Anxiety
Anxiety Counselling
Services in Calgary
Congratulations on being open to exploring healing and health from anxiety in your or a loved one’s life through Anxiety Counselling. On this page, you will find a brief as well as a longer description of the approach, services, and logistics for Anxiety Counselling at Sana Psychological.
Fear of the future, “what ifs”, harm coming to others, anticipating disaster, panic, difficulty with sleeping, and more are all symptoms of anxiety (see the informal self-test below). Fear is a natural, evolutionary response designed to keep us safe but, at times, it can cross a line into unhealthy, unproductive symptoms that can create great distress and impact on a person’s life. Sana Psychological supports individuals who are experiencing anxiety along with problem behaviours, such as substance or other behavioural difficulties.
The short story
At Sana Psychological, our clinicians provide support for anxiety using a variety of therapeutic modalities, including Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and the ability to process emotions in a safe environment.
Anxiety counselling starts with an initial session or two to get to know you and understand your goals for counselling, followed by short-or long-term counselling depending on your needs and preference. Fees for service are listed here. Sessions are available in person in Calgary, AB or throughout Canada, depending on the provider you are selecting.
The longer story
Anxiety counselling is an opportunity to discuss challenges and symptoms with an open, non-judgmental professional who can not only provide an empathetic ear but also suggestions, tools, and recommendations for you to support yourself in your daily life. Anxiety treatment is meant to provide short-term as well as long-term benefits for those who engage in it, as we are here to support you with tools and strategies that can serve you throughout the rest of your life.
How Do You Know if You or a Loved One Has a Problem?
Challenges with anxiety can present themselves in a variety of different ways. Below is an informal self-test to assist you in starting to gauge whether anxiety counselling would be recommended.
Let’s start by having you ask whether you have experienced any of these mental health or physical symptoms in the past 3 months:
- Feeling excessive worry or fear
- Difficulty quieting your mind
- Issues with irregular appetite or sleep
- Issues with concentration or memory
- Fear of the future
- A great deal of time is spent thinking about ‘what ifs’
- You are terrified of a loved one getting sick or dying
- You identify some/many of your fears to be ‘irrational’
- Feeling isolated
- Feeling unmotivated
- Less enjoyment and pleasure in life
- Feeling restless, agitated much of the time
- Increased isolation
- Difficulty relaxing and persistent muscle tension
- Increased irritability
- Low stress tolerance
- Changed sexual behaviour (increased or decreased)
- Limited or no time for self-care, which can include basic hygiene
- Feeling desperate for escape
- Specific phobias (intense fear of a specific object or situation)
- Difficulty leaving your home and/or safe spaces (agoraphobia/social anxiety)
- Panic attacks
- Engaging in rituals to help self-soothe (e.g., cleaning, picking)
- Compulsive behaviours (e.g., hair-pulling)
- Heightened awareness of everything around you
If you indicated that you had experienced one or more of these symptoms in the past three months, then it would be a good time to explore anxiety counselling. These symptoms tend to appear as an anxiety disorder progresses rather than when it is a non-issue. While these symptoms may still be on the mild end of the spectrum for you, it would be best to get proper support to prevent the progression or severity of the symptoms.
Treatment Approach
Anxiety counselling can be a short-term process of 3-6 months.
This is well-suited to those who have previously engaged in counselling, have good self-awareness, a strong support network, and existing self-care tools. Even for those with these strategies in their resource kit, periodic counselling for prevention and maintenance is helpful to maintain momentum towards well-being.
Anxiety counselling may be a longer-term and more intensive process (6+ months of regular appointments) for those who have never done counselling before, struggle with insight and change, have multiple symptoms, and/or severe symptoms that are creating great distress and disturbance in their life.
There are many specific disorders associated with anxiety, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Regardless of where you are at, the counselling process will start off with 1-2 sessions of counselling, ideally spaced 2-3 weeks apart to establish background information, treatment goals, and a treatment plan. After this, sessions may occur just as frequently or less so depending on your needs and preference. Follow-up sessions involve checking in on how you have been doing since the last appointment, challenges, as well as changes, followed by a continued exploration of the goals that are at the forefront of treatment along with coping strategies and stress management techniques. The counselling process and goals are flexible and will be collaboratively decided between you and your therapist. Sessions are offered in-person or through Technology Assisted Counselling.
Our therapists appreciate the connection and relationships that they establish with clients and believe that this therapeutic bond is at the forefront of importance for change. If you do not feel comfortable with your therapist, then the process is not likely to be very effective. This is obviously not something that can be created or forced, it is something that is apparent through feelings and your experience. If you feel your therapist is a good fit for you, great. If not, please indicate that you are open to other resources and some suggestions can be provided without shame or judgment and you can always opt to see another clinician at Sana Psychological at any time.
Anxiety counselling will draw in elements of many therapeutic modalities, which may include: Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Solution-Focused Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, emotional processing, psychoeducation, and more depending on need and clinician expertise. These modalities are seamlessly integrated into a personalized and customized approach to therapy to meet the needs and personality of every client. Our therapists are active and engaged in sessions to facilitate a comfortable, human interaction.
Logistics
Sessions can be in person in Calgary or remote using Technology Assisted Counselling (phone or video sessions). Fees are listed here. Session availability for out of province work is dependent on the credentials of your therapist. Please read through their biographies on the About or Scheduling pages to learn more. Payment options available to you include cash, credit card, debit, e-transfer, and direct billing with a variety of insurance carriers.
Appointments can be scheduled online at anytime. If the ‘New Client’ option is not available, please check our About Page to see when new client sessions are being scheduled. You can email us indicating your interest and we will go from there!
If you have questions about the services offered, do not hesitate to reach out. Email will be the quickest way to get in touch. We aim to respond to emails and phone calls within 1 business day.
For loved ones
For Loved Ones: If you are connected with someone who is experiencing significant issues with anxiety and they are open to getting help, great. Please have them reach out or reach out on their behalf to see what is possible for support. If they are not open to supporting at this time, we would encourage you to contact Sana Psychological to discuss options for counselling for yourself, recognizing that you are in a situation that is draining and stressful. You do not need to go through this alone.
Sana Psychological is here to meet you where you are at in your journey of self-development. We hope that you find value in our slogan: Do different, be different!
Frequently Asked Questions
A: At Sana Psychological we are all mental health clinicians rather than doctors as we believe strongly in the value of lifestyle and behavioral change to support health. Medication management is not our area of practice. While we may be able to provide anecdotal feedback through client’s reports and experience of the pros and cons of medication, ultimately, only you will be able to decide, in collaboration with your treating professionals, what is an appropriate course of action for you. Some people benefit from medication and some do not. Some people are open to it, whereas others are not. Counselling, health, and treatment are individual journeys. We work with you to identify what is comfortable and needed for you and go from there.
A: While we are pretty big fans of these tools around here, there are other things that can help one manage big emotions, including anxiety. Therefore, these will not be the only tools recommended, nor may these even be the recommended tools for you, especially if you have tried them before or are currently using them and reaching a plateau in utility. Whenever people bring forward things that they have tried that have not worked, we will explore how people approached the tools and under what circumstances. It is often not the tools themselves that are ineffective, it’s more about how and when they are being used that may not be helpful. There are many other strategies and tools that can be used to support the reduction of anxiety and we will explore these, as well as boundaries with triggers and any other contributors to the anxiety.
A: Absolutely! Anxiety can commonly be in response to acute stressors. One of the things we love about our work is being able to talk about any and all parts of life with people. Whether it’s work, family, relational, global, cultural, traumatic or other stressors that’s contributing to your anxiety, we will process it and recommendations will be provided accordingly.
