Anxiety and Mental Health Therapy in Mountain Brook, AL

Anxiety doesn’t always look the same for every person, or even for the same person from day to day, but its effects are cumbersome. The weight of anxiety can make you feel trapped, like there is nowhere for your life to go but downward, but know that anxiety therapy in the Birmingham area is both readily available and highly effective.

Do certain environments or activities make you uncomfortable? Have you ever experienced a panic attack? Are decisions and tasks that seem easy for many a source of great worry for you? There is a chance that you, just like millions of others, might be suffering from anxiety.

Anxiety disorders can form for a variety reasons including childhood abuse and trauma, and people of all ages can experience the symptoms. No matter the source for your anxiety, however, know that our anxiety therapists at CLR Group in Mountain Brook are available to help you overcome these challenging emotions.

You don’t have to struggle with anxiety on your own. Let our therapists work with you in Mountain Brook and the entire Birmingham area to find relief, whether you’re a working adult, teen, or student.

Anxiety Can Take Various Forms

We all go through periods of internal strife, of worry and frustration. For some, these periods might be temporary and seldom, but for many, it can feel like there is no end to the struggle and stress. Anxiety is a constant fearful state, accompanied by a feeling of unrest, dread, or worry in which the person may not be aware of what is creating the feeling of fear. The symptoms can be both emotional and physical.

Anxiety is aroused by a number of factors:

  • External situations (viewing the nightly news, fast paced lifestyle)

  • Physical well-being (lack of sleep, blood sugar imbalance)

  • Learning (parents who were highly anxious)

  • Trauma (situations that may be similar to experiences of the past that caused great pain)

Even just the thought of you potentially having an anxiety disorder and the decision to seek anxiety therapy can be causes of distress. You might be experiencing embarrassment over this issue and be second-guessing anxiety treatment, but it’s important that you recognize how great your anxiety is at manipulating you into keeping things just the way they are.

The truth is that there is something that is standing in the way of you achieving the relationships and career you want, and the anxiety therapists at The CLR Group can help you with anxiety therapy, just as they’ve helped thousands before you, pursue a new mode of living in the Birmingham area.

What are panic attacks?

Panic attacks are sudden, overwhelming, fearful reactions that accompany feelings of impending doom. The sufferer of a panic attack may feel like he is “going crazy” or is having a heart attack. During a panic attack, the person feels out of control.

Symptoms include:

  • Shortness of breath

  • Racing heartbeat

  • Sweating

  • Dizziness

  • Nausea

  • Diarrhea

  • Ringing ears

  • Choking

  • Vertigo

  • Becoming homebound in fear of another attack

There is a reason we experience fear.

While most people experience fear as a negative emotion, fear has a positive component. If you find that you have turned down a one-way street and see a car heading directly at you, fear triggers an autonomic response that sends a signal to your brain to “flee” the potentially dangerous situation.

Fear becomes a problem when a person becomes afraid of things that are not real or when the feeling of fear is out of proportion to what the person is actually experiencing.

What are some tips to overcome anxiety?

  • Dispute negative thoughts and irrational beliefs with positive thoughts and truth. What positive thoughts about the situation are you ignoring?

  • Try to minimize activities and input that induce anxiety.

  • Learn from setbacks and continue to face down your fears (take some risks). If you become afraid move your focus on the external world and others rather than the internal feelings of anxiety. Focus on the solution, not the problem.

  • Remember that growth and recovery from anxiety takes time. With patience and practice you will overcome your anxiety.

Anxiety Therapist in Mountain Brook, AL

The CLR Group provides depression and anxiety therapy, as well as counseling for mental health issues like PTSD in Mountain Brook, AL. We serve the greater Birmingham area, including Hoover, Homewood, and Vestavia Hills. Our practice works with adults, as well as students from UAB, Tuscaloosa (i.e. University of Alabama), and more.