How to Cope with Anxiety – Therapists and Counselors in Cambridge

If you live in Cambridge, MA today, like most people in the United States, you’re living in a very face-paced world.

Instead of waking up with the sunrise, and going to bed at dusk—like humans have for millions of years—it’s likely that you wake up by the buzzing of an alarm clock. Similarly, it’s most certainly the case that when it get’s dark you’re not headed to bed—you flick on the lights and your evening is just getting started.

Instead of your day-to-day experience being mostly one of calm. Slow paced. Sitting under a tree or walking the farm (what we might call a boring day) throughout each day you’re instead bombarded with terrifying news reports, economic problems, and the “crises of the now.”

Internationally-renowned psychologist Archibald Hart once wrote that a child in his or her first year of life today experiences more change in his/her environment than a human did in his/her entire life only about 150 years ago.

What Does this all Have to do with Anxiety?

As biological beings, our bodies were designed to move at about the speed of a mule. As our lifestyles have changed—in many ways for the better—biologically we haven’t caught up with the constant influx of sensory stimulation. We spend much of our days indoors, behind glowing computer screens. The ways that we eat, sleep, exercise, and socialize have all changed dramatically.

It’s normal, when we think of the cultural changes in our lives, to understand that biologically we might not be 100% up to speed. And for many, this gap can be a precursor to experiencing significant anxiety.

Anxiety is an embodied (biological) experience

When we think about anxiety, often we are aware of the psychological or mental symptoms. These include nervousness, running thoughts, uneasiness, inability to calm down, fear, worry, and a number of others.

However, Anxiety is a very embodied experience and the physical symptoms can be just as much—and sometimes even more—prevalent as our mental ones. These physical symptoms include:

• Excessive sweating
• Increased heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Changes in appetite (eating too much or too little)
• Shortness of breath
• And more.

The physical symptoms of anxiety are no joke. More than a few people have ended up in the emergency room, certain that they were having a heart attack, when the diagnosis was actually stress and anxiety.

Thriveworks Cambridge Anxiety Counseling Can Help

Clearly, going back 150 years in time—even if we could—isn’t the answer. And thankfully, we don’t need to.
Anxiety comes in a number of forms. Three of the most common are:

1. Generalized Anxiety
2. Panic Attacks
3. Social Anxiety

At Thriveworks Cambridge Counseling, our therapists are fully licensed and trained to help clients with a variety of anxiety related issues. While there are certainly patterns in anxiety that are common, every client’s treatment process is unique and tailored to their specific needs and anxiety treatment goals.

Anxiety Therapy and Depression Therapy; Brother and Sister

Anxiety and depression are brother and sister problems. What I mean by this is that persons who are depressed often present some anxiety that accompanies their depression. Similarly, persons who are suffering with an anxiety disorder—if that disorder goes untreated—will oftentimes present depression symptoms as well.

There are a number of reasons anxiety can lead to depression. Sometimes the correlation is a really obvious one. For example, someone experiencing social anxiety withdraws from others and spends his days and nights in isolation. That’s not good for anyone’s morale.

And then there’s the fact that battling anxiety is a psychologically trying (and tiring) thing to endure—it can quickly wear someone down into a state of depression.

There is a positive side to this. Depression, while extremely painful, is also (like anxiety) extremely treatable. The counselors at Thriveworks Cambridge can help you with anxiety, and they can also help you with any depression symptoms you might be experiencing.

Our Cambridge based Counselors are Leaders in the Field

Thriveworks therapists and psychologists are caring, compassionate, and focused on helping their clients heal and thrive. In addition, they are also leaders in the field of counseling and life coaching. Our counselors are fully licensed mental health professionals (not interns), and they have been featured or quoted in local, national, and academic publications.

Some of the publications where Thriveworks’ team members have been featured include:

• AJC (Cambridge-Journal Constitution)
• The Journal of Mental Health Counseling
• The Washington Post
• Chicago Tribune
• The Boston Globe
• Counseling Today
• The Psychiatric Times
• Bleacher Report
• Newsday
• Boston Business JournalAnd many more

Getting Started with Anxiety Counseling

No Waiting Lists!

We understand how difficult it can be to make that first step to getting counseling help.

• You ask yourself, “Do I really need it?”
• You ask yourself, “Will it really help me?”
• You ask yourself, “Shouldn’t I just get over it?”

We know it’s difficult. That’s why we try to make it as easy as possible to get started with counseling at Thriveworks Cambridge. The way we see it, if you’re ready to get started with counseling we’re going to make sure that we’re ready too. That’s why we have what we call a “no waiting list policy.”

Call our offices and we’ll help you to schedule an appointment this week. In fact, if you’re looking to get started ASAP, we’ll help you to schedule an appointment within 24 hours of your call to our office.

Yes, We Accept Your Insurance!

Paying out-of-pocket for counseling therapy services can get expensive, and frankly we understand that it sometimes isn’t in the budget (even though it’s important, if you don’t have the money it’s going to be hard to pay for it!).

That’s why at Thriveworks we work to accept most major insurance plans. Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, United Healthcare, and more. If you have an insurance plan that you want to use for therapy, even one not on the short list above—call us. You might find that the out of pocket cost for Anxiety counseling at Thriveworks Cambridge is only a small $10 or $20 co-pay.

Let’s Talk

We hope you’ve found the introductory information on this webpage helpful.
Call us to schedule your first session at Thriveworks Cambridge Counseling with a counselor, therapist, or psychologist.

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