Mindfulness is a practice that involves paying attention to the present moment without judgment. It is often described as a specific type of meditation, rooted in ancient Eastern traditions, and has been widely adapted in modern psychology for its practical benefits. Rather than trying to escape or control thoughts and feelings, mindfulness encourages an attitude of openness, curiosity, and acceptance towards one’s internal and external experiences as they unfold.
The role of mindfulness in helping to relieve anxiety is significant, primarily because anxiety often pulls the mind into worries about the future or ruminations about the past. Mindfulness helps by:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an approach that aims to help people live a more fulfilling life, even with anxiety. It is considered a process-based approach, rather than a rigid set of techniques. Unlike some other therapies that focus on eliminating symptoms, ACT aims to change one’s relationship with their thoughts and feelings. It… Read More »How effective is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
A coach can assist in developing reduced anxiety habits by providing tools, techniques, and strategies to help individuals understand and manage their anxiety. Coaches can help clients become more proactive, rather than reactive, in dealing with their anxiety. Here’s how a coach might facilitate the reduction of anxiety habits: Understanding Anxiety: Coaches help clients understand… Read More »Developing anxiety reducing habits.
Havening Techniques are a psychosensory treatment that uses touch to eliminate unwanted feelings from distressing memories and events, and promote personal growth. The method is consistent with current neuroscience. Havening is a gentle, rapid technique that is easy to learn, can be self-applied, and has essentially no side effects. What are Havening Techniques used for?… Read More »How the Havening Techniques could benefit you.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a unique approach to therapy that aims to help people struggling with anxiety by encouraging them to accept their thoughts and feelings while also committing to actions that align with their values. It’s a shift away from traditional methods that focus on controlling or reducing anxiety. ACT is considered… Read More »ACT for 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
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.
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
When working with a therapist for anxiety, you can expect a variety of approaches and techniques depending on their training and therapeutic orientation. Here’s what you might encounter: Initial Assessment and Goal Setting: Your therapist will likely begin by discussing your anxiety, its impact on your life, and your goals for therapy. Your anxiety therapist… Read More »Working with an Anxiety Therapist
We all know about habits however we tend to think of them in the bad things they do for us. Habits are just automated thinking. Things were done so often it becomes automatic or semiautomatic to do them. Habits can be good as well. Think of cleaning your teeth, it takes little thought to… Read More »Habits to Develop to Overcome Anxiety
Names, and details of people and organisations have been changed to maintain their privacy. The case studies below will will go into details of how these transformations occurred. Tim (not client’s real name) was an unusual client in that from the very first contact they were clear that anger was the issue (typically clients have… Read More »The Damaging Impact of Anger
I suspect there is not one single human being who doesn’t know that if they just dropped some habits, or adopted others, their life would improve. So why are people not doing this? Many years ago, not long after I started my private practice, I realised that helping clients to make lasting changes was not… Read More »Just 20 Seconds to Change a Habit
Long ago, in the summer holidays, I worked in an engineering workshop, fixing machines in the local textile mills. One day on a job with the engineer he discovered that he was missing a specific bolt that he needed to finish the work. We could have gone all the way back to the workshop which… Read More »Wisdom Is Knowing What to Ignore
I’m sure you have received the message many times that everything you do should be done to the best of your ability. This just does not make sense! This strategy is highly costly in terms of the effort required, and means that overall you’ll get far less done. Take Joe. Joe is a skilled engineer… Read More »When Is Good Enough, Good Enough?
I know you’re busy. You have more commitments than your energy and time allow. I also can guess that many of your commitments are not taking you in the direction want your life to go. They’re not aligned with your values. We’re constantly bombarded with requests from work, from family; even your phone keeps demanding… Read More »How One Extra Second Could Make All the Difference to Your Life
Excessive overwhelm can be a significant contributor to stress, anxiety and depression. Overwhelm happens when a person is faced with more to be done than they can manage, and where some of those tasks involved are beyond their current capabilities. Often, the initial reaction to overwhelm is to work harder, work longer hours, try multitasking… Read More »Overcoming Overwhelm