What does anti-anxiety therapy look like?

This is how psychotherapy works to treat anxiety problems in patients.

Anxiety disorders are, together with mood disorders, the psychological problems that most affect people of all ages.

The discomfort produced by this phenomenon can take many forms and appear in very varied contexts, to the point where it can be said that each individual experiences anxiety in his or her own way.

However, despite the complexity of this type of psychological disturbance, the science of psychology has succeeded in developing forms of intervention that make it possible to manage and overcome these problems effectively. In order to learn more about these resources, in this article we will see a summary about how is the therapy against anxiety..

What do we mean by anxiety problems?

To understand the way in which psychologists help patients who come to our offices with anxiety problems, it is first necessary to understand what exactly the latter, the anxious phenomenon, consists of, it is first necessary to understand what exactly the latter, the anxious phenomenon, consists of..

We understand anxiety as a set of physiological, cognitive, emotional processes and patterns of interaction with the environment characterized by the appearance of a state of alertness oriented towards the avoidance of situations that are feared, in response to the need to react quickly to any sign of danger or risk.

That is to say that when we feel anxious, what is happening in us has a lot to do with fearSometimes it is fear of what we could lose if we do not move quickly when it is time, and sometimes the fear is based on the need not to miss an opportunity that, if we do not take advantage of it, would make us feel very bad. In most cases, both phenomena occur together to a greater or lesser extent.

As anxiety predisposes us to react quickly, it is not in itself a bad thing; therefore, anti-anxiety therapy is not something that all people should resort to at all times. In fact, it is part of the survival mechanisms we have inherited from our ancestors, because natural selection has favored the existence of a certain degree of propensity to anxiety in individuals. However, nothing in nature is perfect, nothing in nature is perfect, and that is why on certain occasions, anxiety can give way to problems that can lead to anxiety..

For example, some people develop addictions due to an inadequate style of dealing with anxiety, others assume that the anxiety they feel is due to their low value as people, others develop phobias, etc. None of this is in itself an inevitable product of simply having the capacity to feel anxiety, but sometimes the combination of Biological characteristics and personal experiences causes this type of psychological disturbance to occur. sometimes, the combination of biological characteristics and personal experiences causes this type of psychological alterations to occur..

What does psychotherapy against anxiety consist of?

When anxiety becomes a significant problem that affects a person in one or all areas of a person's life and damages his or her mental health, it is time to seek psychotherapy. These are the psychotherapeutic intervention resources most commonly used in psychologists' offices to help patients with anxiety distress.

1. Systematic desensitization

Systematic desensitization is one of the most widely used forms of intervention in anti-anxiety therapy. It is based on "training" patients to confront those experiences that produce problematic levels of anxiety.The link between what is feared, on the one hand, and the anxious reaction, on the other hand, is weakened.

In this way, the link between what is feared, on the one hand, and the anxious reaction, on the other, is weakened.

Cognitive restructuring 2.

Cognitive restructuring is based on Socratic dialogue, a type of dialogues with the therapist in which questioning those beliefs to which the patient clings and which, at the same time, keep alive the problem to be treated, in this case, linked to the problem of the patient's mental state.in this case linked to anxiety. Examples of inadequate beliefs that reinforce the problem are ideas such as "I am destined to be laughed at", "I will never be able to face this fear", "I am incapable of preventing everything from going wrong", etc.

3. Hypnotherapy

Hypnosis can help alleviate anxiety problems, and is used in combination with other tools used in psychological intervention programs. It consists of a set of techniques techniques based on the power of suggestion to help patients redirect their attentional focus to non-problematic aspects of what they feel. to non-problematic aspects of what they feel.

4. Self-observation strategies

In psychotherapy the person is also helped to detect the logics behind his anxiety problem, so that he is able to have a critical and informed perspective about what is happening to him, and does not take for granted that what he feels corresponds totally with reality. To achieve this, psychoeducation is carried out on the one hand, and on the other hand, a training plan in self-observation, in which patients learn to observe themselves and their feelings.In this training, patients learn to detect patterns of thoughts that maintain the anxiety problem in their daily life.

5.Attention to derived psychological problems

In many occasions, the problematic anxiety does not come alone, but it is presented together with other harmful psychological alterations.For example, anxious-depressive symptoms are frequent. Therefore, psychologists do not limit themselves to treating anxiety alone, even if this has been the only reason for consultation.

Are you interested in overcoming anxiety problems through psychotherapy?

As we have seen, anxiety is not always in itself sufficient reason to need to go to a psychologist. However, there are not rare cases in which the situation gets out of control and the person who suffers its effects feels that the situation overcomes it.

Faced with experiences of this type, it is important to have professional help; not only because not doing so can be expensive, but also because, fortunately, psychological therapy has effective resources to deal with this reality.

At the psychological assistance center Avance Psychologists we have the experience of two decades dedicated to offering professional help to people, and currently we attend both in our facilities in Madrid and through online therapy.

We offer individual and couple psychotherapy services, child and adolescent therapy, sexology and psychiatry, so that we offer coverage in all aspects of mental health to adults, children and adolescents. You can see our contact details, as well as more information about the way we work, on this page.

Bibliographic references:

• American Psychiatric Association -APA- (2014). DSM-5. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Madrid: Panamericana.
• Hofmann, S.G.; Dibartolo, P.M.. (2010). Introduction: Toward an Understanding of Social Anxiety Disorder. Social Anxiety.
• Nestadt, G.; Samuels, J.; Riddle, M.A.; Liang, K.I. et.al. (2001). The relationship between obsessive–compulsive disorder and anxiety and affective disorders: results from the Johns Hopkins OCD Family Study. Psychological Medicine 31.
• Otte, C. (2011). Cognitive behavioral therapy in anxiety disorders: current state of the evidence. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 13 (4): pp. 413 - 421.
• Rynn, M.A.; Brawman-Mintzer, O. (2004). Generalized anxiety disorder: acute and chronic treatment. CNS Spectrums. 9(10): pp. 716 - 723.