unhealthy levels of stress can result in decreased motivation, depression, irritability, fatigue, poor concentration, or weight gain/ loss. It detracts from the good and healthy parts of your life, and negatively impacts your ability to continue with healthy choices and relationships. If you are struggling with time management, feeling overwhelmed, or need help making time for self care, therapy can help you regain control and teach you how to use healthy stress as a motivator so you can be productive and feel fulfilled.
Is Your Anxiety Holding You Back?
Change Your Relationship with Anxiety
Anxiety is a human emotion we all share, and it’s important to remember that you are not the only one who suffers, or has suffered, from it. Everyone has experienced anxiety in one form of another, whether diagnosable or not. Clinical anxiety encompasses a variety of issues including General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), panic attacks, agoraphobia, social anxiety, and other specific phobias.
As mentioned above, anxiety may not always be a negative emotion. At low and moderate levels, anxiety does not have to be destructive and, in fact, can be beneficial. It keeps us aware, motivates us, and gives us the desire to perform well. You may be wondering, “Am I always going to have to deal with my anxiety?” The short answer is most likely yes. There is an important difference between healthy levels of anxiety and increased, unhealthy levels of anxiety that can prevent us from reaching our highest potential. Anxiety is a problem or becomes clinical when it takes control of our thoughts and behaviors, debilitates us, and when it interferes with daily life. If your anxiety becomes too overwhelming, you tend to lose the ability to effectively concentrate or function. If you, like so many others, are experiencing unhealthy levels of anxiety that are interfering with your life, therapy can help you learn how to manage anxiety and prevent it from taking over.
Dr. Heather Violante uses a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approach, which focuses on restructuring your thoughts, managing your emotions, and modifying your behaviors, as well as incorporating mindfulness techniques into therapy, to help clients who are struggling with stress and anxiety. As a supplemental treatment to traditional psychotherapy, Dr. Violante offers therapeutic yoga for emotional healing that can help you learn how to connect your mind with your body. Contact her today by calling (754) 333-1484 and let Serenity Lane be “your pathway to new beginnings.”