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Amygdala

The Interplay of Trauma and Anxiety: Brain Mechanisms, Healing Pathways, and Professional Guidance

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.

Addressing Burnout:Workplace strategies that help employees

Burnout is a serious condition resulting from prolonged stress that can affect anyone, not just those in traditional work environments. It is characterised by exhaustion, negativity, and reduced effectiveness. The key to preventing and treating burnout lies in a combination of reducing workplace stressors and empowering individuals to take care of themselves, manage their emotions and set boundaries. By addressing these elements proactively, both employees and employers can contribute to healthier, more productive, and more satisfying work environments.

How does mindfulness affect the link between thoughts and emotions?

mindfulness helps to create a different relationship with thoughts and emotions by increasing awareness, promoting acceptance, and reducing reactivity. By observing your internal experiences with non-judgmental awareness, mindfulness can help you gain control over the link between thoughts and emotions, making you less controlled by them and more able to respond thoughtfully.

Havening Techniques for Anxiety Relief

Havening is a psychosensory technique that combines touch, attention and positive visualisation to alleviate anxiety and other emotional and physical difficulties. Havening is able to interrupt neural pathways in the brain and form new, positive ones. Through gentle touch and focussed attention, it helps to release emotional memories and associated negative emotions and can reduce physical pain and increase a sense of wellbeing. Havening can address root causes of anxiety by depotentiating the encoding of past traumatic experiences, and can be used for self-care and professional settings as it is safe, quick, empowering and effective. Havening does not retraumatise clients, and allows them to experience actual change in their quality of life.

Understanding Your “Nervous Mind”: what helps calm your mind

When you feel like your mind is “nervous,” it often means that certain parts of your brain are overactive or misinterpreting signals. It’s helpful to understand the roles of these key areas: The Amygdala: This is like your brain’s alarm system. It’s designed to respond to threats and can trigger a fight, flight, or freeze… Read More »Understanding Your “Nervous Mind”: what helps calm your mind

The amygdala and trauma: understanding what your brain is doing leading to roots for your recovery.

The amygdala plays a central role in the experience of psychological trauma. It is a part of the limbic system, which is responsible for survival-based responses to threat. The amygdala is primarily involved in processing emotions, especially fear and anxiety, and it is critical for generating emotional and physiological responses to stimuli. Here is a… Read More »The amygdala and trauma: understanding what your brain is doing leading to roots for your recovery.

What is hippocampus anxiety

Firstly, it’s important to understand that the hippocampus is a part of your brain that is involved in learning, memory, emotional control, and stress arousal. When we talk about ‘hippocampus anxiety‘, we’re referring to the role of this structure in the experience of anxiety. The hippocampus can be affected by stress, which in turn impacts… Read More »What is hippocampus anxiety

What amygdala anxiety is.

Amygdala-based anxiety refers to anxiety that originates in the amygdala, a part of the brain that processes emotions, particularly fear. The amygdala is responsible for attaching emotional significance to situations or objects and forming emotional memories, which can be positive or negative. In the case of anxiety, the amygdala can create anxiety-producing memories that trigger… Read More »What amygdala anxiety is.

How to rewire your anxious brain

Rewiring your anxious brain is possible through understanding how your brain creates anxiety and implementing strategies to change those patterns. 1. Understand the Brain’s Anxiety Pathways Two main pathways create anxiety: The cortex pathway involves thoughts, worries, and interpretations that can lead to anxiety. The amygdala pathway is more direct, triggering bodily reactions like fight,… Read More »How to rewire your anxious brain

The Amygdala: A Key Player in Anxiety Responses

The amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure located deep within the brain, is often referred to as the brain’s “smoke detector” or “survival alarm”. It is responsible for quickly identifying potential threats and triggering a response, even before conscious awareness. Here’s a breakdown of the amygdala’s functions in relation to anxiety: Threat Detection and Rapid Response:… Read More »The Amygdala: A Key Player in Anxiety Responses

Brain Changes Due to Anxiety

Your brain changes in response to how you think and what you think about. Prolonged periods of anxiety bring about brain changes. Changes that are reversible. As your brain changes how and what you think about also changes. Understanding a little of the science behind what is going on between your ears will give you… Read More »Brain Changes Due to Anxiety