One of the great things about having a human mind is that it can solve all kinds of problems through thinking ahead and behind, considering multiple options, and finding creative solutions. This works great when we are thinking about problems that are solvable. For example, how will I plant a garden on this slope, or how will I get this report submitted in one hour. Solvable problems aren’t necessarily easy to solve, but you can take specific action toward their resolution.

One way to think about anxiety is that it has us applying all of that wonderful problem solving capacity to problems that can’t really be solved. That means all of the what if’s, like what if I lose my job, what if I get sick, what if I have nothing to say, what if they don’t like me? There’s just not enough data, and so your mind doesn’t get to solve it and move on. It just keeps worrying. If you experience intense, prolonged or generalized worry and feelings of anxiety, you may benefit from counselling to reduce its influence in your life.

Signs that you may benefit from help with anxiety include: hyperarousal, sleeplessness, and avoiding situations that might otherwise be beneficial or enjoyable.

Counselling provides a space to identify the role of anxiety in your life, to make sense of how it got there, and decide how much of it you want to keep or let go of. You can then take steps to direct all of your problem-solving capacity toward building the life you want, instead of trying to solve unsolvable “what ifs.”

When clients come to counselling to work on managing anxiety, together we use strategies of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy, and Narrative Therapy to support change.