San Francisco Family Therapy
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Stress & Anxiety Therapy

What exactly is stress?

Being in situations we describe as “stressful” is part of everyone’s life. To achieve the highest quality of life we need to learn to manage our responses to challenges we encounter from time to time. Individuals will say a particular situation is so “emotionally charged” for them that they feel they cannot deal with the issue without feeling a lot of stress. One example might be a conflict in the marital relationship that is unresolved. Both people feel uncomfortable and worried about this issue without an apparent solution.

Other life situations that people commonly report as stressful are work issues, financial pressure, and family dynamic problems. San Francisco therapist Patricia Hecht offers treatment for stress with individual psychotherapy using a professional psychotherapist has proven to be very helpful in learning strategies to cope with the variety of stressful situations an individual will inevitably encounter in life. We can’t get rid of all stress in life but we can effectively manage our reaction to stress with the benefit of feeling more comfortable.

Stress therapy

Stress is a challenge in every individual’s life. We cannot get rid of all stress that we encounter. We can avoid taking on certain stresses in life. However, each person has to learn to deal with the inevitable stressful situations that present in every person’s life.

Stress therapy can help in teaching strategies of stress management. One can learn to deal more effectively with stress when it comes our way. These stressors may be what we come to think of as “negative” situations such as work issues in our jobs and careers, money worries, or not being able to work out conflicts in our relationships with the people in our lives, i.e., partners, children, parents or other members of our family.

Individual therapy can help people unlock positive pathways to find acceptable solutions to these stressful situations and therefore create a more comfortable way to move through life.

What exactly is anxiety?

In all lives some anxiety about something real or imagined that may happen causes us to feel nervous or preoccupied with thoughts of something anticipated that we may not be able to cope with. If everyday worrying, about family, work issues, school, or money crowds our minds in a seemingly excessive and prolonged way a professional psychotherapist may be very helpful in problem solving and coming up with solutions that can manage our worries and concerns to make life more comfortable.

Individuals may come to the therapeutic process feeling hopeless about finding the strength and courage to go on when there is so much that feels upsetting and worrisome. With the help of a skilled therapist who can provide individual psychotherapy, people can get in touch with their own resilience and courage which can help them be much more optimistic about managing uneasy feelings and distressing thoughts and come to the realization that there are options that can work out positively.

Anxiety therapy

Many people express feelings of anxiety but are not able to pinpoint exactly where these feelings are coming from. Anxiety therapists will listen to patients talk about anxiety as a very disturbing feeling. It may be expressed as “feeling tense and nervous”. At times people dealing with anxiety issues may also report symptoms like “heart beating fast” or “sick to their stomach” amongst other bodily symptoms. At times, when patients express anxious feelings they also feel afraid, but they don’t understand the source of the fear.

Cognitive behavioral therapy can be very helpful in managing and reducing anxiety.  Patients who speak with San Francisco stress and anxiety therapist Patricia Hecht about feeling anxious often say they think of the worst-case scenario happening in many situations. Talking to a professionally trained therapist can be extremely beneficial in sorting out anxious thoughts and learning to “reframe” thoughts with the result of feeling much calmer. The therapist helps the patient figure out what thoughts the patient has and helps the patient see things in a less threatening way.

Therapy can help individuals contain anxiety through developing appropriate boundaries for their feelings. Although it is hard to eliminate all anxiety, therapy can be very helpful in managing down the disturbing feelings to a level that can be dealt with.

Getting Help for Anxiety and Stress Issues in San Francisco

Anxiety and stress are feelings people experience when they feel they are encountering a life situation that is uncomfortable or emotionally charged. Sometimes the normal challenges of daily life produce the feelings of nervousness, stress and anxiety to a degree that interferes with the enjoyment of life or even daily functioning. Common triggers include work issues, relationship issues, or financial issues.

People can obtain help with stress and anxiety by participating in individual psychotherapy with a skilled therapist who can help them get in touch with their inner strength and courage. A professional psychotherapist can help people see there are options to manage stress and result in a positive outcome. Patricia offers a free 15 minute phone consultation regarding anxiety and stress treatment. Call to schedule your appointment (415) 354-4718.

Review the services of San Francisco stress and anxiety therapist Patricia Hecht

Stress mannagement

is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. With the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, a job promotion, or a new relationship, we experience stress as we readjust our lives. In so adjusting to different circumstances, stress will help or hinder us depending on how we react to it. The anxiety disorders include panic disorder, which is the fear of having a spontaneous anxiety attack / panic attack, social anxiety or agoraphobia, obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD, which causes the development and repetition of habitual rituals and post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD which occurs after a life changing incident or experience such as bereavement or a near fatal accident for example. People with social anxiety may have specific panic attacks / anxiety attacks in situations where they feel they may embarrass or make a fool of themselves in some way. The other major disorder is generalised anxiety disorder which presents symptoms of one or more anxiety conditions in varying degrees.

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Hecht Family Therapy
Patricia Hecht, MFT
Senior Clinician
Office
San Francisco Office
CALL: (415) 813-0404
2345 California St.
Suite 7
San Francisco, CA
94115
 
 
 




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