What Does an Anxiety Therapist Do?

If you suffer from clinically diagnosed anxiety or anxiety symptoms, you may benefit from working with an anxiety therapist. What exactly is an anxiety therapist? An anxiety therapist is a professionally certified therapist who dedicates a significant portion of their practice to helping clients effectively manage their anxiety.

No qualified therapist ever treats a condition or symptoms in a vacuum. Therefore, you will not be attending session after session where all you talk about is your anxiety. Instead, you’ll work to uncover root causes of your anxiety symptoms, identify triggers and exacerbating forces, and process various ways to manage your anxiety more effectively.

Targeted and Broader Treatment Approaches

As an experienced anxiety therapist – including those who practice at Lotus Wellness Center – can confirm, no two anxiety therapists ever approach treatment of their clients in the exact same ways. Instead, each therapist brings their unique knowledge, experience, and perceptions to the table, just as any lawyer, physician, or chef does.

Most anxiety therapists engage in both targeted and broader approaches to anxiety management. Targeted approaches directly concern the identification and management of anxiety triggers and symptoms. By contrast, broader approaches enhance an individual’s overall wellness and wellbeing and may secondarily serve to help manage their anxiety. For example, specific breathing or visualization exercises—that can be done absolutely anywhere and at any time, may serve as a targeted management technique, as it is meant to be engaged in as a direct response to a trigger or symptom. By contrast, engaging in a regular yoga practice can help to manage anxiety indirectly as a means to become calmer and more grounded overall. This broader approach aids in anxiety management but it isn’t used as a targeted response in the moment.

Seeking Help Is Neither Weak Nor Selfish

According to data published by the National Institutes of Health, nearly one out of every five American adults and one out of every four American adolescents experiences anxiety symptoms. Although the percentage of the population diagnosed with primary anxiety disorders is far lower than the percentage of the population that experiences symptoms, the number of Americans with disorders remains truly significant. If you’re struggling with anxiety, you’re not alone.

If you’re hesitating to seek help because you’re concerned that in doing so, you’re somehow weak or selfish, know that this is—in no way, whatsoever—the case. While some families and communities may continue to stigmatize the therapy process, the vast majority of Americans understand that seeking assistance when you need to is an intelligent and courageous effort.