Coping with Stress
Supporting you to effectively manage your emotions so you can build a life that’s worth living.
You may be looking for support because you…
Feel that you aren’t in control of your emotions
Are noticing that your worries are preventing you from living the life you want for yourself
Have coped with life by shutting down or avoiding so you don’t have to feel the feelings
Learned to manage your stress in unhealthy ways, and you want to change that
However you arrived here, I’m so glad that you did. Read on to see if my services may be a good fit for you.
Struggling to manage our emotions can leave us feeling powerless
You may be scared because it seems like you can’t do anything to stop your emotions from getting too big. Your loved ones may have commented that you seem “impulsive” and “reactive” and you aren’t sure what to do to regain control over how you handle your feelings.
Or you may be feeling like the world is a scary place, and it may be increasingly difficult for you to cope with your worries in a way that still lets you live the life you want. As a result, you may be spending less and less time doing the things you love with the people you care about most. Or you may be feeling preoccupied about the things that cause you stress even during moments that should bring you joy. You just wish you could ‘snap out of it’ so that your life could get back on track.
When our ability to cope with life’s challenges becomes overwhelmed, our brains and bodies are wired to go into ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode to survive. You may be feeling stuck in this pattern, shutting out life and all the emotions that come along with it because you just aren’t sure you can handle it. Your relationships may be suffering - maybe your loved one views this means of protection as you ‘not caring’ when nothing could be further from the truth.
You may also be seeking counselling for anxiety and stress because you’re sick of dealing with your feelings in unhelpful or self-destructive ways. You want to break away from these coping strategies and feel motivated to learn more effective ways to manage and express how you feel.
If this sounds like you, you need the opportunity to learn practical skills to manage your stress in ways that serve you
I will follow your lead to better understand which means of coping you would like to change, and introduce concrete skills to help you build your toolkit of ways to tolerate distress. Together, we will build a coping plan that is actionable and makes sense for you and your unique experience. With support, you will be asked to practice these skills between sessions, in the spaces and situations that are most important to you, so that you can create the life you wish for yourself.
I will draw on my own lived experience, coupled with my training in modalities such as Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Cognitive Behavioural approaches, to help you finally feel a sense of control over your emotions.