Anyone that has experienced intense anxiety knows how very uncomfortable it can be at times. Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time, and lower levels of anxiety can actually be a good thing. It can help you stay alert and motivated to meet work or educational demands, especially when a time crunch is involved. So, a bit of mild anxiety can be helpful. However, if you suffer from an anxiety disorder, like Generalized Anxiety, it can start to interfere with your ability to function well in your everyday life. You may find yourself in a mental loop where your go over the same worry again and again in your mind. This may be accompanied by intense feelings of nervousness and dread, even though, a part of you knows on some level, that some of your worries about the particular event or circumstance in question are irrational. But, simply knowing that doesn’t in and of itself help you stop worrying. You may even find yourself becoming anxious over the anxiety itself, wondering how long it may last or how intense it may become this time.
Please know you are not alone. Millions of people suffer from anxiety. I’m actually one of those people who suffered intensely from anxiety in various seasons of my life. That is why I have a passion to work with others who are going through similar struggles. I found that using my Christian faith as a resource, together with utilizing for myself the clinical skills I was coaching my clients to use, really helped me get through those difficult times. That is why I’m such an advocate of Christian Counseling for those who struggle with anxiety.
An experienced Christian counselor can be an important ally in your journey for healing. As a Christian counselor myself, it’s important to me to combine the clinical skills I’ve learned along the way with a Christian, faith-based approach. This is where looking at our anxious thoughts and speaking truth to them can be of real help. As Christians, we know that the battle is often in our mind. Negative and anxious thoughts can either really weigh us down, or on the other hand, ramp us up with anxiety. I have found that those of us who deal with anxiety are actually great meditators, we’re just meditating on the wrong things. And what we focus our mind’s attention on really affects us emotionally. But with a Christian counselor, who supportively listens to your worries, you can learn to change your mind’s focus. With their support, you can identify scriptural promises to focus your thoughts on when you’re experiencing acute anxiety. And over time, you can train your brain to not fall back into those old patterns of worry so easily.
The right Christian counselor can also teach you self-regulation skills that may prove to be very helpful in managing your acute anxiety. For instance, there are breathing skills and mindfulness techniques one can use to help calm their limbic system, the fight/flight mode that is built for our survival. For those who struggle with anxiety, the limbic system is often too easily activated. What is designed to protect us is set on too high of an alert and often detects danger when there is none. However, regularly practicing mindfulness can help calm your limbic system and increase your brain’s ability to sift through potential stressors and discern real danger from all the myriad of supposed danger the anxious brain focuses on. (A wonderful resource to learn more about this is the book, The Body Keeps the Score, by Vessel Van Der Kolk, M. D.)
That being said, I want you to know that things can get better. Anxiety is often treatable. Many have found significant relief from their constant worry and anxiousness. Often cognitive/behavioral therapy can be helpful. Christian counseling is a wonderful tool to compliment that approach. As identified promises of God are focused on, over time, worries can start to subside. As mindfulness and breathing techniques are practiced, our anxious brains can start to relax. Please know, however, that there is no quick fix. Like most things that are beneficial in life, this will be a process. In some instances, referral for medication management may be necessary. But often, over time, in simply partnering with an experienced Christian counselor, and applying the tools given, things can start to turn around.
In my mind, finding a licensed counselor such as a Licensed Professional Counselor or a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist is important if you’re experiencing acute anxiety. I know that setting up such counseling services may feel really daunting. However, the process doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It can begin with a simple phone call. After an initial brief phone call, or an email exchange, if both the therapist and potential client feel they are a good match for one another, an appointment can easily be set up. The therapist can then ask you for any information needed and talk you through your next steps. Once you take the initial step of making the first call or sending out the email form on therapist’s website, the rest of the process is often fairly easy.
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