Anxiety and Managing Stress Counselling

E&A Psychology provides Anxiety Stress Couselling in the Sunshine Coast

Anxiety and Coping with Stress

Anxiety is part of our survival instinct, part of being human. When we are faced with a threatening situation, anxiety helps us be more alert and make better decisions.

Anxiety can become abnormal however. Perhaps you find you react more quickly or intensely to situations that are not threatening or anxious feelings are hard to control and interfere with your day-to-day activities? Many of our clients report they “just can’t stop worrying” and notice they worry and feel overwhelmed more than those around them.

Anxiety is a symptom of various anxiety disorders. All psychologists at E&A are highly trained and passionate about providing gold standard therapy for anxiety that helps you better cope with daily life and live free from worry. Call us today to book an appointment or contact us through our online booking form.

What are the most common anxiety disorders?

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety or social phobia is a disorder that leads to intense anxiety about what other people may think of you, or how they may judge you. Does this describe you? Do you have great difficulty in social situations and is it affecting your day-to-day life?

• Symptoms of social phobia include:

• Intense fear or dread of social situations. You fear that you will act in an embarrassing or humiliating way and that other people will think you are stupid, inadequate or perhaps foolish

• Avoid social situations

• Prior to a social event or an event which requires you to ‘perform’, you experience heightened anxiety

• Develop physical symptoms of anxiety in feared social situations such as a thumping heart, fast heart rate, shaking, sweating, nausea, chest pain, headaches or stomach pain.

Social phobia is treatable and seeking professional support from your local E&A psychologist is the first step to recovery. All of our psychologists completed post graduate studies with a focus on the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders including social phobia.

Panic attack and Panic Disorder

A sudden severe rush of anxiety and fear which occurs for no apparent reason is referred to as a panic attack. Many people have isolated panic attacks and do not go onto having more of them.

If you have panic disorder, it means you experience repeated panic attacks. Are you living in fear of having panic attacks? Perhaps you are living your life differently because of panic attacks, such as avoiding places or situations where you fear an attack may occur? It is not uncommon for someone with panic disorder to also develop a fear of public places, known as agoraphobia. If so, it may be time to find more out about panic disorder and how an experienced E&A psychologist can provide effective treatment for the condition. Our team is ready to help you reduce the occurrences and severity of attacks and get you back to living the life you desire! Call our friendly client support team or contact us through the online booking form.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

People with GAD feel anxious and worried most of the time, not just during stressful situations and the anxiety is intense, ongoing and affects their normal life. Are you finding you are continually worrying about small things that your friends and family would not consider to be stressful? Are your anxious thoughts uncontrollable or do you feel something terrible is going to happen often? Come and speak to one of our psychologists who can help you gain control of your thoughts and conquer excessive worry and anxiety!

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

For someone with the anxiety disorder known as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), obsessive anxious thoughts lead to recurring behaviours (that alleviate the anxiety or neutralize the thought short term). These obsessive behaviours, often referred to as compulsions often relate to, cleanliness/order, counting, hoarding, safety, checking, sexual uses, moral issues.

OCD is treatable and all E&A psychologists are all highly trained in diagnosing and treating the condition. Effective therapy is available, contact us today!

Specific Phobias

If you have a specific phobia you would like to overcome, we can help. The most common phobias we treat include:

• Flying

• Heights

• Small or enclosed places

• Animals including snakes and spiders

• Weather (fear of thunder or lightning)

• Germs

• Driving or public transport

• Public speaking

• Dental and medical procedures

To book an appointment with us, call us on (07) 5479 3538