“It feels like I’ve been hijacked by a runaway train; driven by my mind, fueled by every racing thought…”
You know you’re the one driving, yet it feels completely out of your control. You do your best to hang on, white knuckled, consumed by worries, worst case scenarios and “what ifs.” Your breath catches in your chest, you start to shake, sweat, and disconnect.
Other days, the world seems to cooperate. Yet it feels impossible to relax or let your guard down. Between re-hashing the past (did I really say that? What did that look mean?) or fearing what happens next (When will the other shoe drop?), your mind latches on to the slightest detail, and before you know it has snowballed into another certain catastrophe that must be avoided, planned for, or prevented. The lack of control over what might be feels paralyzing, isolating, and leads to acting in ways that don’t feel true to yourself. If we just knew…
You try to fight it - telling yourself that you are a logical, reasonable person, and you are, yet you can’t quite grab onto that part of yourself because the anxiety is is moving too fast; refusing to allow a moment of quiet amidst all of the uncertainty and anticipation of impending doom.
Underneath it all, there is a longing for peace. For a long, slow exhale. The desire to live life without the constant nagging worry that something is wrong. To be present enough to soak in the time we have with the people we love. To feel confident enough to make decisions and trust that it really will be okay…
Anxiety is a human emotion.
We all experience it sometimes - when we are doing something for the first time, making a major life change, or when something truly dangerous or terrifying happens. Clinical anxiety, or what we may refer to as Anxiety Disorders, occur when that warning system in our brain starts to “alert” too soon or too quickly, or when it isn’t truly necessary or useful in that moment.
Put simply, Anxiety is our body, and our brain’s way of protecting us. It becomes a problem when it starts to do this job too well.
At Cascades, we understand the science behind anxiety. We are trained in evidence-based practices that are consistently shown to work when treating anxiety, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
We also understand that anxiety impacts each of us differently and we value your unique and personal experience. We work collaboratively, as a team, to pinpoint where and how the anxiety is interfering in your life, and tailor interventions to you. Together we work to loosen anxiety’s grasp on your life and take realistic, practical steps towards more connection, confidence and a day-to-day life that puts you back in the driver’s seat.
