How to Heal Anxiety With Holistic Psychotherapy
If you’re struggling with anxiety, stress and overwhelm, you are not alone! Anxiety is so common that it's easy to ignore it, or feel like it's 'normal' to go about your day feeling stressed and managing the various symptoms that anxiety brings. The truth is, racing thoughts, physical and mental exhaustion, a feeling of not being good enough and legit panic attacks are not 'normal'.
Anxiety is an SOS. It’s calling out for radical self-care and is an invitation to deep personal growth.
I want you to know, no matter what you're struggling with, healing is possible. Getting the right tools to support yourself is key. A holistic approach to treating anxiety is essential because your mental health is so much more than just your brain chemistry. Navigating anxiety and creating lasting change requires a comprehensive strategy that addresses your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
Continue reading to discover how holistic psychotherapy can be a powerful tool in healing the root cause of your anxiety and support you on your healing journey.
Understanding Anxiety Symptoms
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), symptoms of anxiety can include persistent worry or fear that is excessive and difficult to control, restlessness or feeling on edge, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbances. These symptoms must be present for more than six months and interfere significantly with your daily life activities in order to receive a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.
You don’t have to have a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder or be dealing with panic or anxiety attacks to be struggling with the negative impacts of anxiety. And while it’s obvious that anxiety sucks, it can be easy to ignore or hope that your symptoms will magically get better over time. It's important to recognize and understand your unique symptoms of anxiety in order to find the right tools for you to find relief from your anxiety symptoms.
Anxiety can manifest itself in many different ways, making it hard to recognize in ourselves or others. Generally, anxiety is a feeling of unease or dread that can be linked to specific situations or events, or sometimes without any particular trigger. Before we dive into how to heal anxiety, let's dive into some real word examples of how anxiety might be showing up in your life.
Physical symptoms of anxiety can vary widely and include:
shallow breathing
increased energy and having a hard time sitting still
tightness in your chest
racing heart
brain fog
sweating
headaches
nausea
a pit in your stomach
Psychological symptoms of anxiety can include:
being apprehensive of new situations
fear of being judged
intrusive or ruminating thoughts
worry that just won't quit
obsessive behavior
irritable for 'no reason'
feeling constantly distracted
Anxiety can affect your physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental health in many ways. Here are some surprising ways you may be experiencing anxiety:
Feeling numb or disconnected from your higher self
Difficulty accessing your intuition
Constant thinking that depletes you and feels exhausting
Feeling highly sensitive (to noise, light, activity, etc)
Fatigue or exhaustion, even when you don't 'do' much physically
Being super critical of your thoughts, feelings and actions
Difficulty sleeping
Relationship stress
Over-reliance on food or substances to relax
Self-doubt that keeps you from doing what you want in your life
Self-sabotage
Perfectionism
Fear of being seen, feeling like an 'imposter'
Another way you can recognize anxiety, is that you may be having some of these thoughts:
‘I'm not experiencing a crisis, but always feel on edge, stressed out and overwhelmed.’
‘Some days are easier than others, but it could be worse so I’ll try not to complain and just keep going.’
‘I'm quite hard on myself, but isn't that normal?’
‘My life is okay, not great; there must be more, but I can't figure it out.’
‘Stress and overwhelm is a normal part of being human, it’s not that bad.’
If you see yourself in the list of symptoms above, you are not alone.
With the right support, you can find the way back to yourself and your life, and you don’t have to do it all alone.
A Holistic Approach to Treating Anxiety
To state the obvious: Anxiety is no joke, it can be difficult and challenging to live with! I'm here with a gentle reminder, that you don't have to keep suffering alone - there is hope for healing. It won't happen overnight, and it's usually not 'easy', but healing anxiety is possible. It looks like learning how to care for your nervous system, recognizing how you experience anxiety symptoms, and finding the tools that will work for you to calm and soothe your symptoms and also rewire and re-pattern the underlying source and root cause of your anxiety symptoms.
