Anxiety counselling is particularly useful when it involves a range of modalities of counselling of therapy to help clients who have a range of anxiety conditions. Counsellors can help people gain insight, a greater understanding, and help clients to build coping and resilient building techniques that can them to reduce their anxiety and to ultimately go through Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) programmes.
Real biological neuronal change and ongoing behavioural and cognitive change, ultimately comes from exposing oneself to the fear or the phobia that is affecting the individual. During such exposure work, it is essential that counsellors work gradually with clients to build a hierarchical plan around exposure activities to their fears and in doing so, also help them to reduce safety behaviours that the client may have developed over time to ward off any anxiety. It is essential that the safety behaviours are dropped over time.
Counsellors who specialise in helping people with anxiety conditions should try and include a range of therapy techniques in their work, though it is widely recognised that the primary connection or the therapeutic relationship between the counsellor and client is key. This is why it is important that clients ask questions of future counsellors, if they want to get the best out of the therapy work that they do with their counsellor. Building that trust, connecting with someone and feeling that you have a safe space in which you will not be judged, are the cornerstones on which to build the therapeutic journey ahead.
Building on this, counsellors who specialise in anxiety should include practices that could introduce Cognitive Behavioural Therapies into the work, as well as Exposure Response Prevention. These are fundamental tools in helping clients to re-address both their thinking, as well as their behavioural approaches to anxiety and we within Counselling4Anxiety, use both approaches. These should form the bedrock of the work, though different counsellors may attest to getting results with their clients using other techniques and modalities of treatment.
Other modalities of treatments may include tried and tested techniques like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which are also part of treatment packages within our work with clients.
It is also important to add that if one method does not resonate or work with you then your counsellor should be flexible, confident and able enough to introduce other treatment modalities. It is therefore key that you ask them what types of treatment techniques and modalities they use to help treat anxiety conditions and do make the time to read up on them after your consultation with the counsellor.
Ultimately, you are making a major investment of time, money and resources into supporting your mental and emotional well-being. With that in mind, be curious and don't step away from asking as many questions in the initial free consultation that your future therapist may provide.
