Anxiety is the first signal...

Anxiety and panic are a call to do a deep listening of ourselves to get our body and mind to talk to each other, to see what need is not being met. What is it you need when you feel anxious or panicked? If the body and mind can't hear each other, despite doing alot of 'signaling' or 'recurring thoughts', they just send louder and louder signals to each other until you really feel it physically.

What I have learned is that anxiety is usually the first signal that something in our life is not right or balanced.  This is usually when your body, the most intelligent part of you,  is sending out warning signals. If you are surprised, so you should be - popular belief is that it is the mind that is to blame for all this malarky, but in reality, the neuroscience (Besel Van Der Kolk, author of The Body Knows the Score), now shows it is the body that has the smarts on what is reaaallly going on for you!  That said, the way I approach anxiety, it is that both mind and body are contained in the same biochemical suit (thanks, Einstein). When one signals the other and vice versa, it means something that may be beyond your awareness, is causing a life imbalance or an upset is going down in your system. By system, I mean your body system, your family system, your workplace system, your country system etc - all the systems, you as a human being are connected to. 

​Why should we care? When anxiety is not addressed, things just can get worse over time. There is no need to worry though as much can be done before getting to that point.

When you feel anxious...
Start to consider lifestyle changes - food, sleep, diet, alcohol, exercise, work patterns, stress management to set yourself up for a calm, harmonious lifestyle. A lifestyle, that some say, calls the body to go into the 'rest and digest' mode, as opposed to the fight, flight or freeze mode.

If you find that taking these steps don't help reduce symptoms, then it is time to see your counsellor. That's me!
Sometimes chronic anxiety has deeper roots in your family system, your physiology, your thinking patterns, your life situation or past development or event trauma. That's when you come and see me. Together we can explore this area, as I meet you where you are at, and as we become fellow travellers, I will be able shine a light in the dark places so you can discover what is true for you. 

I work with you, using a range of tools and techniques, in a respectful, non-judgmental and supportive environment,  within the limits of what is doable for you learn new ways of being, locate the entanglements of your systems, and to build your confidence back up again, until you realise, you don't need to see me anymore because you are doing just fine. That is when my job is well and truly done!