Anxiety Treatment
Do you suffer from persistent, excessive, and distorted worry?
Do you feel like anxiety is poisoning your life?
Do you have unpredictable or exaggerated reactions to certain triggers?
Do you struggle to relax the tension in your body?
Do you lose sleep at night as your mind loops your “to do” list or spins “what if” scenarios?
You are not alone. Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in the United States. Some with anxiety show few outward symptoms, but their minds churn with apprehension and worry. Others suffer from acute anxiety attacks, wherein anxiety literally overwhelms the body. Commonly, those who suffer from anxiety also have to cope with its physical manifestation: backaches, migraines, or digestive troubles.
Anxiety is a prolonged state of alarm, usually triggered by some initial fear. Fear can be a healthy, self-preserving response. Anxiety is when fear does not turn off when a perceived danger is unfounded.
While depression tends to dwell in the past, anxiety is a forward-thinking disorder. Anxiety is an anticipatory emotional state. To the anxious mind, the future seems unpredictable, possibly dangerous, and uncontrollable.
Take a moment to ask yourself: what triggers my anxiety?
If you decide to pursue anxiety treatment, these triggers will be at the center of your healing work. It might take more than a moment of digging to uncover all your triggers, as some can be subconscious.
Each trigger usually has an origin story attached to it -- often a trauma.
Sometimes these linkages are obvious. A client who had once been struck by lightning now has anxiety during storms. She was once in danger and now when she perceives a similar threat, her brain hijacks her thinking.
In other instances, our anxiety and our anxiety triggers stem from a deep insecurity that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) calls a core fear. Underneath all our bluster, we are struggling with core beliefs that we are unlovable, incapable, or unsafe. These core beliefs can be unconscious.
Anxiety treatment at Kairos Wellness Collective consists of two parts:
Psychotherapy to heal unresolved traumas and core fears that underlie anxiety
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to reprogram the anxious mind with healthy thinking patterns
Most therapy offices provide Step 1), but few follow through with the practical solutions in Step 2). At Kairos Wellness Collective, I prioritize results-based interventions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been shown to be effective for 60-80% of anxiety disorders. This effectiveness increases when CBT is paired with psychotherapy work.
How is anxiety treatment and phobia treatment distinct?
The treatment approaches for phobias and anxiety disorders can overlap in some ways, as phobias are a specific type of anxiety disorder. However, there are some differences in how they are typically addressed in therapy. Here's a general overview:
Focus: Phobias are characterized by an intense and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity. Treatment for phobias often focuses on exposure therapy, gradually and systematically exposing the person to their feared object or situation in a controlled and safe manner. The goal is to reduce the fear response and build new associations with the feared stimulus.
Specificity: Phobia treatment tends to be more focused and targeted compared to anxiety disorders, which may involve more generalized anxiety symptoms. The treatment for phobias typically concentrates on the specific phobic object or situation, whereas anxiety disorders may involve addressing a broader range of triggers and underlying anxiety.
Hierarchy: In exposure therapy for phobias, a hierarchy is often developed, starting with situations that cause mild anxiety and gradually progressing to more anxiety-provoking scenarios. The person is exposed to each step of the hierarchy until their fear response diminishes. This systematic approach helps build confidence and reduces avoidance behaviors.
Duration of treatment: Phobia treatment, particularly specific phobias, is often relatively brief and focused. With well-defined phobias and effective exposure therapy, significant improvements can often be achieved in a limited number of sessions. On the other hand, anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder or social anxiety disorder, may require more extended treatment due to the broader nature of the anxiety symptoms and underlying factors involved.
Comorbidity: Anxiety disorders can often coexist with other mental health conditions, such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In such cases, the treatment approach may need to address multiple conditions simultaneously. Phobias, while they can coexist with other conditions, are typically more isolated and may require less complex treatment strategies.
It's important to note that the specific treatment approach for phobias and anxiety disorders can vary depending on the individual, the severity of symptoms, and the preferences of the person seeking treatment. A qualified mental health professional at Kairos Wellness Collective can conduct a thorough assessment and recommend the most appropriate treatment plan tailored to the individual's needs.
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Reducing anxiety is a skill that can be learned like any other.
With a strong therapist-client partnership and outside resources to support our work, we can unlock the key to your healthy thinking. By the second session, we will have set Anxiety Goals and created a treatment plan.
Some part of every session will be used to correct present thinking patterns and workshop real life examples of anxiety distortions from your week. This will result in alleviation of immediate anxiety symptoms.
Every session will also tackle long-term anxiety patterns, and build practical coping skills for outside of the therapy room. Sessions will also include evidence-based exercises to train your brain towards recognizing and defeating negative thinking.
Anxiety Treatment is empirically supported to create real change in clients’ lives.
What are some innovative approaches to anxiety treatment?
In recent years, new techniques have emerged for anxiety treatment Here are a few examples:
Virtual Reality (VR) Therapy: Virtual reality technology is being increasingly used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. It involves creating computer-generated environments that simulate real-life situations in a controlled and safe manner. VR therapy allows individuals to gradually confront and manage their fears and anxieties in a virtual setting, which can help desensitize them and build coping skills. Matthew Williams at Kairos Wellness Collective provides anxiety therapy utilizing VR technology.
