Anxiety Therapy Chicago: Recovery Tools From Chicago Therapists

Written by: Angela Derrick, Ph.D. & Susan McClanahan, Ph.D.

Date Posted: May 24, 2024 6:35 pm

Anxiety Therapy Chicago: Recovery Tools From Chicago Therapists

Anxiety Therapy in Chicago: Real-Life Examples Plus the 10 Best Treatments For Anxiety Disorders.

Racing thoughts, insomnia, lack of focus, panic attacks, and fatigue are just a few of the anxiety symptoms that can negatively impact our lives. We might be afraid to seek help or still believe that we can control or will away our symptoms. We cling to this belief despite all evidence to the contrary. Beginning our recovery journey with a qualified therapist only involves taking one small step at a time. Let’s learn how to recognize the signs of stress as a first step.

Anxiety disorders can arise from trauma or extreme stress or may simply run in our families. We’ve probably grown used to the feelings and become resigned to the symptoms. Sometimes, it’s only in hindsight that we can see how much pain we were actually in. If you are suffering from excess worry and panic symptoms, it may be time to seek out an anxiety specialist in Chicago.

Did you know that an estimated 31.1% of U.S. adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lifetime? The current population of the Chicago metropolitan area is around 9.6 million people, of which approximately 7.1 million of those are adults. Percentage-wise that means approximately 2.2 million Chicagoland area adults will experience an anxiety disorder now or at some point in their lives. This percentage at nearly 1/3 of the adult population is staggering, but there is help and hope.

⁠For Mental Health Awareness Month in Chicago (May 2024), SpringSource wants you to know that anxiety disorders are HIGHLY treatable. You are most definitely not alone in this struggle.⁠

Signs You May be Suffering From Intense Stress or Panic Attacks

Anxiety disorders do not discriminate. It’s true that women and young people are statistically more likely to suffer. That being said, these disorders affect both young and old, all classes, genders, and ethnicities. Out-of-control stress can happen to anyone. You might be asking yourself, “How can I recognize the signs, and when should I seek help?” Below, you will find a list of the most common symptoms. If any of these affect your day-to-day life negatively, you may want to seek the help of a qualified professional.

• Increase in fear-based thoughts and constant worry.
• Free-floating anxiety that can hit at any time with no apparent trigger.
• When not in acute stress, you may be obsessively fearful of the next attack.
• Insomnia—difficulty falling and staying asleep.
• Feelings of unreality and being disconnected from your body.
• Experiencing dizziness, heart palpitations, sweaty palms, or shortness of breath–you may have gone to the E.R. only to be told nothing is “physically” wrong with you.
• Depression.
• You may have begun to avoid people, places, and things that cause stress.
• Excess fatigue and difficulty concentrating.
• Obsessively fixated on and worried about the future.
• Finding it impossible to “stay present.”
• Panic Attacks.
• Physical symptoms such as muscle tension, stomach aches, and gastrointestinal issues.

A qualified anxiety therapist can gently help you understand and conquer these symptoms, as well as uncover other stress identifiers. What’s great about living in the densely populated greater Chicago area is access to talented and knowledgeable professionals. You never have to go it alone. There is no reason to suffer in isolation, especially when there are so many evidence-based therapies that can free you to live your best life!

My Anxiety Disorder Started Early

When I was in grade school, I had warning signs that anxiety problems were happening. I found it nearly impossible to talk with others my age or raise my hand to answer questions in class. Even though I almost always had the questions right in my head, my fear of embarrassment and judgment kept me silent. I was too young to understand the implications or be able to tell anyone that this was happening to me, and my discomfort only grew.

As a teenager, I started drinking to alleviate the symptoms. I also started having panic attacks, one of which landed me in the E.R., where I was told it was all in my head, that I was hyperventilating, and I just needed to breathe into a paper bag. It was the 80s; there was not much help to be had in this area, especially for a young woman. I was embarrassed by the emergency room visit and felt defective.

I did not seek help again for 18 years, even though my panic attacks (and drinking) only increased. It wasn’t until I entered recovery at age 34 that I also received therapy and treatment for my anxiety disorder, which finally led to life-altering relief.

7 Types of Anxiety Disorders

GAD Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Characterized by fear and stress that is constant and not necessarily attached to an identifiable trigger. Obsessive worry that is difficult or impossible to stop, struggle with decision making (choosing right or perfect to avoid future problems), and feeling a loss of control over your mind.

Panic Disorder

Characterized by intense terror, physical symptoms such as dizziness, racing heart, sweating, feeling like you are going to faint or even die, feeling like the world around you is not real, out-of-body experience, and living in fear of when or where the next attack will take place.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Difficulty performing in social situations, fear of public speaking, fear of being judged, humiliated, embarrassed, or rejected, leading to avoidance and isolation.

OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Characterized by persistent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) performed in attempts to reduce anxiety or prevent a feared event. These compulsive rituals (such as hand washing, lock checking, and counting) and distressing thoughts (unwanted, aggressive, or forbidden thoughts and fears around such things as germs, contamination, and losing control) cause significant impairment in daily functioning.

PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/CPTSD Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Onset can be caused by a severe, violent event or by the accumulation of repeated trauma, neglect, or abandonment. Symptoms include flashbacks (reliving the event), acute stress, emotional numbness, tearfulness, irritability, avoidance, hypervigilance, nightmares, and being easily startled.

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Intense fear and worry about being separated from attachment figures, loved ones, parents, or close family members.

Phobia Disorders

Experiencing irrational and debilitating fear concerning a particular object, activity, place, or situation, such as fear of heights, enclosed spaces, or spiders. Phobias are more extreme than fears and can disrupt a person’s ability to function.

The 10 Best Treatments for Anxiety, Panic, OCD, and More

EMDR

EMDR is particularly effective for treating trauma and PTSD, which lessens the anxiety produced when triggered to relive traumatic events. It is a technique practiced by a trained professional to help you process traumatic memories and reset your reaction to being triggered to a more neutral or positive state.

ACT

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: ACT is an action-oriented approach to therapy that aims to develop and expand psychological flexibility. ACT encompasses emotional openness and the ability to adapt thoughts and behaviors to align better with your values and goals. Learning to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with emotions is critical. By accepting that feelings are appropriate responses to life situations, you can stop fighting your past and find the freedom to move forward. You can practice more optimistic behavior based on your values and goals.

CBT

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: An underlying principle behind CBT is that people can change their lives by first changing their thoughts. This will, in turn, change their behaviors. A therapist trained in evidence-based CBT can help you reframe your thoughts, thereby lessoning maladaptive behaviors and alleviating the stress and anxiety that go alongside them. For example, you may think that “I am in over my head,” which can lead to behaviors of giving up and cause feelings of being less than or not good enough. Changing the thought to “This is challenging, but I can seek the support and education I need to be successful” can lead to the behavior of walking through the challenge instead of giving up. This may lead to feelings of accomplishment and hope.

DBT

Dialectical Behavior Therapy: DBT combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with mindfulness strategies. This helps to reduce anxiety through the practice of accepting difficult thoughts and emotions while simultaneously working to change problematic behaviors. DBT places a significant emphasis on mindfulness, a judgment-free harnessing of an awareness of the present moment. Another vital component of DBT is enabling individuals to tolerate distress without resorting back to maladaptive behaviors. Treatment also includes fostering radical acceptance and DEAR MAN (Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce, Mindfully ask, Appear confident, and Negotiate) skill training to enhance interpersonal communication.

RODBT

Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy: RO DBT is a treatment that targets a spectrum of disorders characterized by excessive inhibitory control or overcontrol (maladaptive control).⁠ If you suffer from treatment-resistant chronic depression or anxiety, anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, RO DBT may help. What does maladaptive control look like?⁠

• Rigidity in behaviors or thinking (hyper-perfectionism)⁠
• Tendencies to discount or dismiss critical feedback⁠
• Excessive need to be in control
• ⁠Hyper-vigilance
• ⁠Avoidance of uncertainty
• ⁠Rigid rule-governed behavior⁠
• High moral certitude (e.g., there is only one right way of doing something)⁠
• Difficulty accessing emotions ⁠
• Social isolation ⁠
• High envy and bitterness⁠
• Reduced empathy

Radical openness centers on the idea that emotional well-being requires openness, flexibility, and social connectedness. As a state of mind, radically open living involves actively seeking the unknown inside of ourselves (being curious) for the purpose of learning. Radical openness also enhances relationships because it models humility and a willingness to learn from what the world has to offer. As such, radical openness often requires us to sacrifice and change our firmly-held convictions and self-constructs. Awareness and change can be painful, but recovery is possible.

Exposure Therapy

The goal of exposure therapy is to confront individuals with their anxiety-inducing stimuli to reduce fear over time. It can provide long-term prevention of symptom recurrence and coping mechanisms to deal effectively with anxiety in everyday life. This treatment requires a highly trained therapist to tailor and control the experience for each individual.

Trauma-Informed Therapy

Trauma-informed therapy considers the complex impact of trauma and how it shapes an individual’s ability to cope. This treatment integrates an awareness of trauma into every aspect of the therapeutic process while prioritizing safety.

Inner Child Work

Inner child therapy aims to heal inner wounds from childhood that continue to cause us significant distress as adults. While this is not a singular approach, therapeutic techniques such as CBT can incorporate inner child work.

Individualized Approach

This may include several treatments combined based on the client’s background and needs in collaboration with a qualified therapist.

Group Therapy

Group therapy can have some real advantages when treating anxiety disorders. Many find it helpful to go through the process with others who suffer similar symptoms. They can relate and help each other. Groups also help those with social fears and provide a safe environment for exposure opportunities. It is crucial that the therapist be skilled at managing groups and that the groups are curated to protect the atmosphere and safety of their members.

What Can Cause or Exacerbate Stress-Related Issues?