A holistic approach to anxiety treatment includes tools for supporting the whole person, mind, heart, body and spirit and can include treatments such as:
Psychotherapy
Acupuncture
Yoga
Meditation
Bodywork
Breathwork
Medication
Functional Medicine
Nutritional Psychiatry
Dietary Changes
Movement and Exercise Protocols
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
Somatic Tools for Nervous System Regulation
Types of Therapy for Anxiety
Here at The Holistic Counseling Center, we offer evidence-based therapy for treating anxiety that includes:
Psychodynamic Therapy
Interpersonal Therapy
Mindfulness-based Therapy
Polyvagal Informed Therapy
As holistic therapists we also incorporate mind-body healing modalities such as:
Mindfulness
Parts Work
Somatic Practices
Benefits of Therapy for Anxiety
If you're struggling with anxiety, therapy can help you heal. Our anxiety therapists can help you understand the underlying causes of your anxiety and develop healthy coping strategies to find relief and eventually heal anxiety.
Holistic Psychotherapy offers an integrative, mind-body approach to healing anxiety. It is just like traditional talk therapy, expanded to include support for your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wellness. We focus on more than 'brain chemistry' when helping you heal anxiety, because you are more than your thoughts, and you are more than your symptoms.
Real change happens when you attend to all aspects of your being, not just one part.
Holistic psychotherapy provides many benefits for treating anxiety, and includes:
Understanding and addressing the root cause of your anxiety symptoms
Building resilience and improving your overall mental health
Finding tools to reduce stress and increase relaxation in your daily life
Incorporating mindfulness and meditation practices to enhance mental clarity and focus
Creating a balanced lifestyle that includes time for rest, recreation, and social connections
Promoting self-awareness and insight into your anxiety triggers
Fostering a deeper understanding of the mind-body connection
Cultivating mindfulness and relaxation practices you can start using after your first session
Facilitating holistic healing by addressing emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of your experience
Increasing self-confidence
Accountability and motivation to make sustainable change
Learnings new ways of getting unstuck from current negative experiences
Learning more about the root cause of your anxiety and how to best support yourself in feeling like yourself again
Addressing symptoms of anxiety, stress, overwhelm and self-sabotage
Resources to change your anxiety symptoms before they become debilitating
Support for living your best life
How to Know When to Seek Therapy for Anxiety
If you’re here, you’re probably wondering how ‘bad’ your anxiety symptoms have to be for you to get support. Or maybe you’ve been struggling for so long you’ve almost given up hope that you’ll ever feel better.
I'm here to let you know: Anxiety is a symptom, it’s not a life sentence. It’s not permanent, and it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. Healing is possible! If you’re struggling with any symptoms of anxiety, you deserve support. You don’t have to have a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, or be having panic attacks to seek therapy. All you need is a desire to feel better, and stop struggling.
If anxiety is getting in the way of you living your best life, this is your sign to reach out for support.
Therapy for Anxiety in California
You deserve to live a life with less anxiety. Psychotherapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for anxiety and can be used as a standalone treatment, or in conjunction with medication and the complementary treatments listed above.
If you’re ready for support on your healing journey, our anxiety therapists are accepting new clients for in-person sessions at our office in El Dorado Hills, as well as for virtual sessions for anyone in California.
To get started, schedule a free consultation call to speak with our intake coordinator. On our call, we’ll discuss logistics, what kind of therapy we offer, match you with one of our awesome therapists and if it feels good, you can schedule your first therapy session!
Find out more about our team HERE and more about our fees HERE.
We look forward to being a part of your healing journey!
-KimBurris, LMFT
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
Dana, D. (2023). Polyvagal Practices: Anchoring the Self in Safety. W. W. Norton & Company.
Hanson, R. (2009). Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom. New Harbinger Publications.
Harris, D. (2014). 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works. HarperCollins.
Siegel, D. J. (2010). Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation. Bantam.
About the author
Kim Burris, LMFT is a licensed holistic psychotherapist, founder of The Holistic Counseling Center, and author of ‘The First 90 Days After Birth.’
She honors the mind, body, spirit connection and offers evidence-based psychotherapy with a heart centered approach that helps people find relief from anxiety and self-sabotage so they can live life with more joy, freedom and ease.
Kim and her team currently offer holistic counseling to individuals in El Dorado Hills, CA and online. Click HERE to book a no-cost consultation call.
