So you often feel worried. And you don’t like it. If you are considering therapy for your anxiety symptoms, keep reading!
This is what we know about anxiety: you may find it difficult to control the worry, and excessive worrying can be exhausting. You may feel tense and/or irritable and might be experiencing a loss of sleep.
Anxiety does not define the whole of your identity, even if sometimes it feels like it does. Rather, anxiety is a part of you that is there for a reason and wants to be heard. One of the greatest approaches to therapy is called Internal Family Systems (IFS), and it is a method for healing parts of yourself. It was created by Richard Schwarz, and research has supported its effectiveness for issues such as anxiety. In therapy, we often refer to parts of us as “subpersonalities”. So, think for a moment about an anxious part of you: what does that part look like? What does it want? In what situations does it come up? Are there any images that come to mind associated with this part?
Another great thing that you might learn in therapy – anxiety is a protector. Anxiety is there to protect the more vulnerable parts of you. There are also coping skills that will help you deal with and manage your anxiety. But we do not try to fight these parts, or suppress them, or judge them; we learn to see and recognize that anxiety might be there to protect us in its own (and sometimes dysfunctional) way.
In IFS therapy sessions, you will learn how to access your true Self. Your true Self is the source of your internal healing, your power, and resilience. During therapy, you might learn to release your fears and negative beliefs about yourself. You might also learn that some of your parts are in pain and need help. Are you ever anxious, depressed, frustrated or overwhelmed but you do not know why? Many things are going on that are largely outside of our awareness. Some parts of you might feel unlovable, while other parts are trying to protect your more vulnerable parts, including some that could be stuck in childhood.
IFS therapy is designed so that you can understand at the deepest level that peace, balance, and harmony are indeed possible to live with. There is hope and there is a solution.
The world is more beautiful with you!
With love,
Aly Landry
National Certified Counselor
Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern
Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern
(321) 209 2049
Aly@renew-counseling.org