Anxiety

Do You Identify as an Anxious Person?

Have you ever thought to yourself or even voiced out loud that you are “an anxious person?” A little known truth about how our brain works is that wherever our attention goes, our energy flows, and that influences the decisions, actions and consequences that follow. Have you ever had the experience of wanting to buy… Read more »

How to Help Someone with Anxiety

Anxiety is the most common mental health problem in the United States. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, a whopping 18% of the population falls victim to this widespread, yet not often talked about, problem in our society. For myself—and roughly 40-60% percent of other students—anxiety became a part of our daily routine… Read more »

A Small Step to Fighting the Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness

“How are you?” This deceptively simple question can prove more loaded than the asker intended. Personally, I catch the word “good” flying out of my mouth instinctively, nearly before the question even registers in my head. This answer is familiar to me. It’s usually what the asker expects to hear, and it fits the societal… Read more »

The Wellness Paradox: The Stress of Being Healthy

With one quick scroll through my Instagram explore page, I’ve already found one post telling me the caloric content of 20 different types of breads, another with the top 15 foods with the least amount of pesticides, and a third with the benefits of celery juice, presented with a photo of a thin woman holding… Read more »

Worrying Less in 5 Steps

In life there are ups and downs, or as the classic Eastern saying puts it “life is filled with 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows.” In this statement, there’s the wisdom that all things come and go, though our brains have a tendency to amplify the sorrows and minimize the joys in the flow of life… Read more »

Letting Go of Holiday Travel Stress

Over the holiday season many people travel via trains, planes and automobiles to see friends and family. The holidays are already challenging for many of us, stress and anxiety are two traveling companions we’d rather leave at home. One of the things that can help with stress and anxiety is to slow down to become present, to… Read more »

Breaking the Habit of Our Unhealthy Stress Cycle

Start Making Sense of Anxiety – See, Sense, Set a New Direction Raise your hand if you have never experienced anxiety. I’ve asked this question to thousands of people around the country when teaching about stress reduction, and not one person has raised their hand. What a relief to discover I am not the only… Read more »

5 Truths about Anxiety to Help You Stay Present

As human beings, we may be designed to be on high-alert for danger, but with information coming at us from all directions and at high-speeds, anxiety is sharply rising, and this adaptation is starting to impair us. Many of us can’t seem to stop our minds from racing forward into fixation over what could go… Read more »

Death Anxiety

Although largely unconscious, the awareness of our finite existence, the fact that we all must die, has a profound impact on our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. The fear and emotional anguish associated with anticipating the end of life are so painful that we must protect ourselves. People find it difficult to tolerate facing their mortality… Read more »

Panic Attacks: What You Need to Know

In my work as a clinical psychologist, I love when I get contacted by someone who wants therapy for anxiety. From OCD to phobias, I know that there are things that I can tell them in our first meeting that will help them to start to overcome a condition that, for many people, is excruciating… Read more »