Smartphone Apps and Digital Therapeutics: With the widespread use of smartphones, numerous apps and digital therapeutics have been developed to help individuals manage anxiety. These tools often provide guided meditation, breathing exercises, cognitive restructuring techniques, and other self-help strategies. Kairos Wellness Collective therapist recommend apps based on client needs, but a few of our favorites are:
Mind Shift CBT A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based app.
Moodnotes : A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Journaling app.
What’s Up? A Mental Health App: A mood tracking app that can help clients keep track of feelings, thoughts, and other important data between sessions.
Biofeedback and Wearable Devices: Biofeedback uses electronic sensors to measure physiological responses, such as heart rate, skin conductance, and muscle tension. By providing real-time feedback, individuals can learn to recognize and regulate their physiological responses to anxiety. Wearable devices, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, often incorporate biofeedback technology to help individuals monitor and manage their stress levels.
Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Mindfulness-based interventions, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), have gained popularity in anxiety treatment. These programs teach individuals to cultivate present-moment awareness, non-judgmental acceptance, and cognitive flexibility. Several clinicians at Kairos Wellness Collective specialize in Mindfulness and bring these techniques into every session.
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy: Ketamine, originally an anesthetic medication, has shown promise in the treatment of treatment-resistant depression and some anxiety disorders. In controlled therapeutic settings, ketamine is administered at low doses to induce a rapid and transient psychedelic experience. This treatment has demonstrated potential for alleviating symptoms in individuals with severe anxiety. At Kairos Wellness Collective, we are proud to offer one of Boulder’s first Ketamine treatment protocols that is specifically designed for anxiety disorders.
But you may still have questions about Anxiety Treatment at Kairos Wellness Collective…
How long will it take to see results?
Like most things, the more you put in, the more you get out. Anxiety Treatment can move quickly with a willing and engaged client. This form of anxiety counseling may require a certain amount of work outside of session to achieve maximum efficacy, but the good news is that we will likely have fewer total sessions than traditional psychotherapy. Clients usually need between 8-20 sessions to reach long-lasting mental health goals, but initial improvements often come in the first month.
I can’t imagine my life without anxiety. What if treatment is ineffective?
Anxiety responds very well to treatment. If we make the choice to move away from anxious thinking, and are lucky enough to have skilled guidance along the way, anxiety will be reduced. The science is clear.
It is normal to be afraid to fundamentally change our anxious thinking. Life without significant anxiety might be hard to imagine because it becomes so ingrained in our way of being. We fear we will be less-than or unsafe without our anxiety. Sometimes our anxiety is actually helping us cope with some deeper sadness.
It is also right that a highly anxious person will never be able to fully purge this tendency. During treatment we will also learn to have self-compassion. Our anxious dispositions can be healed to the point of no longer sabotaging our happiness, but moments of crisis and life changes can still trigger a resurgence. Seeking treatment is all about gaining lifelong skills to manage anxiety.
Contact Us Today
Do you have questions about anxiety treatment? Contact us using the form below and we’d be happy to help.
Breaking the cycle of anxiety is a lofty task for most clients of Kairos. While we offer many modalities of therapy, as well as yoga and acupuncture, some still struggle to turn away from the safety behaviors (also known as “firefighter strategies''). Our firefighting behaviors have been embedded in our consciousness as an effective, quick, but temporary way to to calm down. These safety behaviors include rumination, checking, scanning for danger, rereading, and reassurance seeking. One approach to more permanently calming such an overactive brain is to give it an experience of going to a level of higher consciousness.
For those with severe anxiety, most of the traditional methodologies for brain activity calming, like meditation and mindfulness, are inaccessible. This is because we are so used to the temporary soothing of mental reactivity to our worries. We are unable to simply allow thoughts to “float away” as meditation encourages.
For some with severe anxiety, guilt can come up because we are unable to utilize this seemingly simple solution, “Why can’t I just meditate? Why am I so bad at mindfulness?”
This line of thinking in and of itself can be a terrible cycle that reinforces a sense of hopelessness about anxiety treatment.
The truth is that if we were able to think our way out of our troubles we would have done so long ago!
Most individuals with anxiety are highly motivated for their own treatment and truly come into therapy with such good intentions for healing. When we reach a roadblock with more traditional anxiety relieving techniques, it is valuable to think outside the box and try breaking out of comfortable mentalities with something fully different.
Studies have shown that titrated (individualized) low doses of Ketamine can offer the experience of an expansive mindset which can effectively break the cycle of anxiety.
Every time that you effectively dissociate into a deeper, wide-ranging calm, you allow your brain a new experience and learning. You are opening up space in your consciousness that offers another possible place of internal safety that does not necessarily utilize your current firefighting techniques.
Combining Anxiety Treatment with Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy is a burgeoning field and at Kairos Wellness Collective, we are proud to offer integrative treatment modalities that break away from standard talk therapy. Please contact Chelsea to learn more.
Anxiety help is here.
If you would like to schedule an appointment or discuss your needs, you can call or text 720-310-0570, email admin@kairoswellnesscollective.com, or send a message here. Feel free to reach out by text or phone whenever is convenient. We will get back to you shortly to discuss goals, pricing, and schedule.