Anxiety Therapy & Treatment, Sydney
As a practice we specialise in providing treatment and counselling for anxiety and anxiety disorders. Many of our psychologists have worked and trained in well regarded specialist anxiety treatment centres in Sydney, and several have conducted research into the nature and treatment of anxiety and anxiety disorders. We ensure that we remain abreast of recent developments in the understanding and treatment of anxiety, and Lissa travels interstate and overseas to attend seminars and workshops from world leaders in anxiety research and treatment.
Needless to say, anxiety is a normal and inevitable part of human experience. We all know what it feels like to be nervous - even extremely anxious - about a big date, exam, job interview, important speech, or some other life event. A certain amount of anxiety is helpful as it provides energy, excitement, and focus for the task. However, in a significant proportion of people anxiety can become incessant, extreme, and out of proportion to the situation, despite the person's best efforts to stay calm. When anxiety interferes significantly with a person�s life or wellbeing it is often referred to as an anxiety disorder.
What is the difference between anxiety treatment and general counselling?
Although they overlap in many ways, psychological treatment for anxiety disorders is somewhat different to general counselling or therapy. Anxiety disorder treatment involves acquiring specific knowledge, skills and strategies relevant to particular anxiety disorders. While this takes place in the context of an individualised therapy process, anxiety treatment goes beyond general anxiety management skills such as relaxation. It involves learning what causes and maintains your particular anxiety disorder for you, and how to overcome it.
Clinical Psychologists specialising in anxiety and mental health treatment.
Common anxiety-related problems and disorders include:
- Social anxiety including fear of public speaking
- Excessive worry or generalised anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Posttraumatic reactions
- Fears and phobias
- Obsessions and compulsions
If anxiety gets out of hand, it can interfere with enjoying life and reaching your potential. An anxiety disorder can hold you back at work, stop you doing things you'd like to do, interfere with social and family relationships, and undermine confidence and self-esteem. People often become quite depressed about feeling excessively anxious, which only makes their situation more stressful, isolating, and difficult.
Fortunately, the vast majority of anxiety disorders are treatable. A substantial amount of research in the last few decades has focussed on understanding anxiety disorders, which has given anxiety practitioners good knowledge of what underlies various different anxiety conditions, and what helps to overcome them.
Unfortunately, however, many of the things that people do to reduce their anxiety in the short term may exacerbate their anxiety in the long term. Effective treatments and therapies for anxiety and anxiety disorders break this cycle, by helping you to understand what really drives your anxiety, to learn constructive techniques for managing your anxiety in the short term, and develop lasting changes that cultivate more comfortable levels of anxiety in the long run.
Click here to learn more about anxiety disorders in teenagers and adolescents.