You may find that you are restless, physically tense, or unable to focus. Perhaps you are struggling with sleep issues or feeling fatigued. You may feel as though you simply can’t become relaxed or get into a mental space where you can recharge.

When such symptoms of anxiety fester, it can feel like you are stuck on a roller coaster that never stops, creating a sense of overwhelm and lack of control over your life. All of these worries can accumulate, causing emotional, mental, and physical discomfort. However, this discomfort does not have to be experienced or navigated alone, as therapeutic treatment makes relief from anxiety possible.

When considering the gendered expectations of men in our culture, it’s easy to observe that men are socialized to be strong, decisive, and in control. 

A perceived lack of these qualities can lead to excessive worry, as we begin to compare ourselves—both consciously and unconsciously—to the able and masculine figures we see in television, advertisements, and social media. On top of this it can add further stress and anxiety when we are asked to do what feels like a 180 degree shift and be more emotionally available, supportive and nurturing in romantic relationships and home life.

Generational concerns tend to create more existential dread in younger populations struggling with anxiety today. For millennials and Gen X-ers, there is an added pressure to maximize experiences and a sense of purpose at home, at work, and in our relationships with others.

Increasingly concerned with obtaining careers that are perceived as meaningful or world-changing, these generations face an expectation that each facet of life must align entirely with societal, professional, and ideological norms. Keeping up with others in this regard furthers our anxiety and fear of failure. 

Perhaps your anxiety extends outward into social situations and the environment around you. You may constantly feel ashamed or concerned about how other people are perceiving you, causing you to avoid certain situations where you find it especially difficult to engage with others.

It may be that honesty or even slight confrontation with others causes you to panic. So instead of asserting yourself, you’re finding that you bypass challenging conversations and opportunities for intellectual and emotional growth. Sound familiar?

Anxiety often runs concurrently with what psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar has coined as an “arrival fallacy,” or the idea that if we can accomplish a certain task or goal, we will be liberated from the clutches of fearful and anxious thinking. However, this line of rationale fails to acknowledge that once one of our many concerns is resolved, another will simply take its place. 

While anxiety is increasingly common and nuanced, it is also a manageable condition that can be alleviated with the proper treatment. Though you may be too entrenched in your own anxious mindset to see the proverbial forest through the trees, the gentle and unbiased perspective of a counselor can help free you from the burden of struggling so needlessly. 

The lifeblood of anxiety is avoidance, but therapy provides an environment to help you feel supported, empowered, and accountable in changing the core ideology that is counterproductive to your growth. 

Our introduction to one another will include a brief consultation outlining your presenting problems and goals for therapy. From there, we will undergo a full session wherein you will provide further detail about the ways that anxiety is impacting your life, along with history of some of the people, situations, and behaviors that have contributed to your anxiety in the past. 

The main focus of our first meetings will be to develop a strong rapport and relationship, ensuring that my approach is a good therapeutic fit to meet your needs. 

We will continue the process of treatment by working to reduce your baseline anxiety. If we can thoroughly examine the thoughts and behaviors that contribute to fearful thinking, we will be able to get you to a place wherein you can identify your feelings more objectively and rationally. 

From there, we will develop the tactics needed to help you successfully navigate and confront known stressors—as opposed to avoiding them—both now and in the future.

You may be concerned with the ever-growing list of concerns that affect daily life — work, relationships, worries about the future … the list goes on.

Therapy will provide you with a safe place to slow down and gain traction on the things that are truly important while also providing you with the skills to move forward with confidence. 

I will help you to understand how your self-perception has developed and pinpoint the areas of your life where damaging thoughts are creating uncomfortable feelings and maladaptive behaviors.

When you reach the point during counseling wherein you are able to discriminate between what you can and cannot control, you will find that relief from anxiety is, in fact, achievable.

My approach is individually tailored for each client and draws from both control-mastery theory as well as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness techniques to help you identify what you are experiencing and how you may be able to process your thoughts and emotions more productively. 

For over a decade, I have seen the positive impact that counseling can have. The obsessive worrying created by your anxiety is ultimately getting in your way. I invite you to use the opportunity of therapy to re-examine your priorities and readjust your expectations so that life can begin to feel more manageable, harmonious, and worry-free.