Anxiety and Depression

“And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear… you shout, and no one seems to hear.”
– Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon

You’ve been hijacked.

That’s what they do. Anxiety and depression have hijacked your brain.

If you’re not ruminating over things long buried in the past, you’re worried about everything that could go wrong in the future.

Your only thought in the present becomes how to find relief. You desperately want to lift the weight off your chest, and medications may have failed.

You need results! And you want them right now.

But you’re out of options.

That critical voice inside will not give you a break. Every day, you wake up to its berating harangue, constantly reminding you that you screwed up something you did – whether long ago or yesterday. The never-ending obligations and duties of each day overwhelm you – and there seems to be no relief in sight.

But there are glimmers – signs. You’re starting to recognize that voice – and to realize it’s not truly your own. You’re beginning to see it for what it is: habit.

That demeaning, reproachful nag may have helped you get where you are in life – but it’s no longer your friend. You need – and still, hope for – a kinder, gentler inner guide, one who will encourage you on your path.

At times, you catch faint whispers of it, but that scolding cynic quickly drowns it out. Where does that critical voice come from? What part of you does it wound so badly?

You need the volume control.

In therapy, you start to discern the many moving parts in the picture of the mind.

You have the inner child who feels so strongly – and that carping critic who beats you down. But there’s also a compassionate nurturer who reassures you that you’re okay – and doing the best you can.

Most people want to strengthen that nurturing voice in therapy and tune down that potentially crippling critical voice.

And you need to develop mindfulness.

Mindfulness and neuroscience go hand in hand in a discussion of anxiety and depression. Mindfulness helps you gain distance from the different moving parts of the mind, so you can improve your ability to observe what’s happening.

This is the first step in changing your inner dialogue. Anxiety can ignite powerful thoughts – in therapy, we identify and process these.

Healthy and nurturing thoughts are there, but we relegate them to the distant background for some reason.

To replace the old with the new.

With the help of therapy and your new coping skills, you can learn to bring healthy thoughts forward – because your natural inner healing capacity is striving to do just that.

You’ll understand that you developed your previous habits for good reasons at the time, but now, you’ve outgrown them.

Together, we’ll discover or create their replacements.

And to find and care for your true self.

In therapy, you may discover you’ve been living out roles determined by others and are thirsting for more authenticity.

Sometimes, your families of origin may consider fulfilling your own needs selfish. But pleasing others at your own expense can lead to serious anxiety and depression.

It’s paradoxical – to be there for someone else in a healthy way, you must first meet your own needs.

Two of the most blessed gifts therapy can grant you include the permission to fill your own cup and the discovery of how to do so.

Reach out today! (720) 770-1782