Anxiety and what lies behind it
We are all familiar with anxiety, which is a natural part of our lives when it is an understandable response to a situation perceived as threatening, and not so strong that it prevents us from thriving in the real situation.
Before an exam or an important meeting, or in a competitive situation, we recognize the cause of our anxiety and can prepare for that we will be somewhat anxious. And if the experienced feeling and symptoms are not exaggerated, then we can accept this anxiety, since we know what caused it and also when it presumably goes away.
A problem arises though, when we know what presumably caused us to feel anxious, but the root cause does not cause anxiety in everyone, and we don’t understand why for us. Or if the experienced anxiety is too strong and hinders us in our tasks and our way of life. It’s even more depressing if we don’t even know clearly what its appearance and course depend on.
Several of my clients have reported that they can link the appearance of their anxiety to specific situations, e.g.: travel, but they don’t understand why they are so afraid of it, or they don’t know at all what it depends on, e.g., whether their anxiety will appear during a trip, and if so, how strong it will be.
They experience their excessive anxiety as coming from outside and thus cannot be influenced by them in any way.
Yet the key to understanding and managing our anxiety lies within us. Excessive and incomprehensible anxiety is often a very good indicator of the fact that we are so far removed from our own emotions that they can only manifest in such an extreme and exaggerated form.
It may happen that we bury painful emotions and experiences so deeply that in the end we no longer feel anything about the originally painful memories. Meanwhile, we believe that if we don’t feel the bad feelings, then they don’t exist anymore. But this is not so.
Unprocessed negative experiences work in us in the same way and demand more and more to be manifested. And if we don’t do anything with them for a long time and sweep them under the carpet, the many accumulated repressed feelings will manifest in an extreme and evasive way in the form of incomprehensible and strong anxiety, physical symptoms, dysfunctional behaviors, and difficulties in relationships and at work.
Thus, even if we try to protect ourselves from unpleasant experiences by not dealing with them, this strategy does not work in the long term and causes further problems, so it is worth taking the path of confronting and processing emotions in order to reduce our anxiety and symptoms.
In the empathic and accepting atmosphere I provide, I assist my clients in enhancing self-awareness, and developing more useful ways of functioning by using the various methods at my disposal (schema therapy, KIP therapy, Brainspotting, art therapy).
In addition to supporting my clients in seeing their difficulties and getting in touch with their long-repressed feelings, the consultations also lead to emotional processing of difficult experiences. This can bring relief and cessation of symptoms and healthier functioning.
