Supporting Children, Youth, and Families in Greater Vancouver since 1990

Anxiety Counselling North Vancouver

We offer counselling services to North Vancouver, West Vancouver and the surrounding Greater Vancouver area to individuals, couples and families.

What is Anxiety Disorder? 

Anxiety in daily life is a common experience for many people. There are many types of anxiety. People often experience anxiety in social settings, in the workplace and in interpersonal relationships.  Anxiety Disorder is a mental health condition that can manifest as anxiety, fear, and worry that is difficult to manage in your daily life. 

Anxiety Disorder is different from anxiety brought on by events and scenarios. Anxiety Disorder causes fear, worrying, and other emotions that are often disproportionate to the situation at hand, and interfere with your ability to function. While mild anxiety is a normal experience, Anxiety Disorder causes disruption and daily inconvenience in an individual’s life. 

Many people experience Anxiety Disorder concurrently with other mental health disorders including; Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Phobias, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Signs and Symptoms of Anxiety 

The following are signs and symptoms that can indicate Anxiety Disorder.

  • Often feeling worried
  • Panic attacks
  • Anxieties frequently interfering with work, school, or personal responsibilities
  • Irrational fears that are prominent in your daily life
  • Fear that breaking routines will have consequences 
  • Avoiding events, situations, or activities because they may cause anxiety
  • A feeling that danger and threats are everywhere
  • Using alcohol or other substances to cope with difficult feelings and emotions. 

Physical Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder can include:

  • Increased heart rate
  • Sweating and shaking 
  • Headaches 
  • Dizziness
  • Trouble breathing 
  • Difficulty sleeping or waking up
  • Stomach issues. 

If you experience any combination of the above symptoms, Anxiety Counselling can help you to develop coping strategies and improve your daily life. 

What can cause Anxiety Disorder?

There are many different causes of Anxiety Disorder. As with many mental health disorders, Anxiety Disorder can simply be genetic. Other causes of Anxiety Disorder include Stress, Personality type and Trauma. 

Stress is something most people experience in their lives. However, frequent and excessive stress can increase your chances of developing Anxiety Disorder. If you experience disproportionate levels of stress in your work or personal life, this may be contributing to Anxiety Disorder. 

One of Hollyburn’s Registered Clinical Counsellors can work with you to identify the roots of your anxieties and address them to decrease the negative impact on your daily functioning. 

How can Anxiety Counselling Help?

Anxiety is the most common mental health concern in Canada. Anxiety and concurrent disorders are treatable with counselling. Our experienced team of Registered Clinical Counsellors can treat anxiety and help you to create coping strategies to address anxiety in your daily life.  One of our counsellors will work with you to help reduce worry, stress, and panic in your life. Our counsellors can help you to identify the roots of your anxiety disorder, and develop coping skills to address stressors in your life that may be contributing to chronic anxiety. 

Difficult emotions, feelings, and anxieties are normal. Often you have just not been taught or shown that by influential people in your life. It is healthy to feel and experience your emotions. Your counsellor will help you understand and experience your normal emotions. Co-regulation is something you will experience in counselling. Your counsellor will teach you to regulate your anxiety and keep it in a more functional state. Therapy will help you to understand and normalize your anxiety. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Anxiety Counselling

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a common form of talk therapy, practiced by many of our counsellors. Cognitive Behavior Therapy can help address many mental health concerns. This includes anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), grief and loss, trauma, chronic physical symptoms, and many different stressful life situations. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be used in anxiety counselling to help you understand difficult feelings, behaviors, and thoughts that impact your daily life, in this case as a result of Anxiety Disorder. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been noted as the most effective treatment for depression and anxiety. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy alone, or in combination with medication and other treatments can be very effective for treating and managing anxiety. 

Anxiety Counselling FAQ

Question: Will counselling help me get rid of my anxiety? 

Answer: Anxiety Counselling can help you to manage your anxiety. While you may never be able to fully rid yourself of anxiety, Hollyburn Family Services’ team of Registered Clinical Counsellors can help you understand what aggravates your anxiety, and how to properly cope in your daily life. Anxiety counselling will help you live with your anxiety. You can live with anxiety, and not have it heavily impact areas of your life, such as relationships, work, and performance.  

Question: Can anxiety counselling help me learn to cope with situational anxiety?

Answer: Yes! If you identify that your anxiety often arises in specific situations you and your counsellor can work to understand why and create coping strategies for relief in those situations. A lot of anxiety counselling is reality testing beliefs that you may hold about yourself, others, and life in general. Your counsellor will help you reality test these beliefs that may be making it harder for you to function in these areas of your life. 

Question: What coping strategies can I learn in Anxiety Counselling?

Answer: The coping strategies you and your counsellor develop in Anxiety Counselling will depend on where anxiety shows itself in your life. If you find yourself frequently experiencing anxiety in the workplace, your counsellor will work with you to develop coping strategies specific to your work environment, which may include learning new communication skills and strategies, exploring changes to your workload and work habits. 

Question: Can anxiety counselling address my anxiety and dating?

Answer: Yes! Anxiety and dating are very common, your counsellor will work with you to understand your feelings and emotions that cause this anxiety, and create effective coping strategies. Anxiety often happens in interpersonal experiences. Many people experience this as they take the risk of putting themselves out there in the dating world. There is normal anxiety that your counsellor will help you to understand, and address what may go beyond normal interpersonal anxiety. 

What to Expect During My Anxiety Counselling Appointment

Everything you share in counselling will be confidential, your counsellor will take steps to help you feel at ease in your session. Your counselling session will go at a pace you are comfortable with and will address anxieties in that structure. You will learn about anxiety and the different ways it manifests. You will learn when it requires intervention, and what it might mean for other areas of functioning in your life. You will learn what is normal anxiety, and what defines Anxiety Disorder. Your counselling session will be tailored to you and address the specific issues impacting your ability to function. 

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