Break Free from Anxiety and Take Control of Your Life
Feeling anxious exceeds mere nervousness or stress. With the right therapist and approach, anxiety therapy has the highest success rate of all mental health conditions. I have been helping clients struggling with anxiety and panic for the last two decades. I have planned a unique, integrative, evidence-based, innovative approach to lessen the severity and duration of anxiety. In therapy, you can break free from the anxiety-avoidance cycle while gaining confidence, optimism, and balance.
What is anxiety?
Each year, anxiety affects over 40 million American adults. Despite this, only 37% of anxious individuals seek treatment. However, therapy is effective for relief, helping people lessen their symptoms, shift their thinking, and live freely. Anxiety is a natural stress response, allowing us to stay alert in situations where focus is necessary. However, anxiety disorders occur when this response becomes overwhelming, persistent, or disrupts daily activities. Everyone experiences anxiety differently; What triggers anxiety for one person may not for another. For some, anxiety may appear as constant worry or fear in their thoughts. For others, it may manifest physically, with symptoms like a racing heart, nausea, or difficulty breathing. These distinctions are not exclusive to individuals but also vary depending on the type of anxiety: generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder are some examples.
Left untreated, anxiety disorders persist and spiral. Each time you avoid a situation that makes you uncomfortable, you train your mind to be more anxious the next time you encounter that trigger. Over time, it becomes progressively more challenging to meet new people, travel, or speak up at a work meeting. To ease anxiety, are you turning to alcohol or substance abuse as self-medication? Are you binge eating or binge-watching to calm your mind? Are you engaging in avoidance tactics or safety behaviors? Unfortunately, these tactics will perpetuate the anxiety cycle without addressing your needs. If your emotions, fear, and painful thoughts have become debilitating, impeding your job performance, or damaging your relationships, I am here to help. Contact Wendi Lev today for professional anxiety therapy tailored to your needs.
Know Yourself: Types of Anxiety
Do you recognize yourself in one or more of these descriptions?
01
Social Anxiety/Social Phobia
Feeling anxious about being judged or disapproved of by others and avoiding social situations, such as public speaking, places, or events, or being afraid of doing or saying something that could be embarrassing?
02
Generalized Anxiety
Feeling excessive worry or a chronic sense of doom that does not seem to be attached to a specific threat.
03
Panic
Unexpected and repeated episodes of intense fear, accompanied by physical symptoms that may include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, or dizziness.
04
Obsessive-Compulsive (OCD)
Recurring unwanted thoughts or obsessions along with repetitive behaviors and compulsions.
05
Specific Phobias
Experiencing extreme anxiety when exposed to or expecting exposure to a feared situation. Common phobias include fear of flying, heights, small spaces, elevators, germs, and spiders.
High-performing professionals have anxiety
“If they only knew,” thought Jared. The longer his charade continued, the sicker he felt. He wasn’t the competent rock star the firm thought they’d hired.
Yes, Jared got the work done. He handled ridiculously tight deadlines and aced all his presentations, but his insides were churning. His head throbbed, and the rapid heartbeat was not adrenaline; It was a panic attack that made him feel like he was suffocating. He wanted to bury himself deep under the covers and sleep for a week. But he was lucky if he had two hours of deep sleep a night. Despite deep-seated exhaustion, anxiety, and worry kept him tossing and turning.
You’re tired of feeling caught in this cycle:
- Waking up each day with the persistent thoughts: “What if something goes wrong today?” or “Why can’t I just feel normal?”
- Stuck in a loop of fear, avoidance, and doubt.
- The endless “what-ifs” running through your mind.
- Exhaustion from endless sleepless nights
- Walking on eggshells in social situations, nervous you will say or do the wrong thing.
- The panic attacks that come out of nowhere, causing you to feel as if you are losing control.
This cycle is exhausting, disheartening, and makes even the simplest tasks feel overwhelming.
How I CAN HELP
Therapy for Anxiety in Chicago
To help reduce the strain of anxiety in your life, I use an integration of evidence-based approaches tailored to your unique needs.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is the gold standard for anxiety treatment. By identifying and reframing negative thought patterns, CBT helps you change the way you think about and respond to anxiety-provoking situations.
Exposure Therapy
For those dealing with specific fears or phobias, controlled and gradual exposure to what triggers anxiety proves highly effective. This helps you dismantle fears in a safe and guided way.
Mindfulness-Based Techniques
Mindfulness is a powerful way to reorient your focus to the present moment. Through meditation and relaxation techniques, like deep breathing and body scanning, we can calm your stress response and help you regain control.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
This conversational form of therapy explores the life events or unresolved conflicts that might fuel your anxiety. Together we’ll find clarity and healing.
Each approach tackles the problem head-on, not just the symptoms, to build your confidence and resilience. Let’s work together to equip you with the insight and tools to manage anxiety and become the best version of yourself.
BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULT
Imagine Life After Therapy
Picture yourself waking up feeling calm and clear-minded. You handle challenges with poise, without the crippling weight of worry holding you back. In social situations, you are at ease, able to speak your mind freely. You trust yourself to face life’s uncertainties with newfound strength. Therapy for anxiety doesn’t just let you cope -it helps you truly live.
Ready to take the first step towards finding peace? Schedule your appointment today and discover a life no longer weighed down by anxiety. I look forward to hearing from you.
FAQs (Common Questions)
What types of anxiety do you treat?
Generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, phobias, and OCD.
How long does therapy take?
It varies. Many see progress with CBT or mindfulness within weeks, while deeper therapies might take longer.
Do you offer medication?
Nope, I’m a psychotherapist, so I don’t prescribe. But I can recommend a doctor or work with yours if medication is a good fit.
Will therapy work for me?
Anxiety is very treatable! We’ll find an approach that works for your unique symptoms.