Anxiety & Depression Counseling in Gig Harbor

We all experience times of anxiety and depression, but sometimes the feelings are overwhelming or they persist in their existence in our lives.

Anxiety can express itself through emotions or thoughts, “I feel anxious” or the thought of something like public speaking creating the belief “I am going to embarrass myself” which then becomes anxiety.

Understanding the origins of anxiety and/or depression gives us the tools to begin work within the context, often reframing the belief or learning to regulate the emotional response through coping skills and techniques.

Anxiety presents in several contexts, phobias (a specific fear), generalized (worried about everything), or panic which is often termed as the “fear of fear”—an overwhelming sense of fear that peaks at times in just minutes and comes from seemingly nowhere.

Anxiety originates from the anticipation of a threat while fear is an actual or perceived threat. How, where, and when anxieties originate are a part of understanding the dynamic of approaching treatment methods, learning to identify triggers and the internalized beliefs, emotions, and responses generated by the triggers.

Depression presents in many different forms, sometimes with anxiety as a companion.

Feeling sad, listless, lack of motivation, hopeless, discouraged, at times angry, or blue—these are all common descriptors for depression.

Everyone experiences depression, but the frequency and the intensity of those feelings are how we ascertain if they are encroaching on living a balanced life.

Many of the treatment approaches we use for anxiety are effective for depression too as they tend to present as companions when struggling with emotional dysregulation.

Whether it is cognitive processing, schema therapy, cognitive behavioral approaches through behavioral activation, these are often combined into an eclectic nature which allows the client to find many ways to approach their own internalized belief system.

Psychoeducation is an important aspect of therapy when medications are required, either short or long term, in the management of depression/anxiety, understanding how they operate inside of our system and what they do to help us manage our emotions.