Experiential avoidance is a core component of anxiety disorders, contributing to a cycle of suffering, restricted lives, and reduced well-being. By reducing this avoidance and embracing acceptance and willingness, individuals can experience a higher quality of life, with increased psychological flexibility, more opportunities, and a greater sense of meaning and purpose.
ACT recognizes that psychological suffering is often caused by experiential avoidance, which is the attempt to avoid unwanted thoughts, feelings, memories, and sensations. ACT aims to break this cycle.
Creative Hopelessness: ACT challenges the client’s past attempts to control anxiety, often through creative hopelessness exercises, to help them see the futility of these efforts.
Trauma can significantly contribute to depression by disrupting the brain’s ability to regulate emotions. Addressing trauma, whether through self-help methods, or with a professional, allows for emotional regulation and a reduction in depressive symptoms. New approaches such as Havening and ACT can offer specific techniques and philosophies which help clients resolve trauma. Self-compassion, mindfulness, and emotional regulation are also helpful strategies in dealing with the impact of trauma.
While traditional counselling can provide a base for managing anxiety, more modern approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and mindfulness-based approaches, offer different perspectives, practical tools and a new approach to managing and reducing anxiety. These methods focus on accepting difficult thoughts and feelings, living in alignment with one’s values and using specific techniques to make new changes and choices. These approaches are often chosen for their focus on present and future experiences, an emphasis on personal values and their empowering, practical tools.
Trauma significantly affects anxiety, altering brain function and leading to avoidant behaviours and heightened emotional reactivity. Addressing past traumas can lead to reduced anxiety and a richer more meaningful life. Self-help techniques like mindfulness, acceptance and conscious breathing can help, and there are several effective approaches that can be used by a professional. Choosing the right approach is a very personal journey that is best explored with the support of a qualified professional, and it is important to pay attention to key indicators when it’s time to seek that support. The aim is not to erase difficult feelings or thoughts but to transform one’s relationship to them.
Psychological flexibility is about being open to your experiences, acting in accordance with your values, and adapting to situations as they arise. By focusing on acceptance, defusion, presence, self-as-context, values, and committed action, you can develop your ability to respond to life with greater flexibility and resilience, and live a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
Coaching for stress should be a collaborative process focused on understanding your individual experience of stress, and actively taking steps towards a more valued life. A plan of action should include specific goals and actionable steps incorporating NLP, havening and acceptance and commitment therapy techniques. These techniques, and related tasks can help you change your thinking and responses, develop new coping strategies, and reduce the impact of stress, so you are free to move toward the future you want.
an anxiety management coach focuses on empowering individuals to live full and meaningful lives by teaching them to change their relationship with anxiety. The emphasis is on managing responses to anxiety, rather than attempting to control or eliminate it, by building skills and confidence in the clients own ability to manage their experience.
Rewiring the brain from anxiety is an achievable goal that focuses on a change in the relationship with anxious thoughts and feelings. It requires a holistic approach, combining self-help strategies with professional support where needed. Key to this is accepting anxiety as a normal part of life and focusing on building skills and confidence to manage its effects, whilst taking action towards meaningful goals. By understanding the brain’s role in anxiety and using neuroplasticity to your advantage, it is possible to build a life where anxiety has less of an impact.
Overcoming anxiety requires more than just willpower. It involves learning to break out of unhelpful habit loops, and a willingness to accept anxious thoughts and feelings, while focusing on making actions that are guided by values. This can involve self-help strategies or professional help. A crucial shift is moving away from trying to eliminate anxiety to learning to live with it, building a meaningful life and working towards personal goals in spite of anxious feelings.
It’s important to note that the specific approach a therapist uses will depend on their training and the client’s individual needs. Some therapists might draw on a combination of techniques or work within a specific framework, such as ACT or SFBT. They may also encourage clients to seek support from other sources, such as friends, family, support groups or self-help resources. Overall, the goal is to empower clients to manage their anxiety effectively and live full and meaningful lives.
Overcoming social anxiety is possible through understanding and applying a range of strategies. These include challenging negative thoughts, gradually facing feared social situations, using mindfulness, practising self-compassion and relaxation techniques, acting in line with values, and using other helpful techniques such as distraction and exaggeration. Remember that progress may take time, and it is okay to seek professional support when needed. By being consistent with these methods and being kind to yourself, you can beat social anxiety and start living a more fulfilling life.
Psychological flexibility is a powerful approach that helps people relate to their inner experiences in a way that promotes well-being and a more fulfilling life. Rather than focusing on eliminating unwanted thoughts and feelings, psychological flexibility encourages a way of relating to them. This approach empowers people to engage in valued behaviours even when uncomfortable or challenging situations arise. By developing the six core elements of psychological flexibility – acceptance, defusion, present moment awareness, self-as-context, values, and committed action – individuals can learn to navigate life’s challenges with greater ease, resilience, and purpose.
Anxiety specialists use a range of therapeutic approaches to help individuals manage their anxiety, reduce suffering, and improve their overall well-being. Techniques such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, NLP, mindfulness, and self-compassion can be used to help people deal with a variety of conditions that involve anxiety. If anxiety is significantly impacting your life and you feel that you would like to explore the tools and techniques used by anxiety specialists, then it may be worth seeking their support.
Work anxiety therapy can offer significant benefits for both individuals and organisations. For individuals, it can lead to reduced anxiety, improved performance, increased confidence, and enhanced motivation. For organisations, this can translate into increased productivity, improved team dynamics, reduced costs, and an enhanced reputation. The range of tools and techniques used can include solution-focused brief therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness practices, havening techniques, and other skills-based approaches. Together these can create a positive change in the workplace.