Anxiety and panic attacks are a frequent reason that someone will seek out therapy.  Traumatic events, whether recent or in the past, can cause ongoing problems in living and are also a reason people seek out therapy.

Woman Seeking Help for Anxiety and Panic

I saw a young woman who was experiencing debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.  She had stopped going out and socializing with friends  for fear that she would have a panic attack while out.  Her life had become more and more restricted, and her work was starting to suffer.  Through our work together, she was able to develop plans for how to deal with her anxiety when it occurred.  We then began to look at underlying causes for her anxiety.  Her family had been both demanding and judgmental, and she had developed a terror of failing that resulted in a relentless perfectionism.  She developed unrealistic expectations for herself, and was filled with guilt and self-criticism.   In addition, her family had discouraged expression of strong feelings.  We worked to find ways for her to express her feelings that were comfortable for her.  Examining family-of-origin issues allowed us to uncover underlying causes for her anxiety, and helped her to begin to challenge long held beliefs that she had about herself. 

Young woman dealing with guilt and anxiety

I saw a young adult woman who was date raped and believed that it was her fault. She accepted a classmate's invitation to his house and had several drinks. When he started becoming physical, she was unable to stop him.

She went home and never told her parents what happened. She blamed herself for not making the right decision about going to his house and drinking. She was ashamed to talk about it.

She became more and more unsure of her own abilities to live her life safely and soon was afraid of even leaving her house. The whole world became unsafe. No one could understand her changed behavior.

She needed to feel angry about how she was treated--transferring the blame to the person who was really guilty. With time, she began to trust her own judgment and went back to school. She no longer looked for danger on every corner and was able to develop healthy relationships with others.