Everyone experiences stress and anxiety. You might feel anxious when you charge something on your credit card, when your teenage daughter goes on her first date or when your car breaks down. That's completely normal. However, it's not normal to feel anxious most of the time. If anxiety affects your ability to be successful at work and maintain healthy relationships, you might be suffering from an anxiety disorder. You don't have to live with inundating anxiety. Treatment is available in the form of therapy and medication.
Types
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most common form of therapy used to treat anxiety disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic. Cognitive-behavioral therapists focus on helping their clients understand how their thoughts affect their level of anxiety and behaviors. There are other types of therapy used in treating anxiety including exposure therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and interpersonal therapy. Most of these therapies are short-term, lasting approximately 12 to 16 weeks, but the length of therapy depends on the individual.
Considerations
When a client considers choosing a type of therapy, she might feel overwhelmed by the choices. It's easiest to choose a form of therapy when you know your specific diagnosis, consider your personality and consult a mental health professional. For instance, if you enjoy Eastern meditation and want a therapist who will focus on the present, dialectical behavior therapy would be a good choice. If you suffer from a specific phobia such as fear of heights, you might want to consider exposure therapy.
Choosing a Therapist
Taking the time to choose the right therapist is crucial to success in therapy. The Anxiety Disorders Association of America reports that you should take into consideration the therapist's training and credentials, level of experience, how the therapist involves family members, type of treatment and cost of sessions and insurance compatibility. With any therapist, you might feel uncomfortable at first, because you're telling a stranger about your problems; however, you should be able to trust and talk to that person in a short period of time. If you don't feel comfortable after a few sessions, you might consider finding a new therapist.
Benefits
If you suffer from anxiety which affects your daily living, therapy can improve your quality of life in a short period of time. In therapy, you'll learn relaxation techniques, strategies to deal with everyday stressors and causes of anxiety which you'll be able to use for the rest of your life.
Misconceptions
Some people continue to have a stereotype about therapy. They might think they'll show up, lie down on the therapist's couch and talk about all their childhood traumas that affect their mental health. Unless you seek therapy from someone who practices traditional, Freudian psychodynamic therapy, this will not be the experience. Most therapists take a family and mental health history to better understand the root of the problems, but the focus isn't on the past. Instead, you'll spend most of your time discussing how to better your current situation.
