Anxiety Disorder Therapy
In many circumstances, prescription drugs play a role in treating anxiety disorders. But for many people, therapy mixed with prescriptions or alone is the best alternative for treatment. In addition, unlike drugs, therapy provides the instruments to address anxiety on your own now and in the future. As a result, various therapeutic techniques have been designed to treat anxiety and have developed over time, from cognitive-behavioral treatments to psychoanalytic methods.
Anxiety disorders at a glance
In the US, almost 20% of adults and over 30% of adolescents between 13 and 18 experience anxiety yearly. Various anxiety disorders kinds can profit from the assistance of counselors in Richmond, VA, including:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Social anxiety disorder
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Phobias
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Panic disorder
No matter the respective disorder, the underlying functions they are driven by are often comparable to others. For instance, anxiety sufferers typically react to undesirable circumstances, emotions, and reflections in powerful modes and often try to control them by evading specific triggers. Sadly, trigger avoidance usually helps to reinforce concerns and apprehensions. Therefore, most contemporary therapy styles address avoidance and harmful thinking to help patients control their anxiety.
Three kinds of anxiety therapy
Any therapeutic strategy aims to help people understand why they feel like they do, what triggers them, and how they can adjust their reactions to them. Many therapy styles even introduce more practical strategies to help reframe a patient's pessimistic thinking and alter their behaviors. Each anxiety disorder is distinct, so anxiety therapy is tailored to patient-specific diagnoses or signs. It can be performed in a group, couple, family, or personal setting. How often a person meets with their therapist and for how long hinges on their specific diagnosis or signs. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health experts use many distinct kinds of anxiety therapy.
Art therapy
This treatment is an experience-oriented nonverbal treatment that utilizes art to rehearse relaxation and mindfulness or graphic art to process and express feelings. Though this therapy can be a stand-alone treatment, it is often used with additional anxiety treatment techniques like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. More research is needed to confirm this therapy's efficacy in reducing anxiety symptoms because it is a unique form of therapy.
Interpersonal therapy (IPT)
This therapy concentrates on connections and social roles. During IPT, a patient works with their provider to identify interpersonal issues like social or work role transitions, disagreements with friends or relatives, unresolved grief, or problems relating to other individuals. A patient then discovers more beneficial ways to express their emotions and better ways to communicate with others. Though this therapy was designed initially for treating major depression, it can also be utilized when your anxiety mainly relates to your connections with others, like with social anxiety disorder.
Psychoanalytic therapy
This Freudian therapy example pivots around the belief that a person's anxiety symptoms mirror their unconscious battles, and the therapy aims to fix these senseless conflicts. During psychoanalysis, a patient and their provider will explore their passions, fears, and ideas to understand better how they see themselves and decrease their level of anxiety. This form of treatment is one of the most intensive and can take years to recognize patterns in a patient's thoughts.