CLEAR LIGHT COUNSELLING
Face to Face and Online Counselling for Individuals and Couples
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a natural and normal human response to stress or perceived threats. It can show as feelings of unease, worry, or fear that can vary in intensity from mild to severe.
In everyday life, anxiety can arise in response to a wide range of situations, such as taking an important exam, giving a presentation, or facing financial difficulties. This kind of anxiety is often temporary and can sometimes be a useful feeling to motivate you to perform well or to take action to address your worries or fears. If we were faced with a wolf in the woods, we would need some anxious feelings to kick in to help us survive!
However, sometimes anxiety can feel overwhelming. It can become chronic, excessive, or disproportionate to the situation. You may have persistent and overwhelming feelings of worry, fear, or apprehension that can interfere with daily life, relationships, work and your general feeling of well-being.
Symptoms of anxiety
can include:​
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Excessive worrying about everyday matters
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Restlessness and an inability to relax
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Muscle tension
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Fatigue
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Difficulty concentrating or racing thoughts
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Irritability
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Sleep disturbances, such as difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
Some of the ways counselling can help
Exploration: By creating a safe space for you to talk, counselling can help you explore the underlying causes of your anxiety.
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Identifying Triggers: Your counsellor can help you identify the specific situations, thoughts, or events that trigger your anxiety. Recognising these triggers can help you start to manage them effectively.
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Understanding Thought Patterns: Counselling can help you understand if you have any patterns of thoughts that may be contributing to the anxiety and see if you are able to challenge these in any ways.
Learning Coping Strategies: Counsellors can help you identify coping strategies that you can use to manage your anxiety symptoms. These may include relaxation techniques, deep breathing exercises, and mindfulness practices.
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Building Resilience: Counselling can help you build emotional resilience, allowing you to better handle stress and anxiety in the future. By understanding your emotional responses and developing healthier coping mechanisms, you can become more resilient to life's challenges.
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Behavioural Changes: Your counsellor can work with you to identify and change unhelpful behaviours that can perpetuate anxiety. This might include avoidance behaviours or patterns of self-sabotage.
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Goal Setting: During your counselling, you may feel able to set realistic goals for managing your anxiety. These goals can be broken down into manageable steps, making the process of overcoming anxiety feel more achievable.
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Providing Emotional Support: Anxiety can be isolating, and you may sometimes feel like no one understands you. Counselling offers a supportive, non-judgemental environment where you can express your feelings and fears.
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The Benefit of an Integrated Approach
As an integrative counsellor, I am able to use a variety of counselling approaches and create bespoke therapy that is specific to you. Whilst my core approach is to provide a safe space where I encourage you to explore your emotions, thoughts, and behaviours in a non-judgemental and empathetic way. I am also able to draw on other theories and approaches to help tailor the therapy to your specific needs.
Next Steps...
Please complete the Contact Me section and I will respond as quickly as possible. I am happy to have an initial 15 minute free telephone call and if you would like to proceed then we can set up an initial appointment. My What to Expect page can help you understand what your counselling journey might look like.