Examining Mental Health Counseling to Help Navigate Anxiety

As the conversation around mental health starts to become more prevalent in today’s society, so does the conversation around mental health counseling. Whereas seeking mental help was once kept secret, or even taboo, many adults are now openly turning to counseling to receive support and solutions for mental health issues.

One of the most frequently discussed issues is anxiety. Anxiety disorders are characterized by worried, fearful thoughts, and tense feelings, centered around a future response to a real or perceived threat. 

According to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, nearly half of adults from age 18-24 reported anxiety and depression symptoms in 2023, compared to about a third of adults overall. 

See all anxiety statistics as a result of this survey here.

The First Step to Navigating Anxiety

Knowledge is power. The first step to navigating anxiety is acknowledgment. Detecting these feelings and experiences is the first step to receiving the support you need. Education is also a useful tool for achieving a greater understanding and potential solution. Counseling offers a safe space to explore these anxiety triggers and underlying causes.

How Counseling Can Help Anxiety

You don’t have to navigate through anxiety alone. By consulting with a mental health counselor or therapist, you’ll be equipped with tools, techniques, and support geared toward empowerment. While the anxious condition may not disappear, you can grasp a better understanding of your anxiety and approach situations with preparation and resilience.

In today’s digital age, technology can augment support via telehealth or telemental health counseling, where you’re now able to receive counseling services from the comfort of your own home according to your schedule. 

How Anxiety Counseling Works

Counseling for anxiety aims to reframe thought patterns and behaviors that fuel stress, tension, and angst. A common denominator of anxiety is fear, stemming from the worry that anxiety causes. By discussing why or how you may experience fear, you’ll begin to better address your anxiety. 

Although anxiety, fear, and phobias ultimately differ, confronting and redefining the fear is a part of anxiety counseling. Your counselor may have you rank your fears, and choose to work on the least threatening fear first, and then work up from there. Thinking about what you’re afraid of can help provide context to anxious feelings. Once that’s communicated to your counselor, you can work out a plan for the next time you experience this fear. This ultimately helps build confidence and encourages growth.

Counseling strategies can include rational ‘self-talk’ to challenge and restructure your cognitive response. Techniques such as mindfulness and breathing exercises may also assist in grounding you in a moment of overwhelming anxiety.

Anxiety Counseling at Atlantic Counseling for Empowerment

Atlantic Counseling for Empowerment, PLLC (ACE) is an inclusive, counseling practice focused on empowering all individuals. Our solution-focused counseling uses evidence-based approaches to identify the underlying causes of anxiety. As a result, you’ll learn proven ways to develop coping mechanisms and skills to develop new perspectives. Counseling is offered in-person in Boca Raton, Florida, or through virtual means in Florida and New Jersey. 

Take charge of your anxiety to become the best version of yourself. Contact ACE now to begin your path toward healing, growth, and self-empowerment!