Anxiety Therapy Techniques

The lifetime prevalence rate for anxiety disorders is about 33.7% (Bandelow & Michaelis, 2015). And among the general population, anxiety disorders are the most commonly found psychiatric issue (Öst, 2008) and the number one mental disorder found among women (Chambala, 2008). When one thinks about anxiety, their mind may immediately veer towards fearing and worrying about the future, sometimes to the point of rumination. This type of anxiety--referred to as anticipatory anxiety--has the potential to make enjoying anything more difficult than it needs to be. However, anticipatory anxiety is just one of several different types of a mental disorder that is a severe and common issue for adults and children alike across the world.

For an anxiety disorder to reach a clinical level, the individual suffering from it must experience interference in their attempts to live life to its fullest. In some cases, anxiety disorders can even lead to major occupational and social impairments. Within the umbrella of anxiety disorders, there are various different sub territories:

• Panic disorders
• Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Specific phobias
• Social anxiety disorder
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Generalized anxiety disorder

Anxiety disorders can, indeed, be very terrifying for those who are attempting to live with them. Individuals can see major adverse emotional, physiological, and cognitive manifestations of their anxiety. And people who suffer from panic attacks often wind up in the emergency room, convinced that they are on their deathbed. While anxiety can be a debilitating disorder, there are several different therapeutic approaches that have been proven to be effective. Some of these therapeutic approaches include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy: this type of therapy is rooted in the core belief that emotional disorders are caused by cognitive factors which can be changed through the employment of cognitive and behavioral techniques. The methods used in cognitive behavioral therapy, in particular, are focused on a client’s individual needs and can be tailored based on their cognitive progress.
• Hypnosis: akin to meditation, hypnosis generally involves clients entering various states of consciousness with their particular, individualized needs kept in mind. Clients never, however, lose control: they will always have awareness of what is happening.
• Vagus nerve stimulation: during this specific approach, an anticonvulsant device electrically stimulates a client’s vagus nerve; this particular nerve is targeted because it has the unique ability to control one’s feelings of anxiety. Though this approach is generally utilized on individuals who are experiencing treatment resistant depression or epilepsy, some studies have also shown this method’s effectiveness in addressing treatment resistant anxiety disorders.
• Cognitive therapy: the most commonly seen psychological treatment for those living with anxiety disorders, cognitive therapy is characterized by clients working with their therapists to zero in on the beliefs, thoughts, and feelings that affect their ability to change their behaviors.
• Attention bias modification: an emerging form of therapy, attention bias modification therapy uses computer based attention training to aid clients suffering with anxiety in dealing with perceived threats in the environment around them that normally cause them to hyper fixate.

Grouport offers online group therapy. All of our incoming clients will receive a 20-minute initial consultation that is led by a trained mental health professional, and each weekly group session is an hour long. You can find more FAQs here. Group therapy can be incredibly helpful in helping people process their anxiety, reframe disturbing thoughts, and tolerate painful emotions over time.

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