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Highly Effective Anxiety Management Strategies
By Dr. Denise Fleurant, PsyD, MFT
Highly Effective Anxiety Management Strategies - These Techniques are Effective Alternatives to Medicine!
Anxiety is often experienced by otherwise high-functioning individuals as a serious difficulty. The sensations of doom and dread or panic felt by those affected can truly be overwhelming. These feelings and sensations are exactly the same as those experienced if the worst really were happening. Tingling sensations, dizziness, heart palpitations, attention and concentration problems, memory loss, and a state of inertia and panic are some of the symptoms people with anxiety experience. Oftentimes, these dreadful feelings drive clients to the instant relief of psychotropic medications.
Anxiety is generated by cognitive (thinking) distortions and thinking errors.
This is very common and almost everyone utilizes distortions of some sort and to some degree, because they serve a defensive purpose. When these distortions become out of control or overly relied-upon, difficulties related to anxiety arise. For example, if a person believes (thinks) in a social situation they will do something embarrassing and people will laugh at them, naturally anxiety surrounding socializing will occur. This belief has many consequences. A person may avoid socializing in order to escape the anxious feelings. Or, a person may socialize anyway while suffering with the anxiety. In either case, the anxiety is being maintained by the belief that socializing will lead to embarrassing consequences. The thoughts about socializing have the consequence of social anxiety.
Anxiety can be based on past traumatic experiences that bother us in the here-and-now.
Traumatic events affect each individual differently but contribute to current anxiety in a similar way. The feelings associated with the original trauma generalize to other situations or persons that remind us of the original event; these approximations serve as triggers. Some triggers are obvious and people can recognize their significance. Other triggers are more difficult to identify because they’re not as obvious. For people suffering with this type of anxiety, their anxious feelings can be a mystery. Psychotherapy is essential in these cases.
Anxiety is maintained by our thoughts and feelings. Therefore, interventions take place on those two levels. When feeling the uncomfortable sensations associated with anxiety, many times we attempt to explain the cause or origin of these feelings. If looking inside for the cause, we may attribute our feelings to personal shortcoming, lack of control, or an inability to cope. When looking inside, we become the cause of our own anxiety. If looking to the environment to explain anxiety, we may become exceedingly afraid of objects or activities. These environmental explanations can be the basis of phobias.
People who suffer from anxiety need to know that relying solely on medication prevents them from ever learning basic techniques associated with controlling or eliminating their anxiety symptoms without medication. They never acquire and develop the cognitive and behavioral skills to manage anxiety that invariably returns when placed in undue stress or when going through significant life changes.
At Newport Psychological Services Counseling and Assessment Center, anxiety-reducing skills are taught to those suffering from anxiety and related disorders that provide relief for a lifetime. Dr. Denise Fleurant, PsyD, MFT specializes in anxiety reducing techniques, their uses, and which techniques work best for each individual’s specific symptoms.
Dr. Denise Fleurant, PsyD, MFT
Dr. Denise A. Fleurant, PsyD, MFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist working as a private practitioner in the Newport area. Dr. Fleurant holds an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Chapman University, a Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from American Behavioral Studies Institute in California and a Post-Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology.
Dr. Fleurant is a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. She is a certified diplomate of Psychotherapy of the American Psychotherapy Association and Certified Relationship Specialist. Dr. Fleurant is an affiliate member of the Midwest Center for Anxiety and Depression and continually receives advanced training in Marriage and Family issues.
Newport Psychological Services Counseling and Assessment Center has two locations:227 West Main Road in Middletown, RI 02842, and The Polo Center, 680 Aquidneck Avenue, Middletown RI 02842. The office is handicapped accessible. Regular office hours are accommodated with evening and weekend appointments as needed.
Please call (401) 864-1493 for more information or to schedule an appointment.
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