Our therapists provide anxiety therapy in The Woodlands, TX

Kacie: My go-to approach for treating anxiety is use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I prefer/enjoy/find the best benefit in exploring the client’s anxiety because it provides more context and information to the client to navigate future anxious situations differently and with a little more empowerment. This includes identification of sources, triggers, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors associated with anxiety.

Tawnie: I prefer CBT and solution-focused brief counseling because I believe how you choose to react in any situation is directly linked to your thoughts and schema at the current time. I lean heavily on helping you find realistic and usable solutions to your problems, and my goal in treating you would be to help you fill your toolbox with a variety of coping and proactive skills so that you can use them when you need to.

Kacie: I teach the following tools when working with anxiety:

• Identifying, understanding, and accepting emotions in general
• Identifying triggers and symptoms of anxiety
• Challenging negative thoughts and creating alternate thoughts
• Identifying current coping strategies (typically unhealthy ones) and finding new coping strategies to reduce anxiety in different situations
• Mindfulness practices – creating more awareness and intentionality
• Self-compassion/acceptance – ways to compliment oneself and appreciate the differences that we all have.
• Identifying opportunities to engage in more self-compassion/self-care practices

Tawnie: When feeling anxious, I would encourage you to pause and use critical thinking skills to really explore why you are feeling anxious and try to identify what might be causing you to have anxiety at the time—for example, is it based on a fear that you might have? And if it is, what ways can you overcome that fear so that you can feel less fearful and anxious if placed in the same situation the next time?

Kacie: I know a client is making meaningful progress changing their patterns with anxiety when they are able to utilize tools that they have learned in therapy in their day-to-day life and feel an associated relief since the onset of treatment. Additionally, evidence of progress occurs when when clients consistently report less anxiety between sessions and are able to identify changes in their approach of handling previous situations that were anxiety-producing.

Tawnie: I know a client is making meaningful progress in anxiety therapy when they are able to identify what is triggering their anxious thoughts and use coping tools learned in counseling such as challenging their negative thoughts, using thought reframing, or deep breathing to calm themselves down and choose a proactive and positive approach to manage their feelings of anxiety.

Kacie: Clients can supplement their time in individual therapy and attending to their anxiety through mindfulness practices, self-awareness, journaling, meditation, exercise, socialization, reading, podcasts, and other self-affirming practices.

Tawnie: I encourage you to engage in activities that help you feel good about yourself! It can be calling up a friend whom you haven't spoken to in a while, learning a new hobby or learning how to play a new musical instrument, and definitely surrounding yourself with people who make you feel good and laugh...try to laugh a lot as often as you can!

Kacie: To prepare for your first individual therapy session for anxiety, I encourage you to know you are already taking the first steps toward making change in your life! Know that your clinician wants to support you and assist you in making changes that will reduce your anxiety so that you are able to feel more confident, empowered, and grounded in your day-to-day life. Thank you for taking these steps for yourself and for seeking help in making change!

Tawnie: I would encourage you to be open and honest with your counselor about your feelings of anxiety and be prepared to examine the origins behind those anxious thoughts and feelings.