Anxiety is at an extremely high rate since dealing with all the challenges of the pandemic. Anxiety can show up in many ways, through frequent worry, catastrophic thinking, physical tension, sleep difficulties, or feeling “on edge.” Sometimes anxiety can ramp up to the degree that it affects our day to day life, work, or relationships.

Those struggling with social anxiety often crave positive social interactions and feel greatly limited by fear of negative judgements passed by others. This fear can lead to avoidance of social or performance situations. Similar to other anxiety disorders, the gold standard treatment for Social Anxiety is exposure-based therapy. In treatment, you will work with a therapist to identify and challenge negative patterns of thinking while reducing and eliminating social avoidance in your life.

Health anxiety includes anxiety about your own or a loved one’s health, including current or potential illnesses and/or physiological symptoms you’re experiencing. This type of anxiety can quickly take a toll on your life, causing you to spend a significant amount of time thinking about health, googling, going to the doctor, monitoring symptoms, or avoiding situations for fear of exposure or contamination, among other behaviors.

OCD takes on many forms and is much more than the typical contamination OCD that the media portrays. Although the content of anxious thoughts in OCD can vary widely, the features of OCD tend to be similar across presentations: preoccupation with anxious thoughts, avoidant “strategies” for dealing with anxiety, and difficulty tolerating uncertainty or “grayness.”

Panic attacks are one of the most commonly experienced forms of anxiety. They are characterized by a sudden rush of physical sensations, fear, and an intense urge to escape. Sometimes the experience of panic attacks can begin to come “out of the blue” and take on a life of its own, occurring frequently and leading to more and more limitations put on a person’s life. Panic Disorder, which develops when we become greatly fearful of the experience of panic itself, is often characterized by a sudden fear that one is dying (for example, “I think I’m having a heart attack!”) or “Losing control.”

Low mood, feeling “blue” or “not yourself,” low motivation, or not experiencing a zest for life can all be hallmarks of depression. Mood difficulties present in a wide range, from simply feeling “off” to finding it next to impossible to get out of bed. It can be helpful to address mood issues sooner rather than later, as they can cause problems that tend to compound over time. CBT is an effective and leading treatment approach to improve mood and daily functioning.

We all live with multiple sources of stress, now more than ever since the global pandemic. Life is not meant to be stress free, but how we respond to and manage the stress in our lives determines the toll that it has on us and the things we care about. Some signs of heightened stress might include irritability, physical tension, difficulty with sleep, difficulty enjoying life, and feeling as if there is never enough time. CBT can help equip you with strategies for handling and minimizing stress.

Change is often difficult, whether it be a wanted or unwanted change. We often benefit from extra support to transitions in our lives, such as marriage, moves, having children, loss of a loved one, and becoming an adult, to name a few. Questions about our identity, lifestyle changes, and coping with stress are typical issues that present during life transitions. CBT and ACT focusing on increasing adaptability, empowering you to live aligned with your values, and accepting what is not different in your life can help you through a transition.

Many people struggle with self-limiting beliefs, whether these thoughts are about not feeling good enough, not believing in themselves, or having negative thoughts about a particular character trait or aspect of themselves, among many others. Low self esteem or low self worth can erode our ability to achieve our full potential and get in the way of living out the life we want. CBT works to get more flexible with this thinking through challenging thoughts or pulling power away from these thoughts, as well as increasing the behaviors you want to see in your life.