Anxiety Therapists Chicago

Searching for anxiety therapists in Chicago? Are you struggling with fear, panic, and worry? If the answer is yes, you aren’t alone. While Chicago is an amazingly beautiful city, living here can mean dealing with stress.

Many of our Chicago clients seeking an anxiety specialists live in one of the following neighborhoods:

Lakeview
Uptown
Wicker Park
Gold Coast
Downtown
River North
Roscoe Village

Chicago Anxiety Therapists Can Help

All of our Chicago therapists specialize in anxiety. Several have specialized training in panic attacks, fears, excessive worry, and trauma.

Using integrative approaches that include mindfulness, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), our counselors provide you the tools and skills to create positive change in your life.

Research tells us that nearly 40 million people live with some form of anxiety, with higher occurrences in large metropolitan areas, like Cook County.

Rest assured that we understand the nature of anxiety and how it can manifest in different ways. Some of the symptoms are obvious, like racing thoughts and constant worrying.

The less obvious and more insidious symptoms, however, can pop up in the form of negative thinking and thought distortions.

If left unchecked, anxiety can make a real mess of your life, contributing to physical problems like IBS. Anxiety can also complicate other pre-existing health conditions.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety can be defined as a feeling of being constantly worried or highly stressed about an issue or set of issues happening in the here and now, in the past or in the future. Apprehension, fear and internal disquiet are part of the emotional dynamic.

What are the different kinds of anxiety?

There are six main forms of anxiety that generally fall under the larger umbrella of “anxiety disorders”. These include:

There are other forms of anxiety that can be considered subsets of what’s been mentioned above. Here, are taking about things like:

Hording
Experiencing intrusive thoughts
Separation anxiety
Health anxiety
Depersonalization/Derealization
Compulsive behaviors
Phobias
Fear of flying

Can a person have anxiety and depression at the same time?

Absolutely, in fact, the two are generally thought of as “best friends” because usually when you have one present, the other is standing nearby. This is particularly true for people who live with more intense forms of anxiety, such as OCD and GAD.

What’s involved with anxiety treatment?

Treatment of your anxiety in large part will depend upon your history and symptoms. If you have worked with a therapist in the past, it is likely that your counselor will want to know a few things in order to better understand your situation.

While there are no “cookie-cutter” approaches that can be taken with the treatment of anxiety, there are five universal principles that we generally try to incorporate into treatment. This approach has been illustrated through our Wheel of Wellness, created by our Chicago anxiety therapist team.

1) Strength Based Approach

Our approach to helping you with your anxiety is first and foremost to take a strength based approach. At its core, this means focusing on the positive things happening in your life and then using this as a kind of jumping board to propel you into the future.

This type of counseling is commonly referred to as a form of positive psychology.

2) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

The second element that our therapists use to help better manage anxiety involves cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. This is a type of therapy that pretty much focuses exclusively on the here and now.

While CBT may sound somewhat fancy, it’s really nothing more than looking at your thoughts from a different perspective with the help of a therapist. In this way, you are able to challenge irrational and potentially unhealthy thoughts when they pop up.

Read more to learn about our Chicago CBT Treatment approaches.

3) Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Therapy

This kind of therapy (MBSRT) is an offshoot of CBT. Here, your therapist will assist you with centering your thoughts on the moment – as in this very moment in time – and helping you to discover new ways of remaining calm.

“Mindfulness” as it is commonly referred to, along with its CBT cousin, has been clinically proven to reduce anxiety and ameliorate stress. Referrals to outside support for things like yoga, exercise and deep breathing exercises are all part of the mindfulness spectrum.

Be sure to visit our mindfulness page to learn more about this kind of “here and now therapy”. If you have time, learn about the 9 different types of CBT. You might find the material interesting.

4) Anxiety Therapy Wellness Model

An additional principle we use as therapists who treat anxiety is the belief in the wellness model. Much of mental health has historically been contained unfortunate stereotypes. And to be sure, it has also been predicated on the old “illness model” of health. We simply reject that kind of thinking.

As anxiety specialists in Chicago, Illinois we believe that people are capable of living healthy lives when given the right tools and appropriate support. In fact, we believe people with anxiety specifically can flourish and grow when these things are in place. And so to keep it real – we do not believe that because a person has anxiety, they are somehow “sick”.

5) Whole Person Wellness

The final principle we employ as part of our treatment approach to anxiety involves incorporating elements of Whole Person Wellness. As therapists who treat anxiety that already subscribe to a wellness model, Whole Person Wellness approaches incorporates the additional belief that people are unique and multi-dimensional.

This means as therapists, we take into account all of who you are and not just your “anxiety” per se. Here, we are talking about physical wellness, emotional wellness, social wellness, spiritual wellness and occupational wellness.

Coping Strategies For Anxiety

A major benefit of working with one of our Chicago anxiety specialists is the ability to learn useful coping strategies. Examples include:

Breathing exercises
Self-soothing
Grounding techniques
Mindfulness techniques
Imaginal processing
Music therapy
Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT)
Tapping exercises
Cognitive rehearsals and exposure therapy

Anxiety Therapy & Treatment: How long?

You may be wondering how long each therapy session lasts as part of anxiety treatment. Generally speaking, each session is one hour. There may be some cases where you need to meet longer with your counselor. It just depends on your situation and how anxiety is manifesting in your life.

How Much Is Therapy?

All of our anxiety therapists in Chicago are members of Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO. If you will be using insurance, your counselor will need to check to see what counseling benefits you may have as part of your benefit plan.

If you are paying out of pocket or will be using your Health Savings Account (HAS) please visit our fee page to learn about the costs of therapy.

Anxiety Therapy Medications

As therapists, we do not prescribe medications. Depending upon your situation and the severity of your anxiety, you may be referred to a psychiatrist for an evaluation.

With your written permission and in conjunction with your wellness needs, we may work with your psychiatrist to help you figure out the most effective ways to manage your medications.

Anxiety and CBT Treatments

If you are curious about how the talk therapy process works and how therapy might help your anxiety or other life issues, please take a moment to review our free guide on how to find a therapist and what to expect from counseling.

How Do I Book With an Anxiety Specialist?

You can call us directly at 773.528.1777 or send us a confidential email using our secure contact form.