• Codependency Can Have a Profound Impact on Anxiety Symptoms: When we constantly search for validation outside of ourselves to try to bolster self-esteem, we are behaving codependently. If we seek approval from others through enabling, people-pleasing, or any other manipulative tactic, we are operating under codependency. We essentially give the power over how we feel about ourselves to someone else. This is a recipe for extreme anxiety and an unstable, dysregulated sense of self.

• Lack of Boundaries: When we lack the ability to set appropriate boundaries, it’s as though we are blown every which way without a rudder to keep us steady. When people overstep with us, and we lack the skills to push back, we quickly become overwhelmed.
• Family of Origin Issues: We probably aren’t even aware of the ingrained connection of past dysfunction to present-day suffering. Still, we are intimately acquainted with the symptoms: struggling to feel good enough, self-hatred, self-blaming, shame, intense anxiety, nightmares, hypervigilance, contending with an eating disorder, trouble in relationships, and struggling with substance abuse, to name a few. Trauma-informed anxiety therapy can help create a safe environment to look at childhood and adult life experiences, root out connections of past to present, process grief, and reframe how we think about ourselves to heal in our relationships and thrive in the present.
• Marginalization: While the literature on racism and anxiety-related disorders, especially social anxiety, specific phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder, is notably lacking, researchers have found that racial discrimination on a daily basis is linked to an increased risk of anxiety-related disorders. You can read the in-depth study here: Anxiety-Related Disorders in the Context of Racism.
• Poverty: The Chicago poverty rate averages around 17.2% and can go as high as 51% in some neighborhoods. It’s not hard to imagine that the added burden and insecurity of poverty can have a profoundly negative effect on mental health, but here is the research to back it up. Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal evidence and mechanisms.
• Toxic Diet Culture and Perfectionism Can Contribute to Anxiety: Perfectionism, characterized by an intense desire to achieve flawlessness and high standards, often plays a significant role in developing and maintaining anxiety disorders. Individuals with perfectionistic tendencies may believe their self-worth is tied to their ability to adhere to strict rules or achieve a particular outcome. This relentless pursuit of perfection can lead to harmful behaviors and negatively impact physical and mental health.⁠
• Allowing HALT to Get Out of Control: HALT stands for hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. If any of these are out of balance, our anxiety is more easily triggered.
• Brain Chemistry: While the chemical imbalance theory may be more myth than truth, there is no doubt that chemicals play a prominent role in contributing to anxiety. For instance, the adrenaline and cortisol coursing through our bodies when in fight or flight mode. While anti-depressants do show efficacy in treating depression and anxiety, the exact mechanisms are nuanced and still not completely understood. We still have a way to go, but research continually adds to our knowledge.
• Genetics: Family history is a contributing factor as well. You are more likely, but not guaranteed, to develop an anxiety disorder if it runs in your family. Traits such as perfectionism and rigidity also have a genetic underpinning. Moreover, these traits are often associated with anxiety disorders.
• Life Changes: Big changes are well-known triggers for causing or making worse an existing anxiety disorder. Examples include going to college, empty nest syndrome, getting fired from a job, illness, death of a loved one or pet, getting married, getting divorced, moving, having a baby, and infertility issues.

Anxiety Therapy: The Benefits of Seeking Help from a Therapist

Engaging consistently over time with a therapist is a great tool for tracking anxiety symptoms and overall progress. Therapists in Chicago can bear witness to your journey, simultaneously reminding you of where you started and what it is like now. You might find that focusing on what is going well while also noting positive progress points can be challenging without help. By its very nature, anxiety has us focusing on the negative and scanning our environment for threats. With help, we can gently reframe our thoughts and keep track of our progress, using methods such as self-compassion with the guidance of an anxiety specialist.

Top 9 Stress Management Techniques

• Mindfulness: By immersing myself in the present moment, I eventually become aware of myself in relation to my environment. I can now recognize negative self-talk and the stressors that will almost certainly cause me to question my self-worth. With this knowledge, I can work to eliminate this negative input. I am now free to do the things that feed my spirit in meaningful ways, such as making art, spending time along the Chicago lakefront, meditating, or practicing yoga.⁠

• 5 4 3 2 1 Grounding Technique: This grounding exercise is an effective tool you can use anywhere at any time to help reduce your anxiety. Here is how it works:⁠
  • ⁠See: Identify FIVE things around you. It could be anything from a painting on the wall to a tree swaying outside your window. These observations will kickstart the process of reconnecting with your surroundings.⁠
  • Feel: Touch FOUR different things. Feel the texture of your shirt, the cool surface of your table, the softness of a pillow, or the wind on your face.⁠
  • Hear: Listen for THREE distinct sounds. For instance, it could be the clock ticking, the humming of an air conditioner, or birds chirping.⁠
  • Smell: Identify TWO different scents. It might be the fragrance of your coffee or the aroma of a flower.⁠
  • Taste: Finally, recognize ONE thing you can taste. It might be the lingering taste of your last meal or a sip of water.

• Conscious Grounding: Did you know that Conscious Grounding has existed for centuries? Ancient cultures, such as Native Americans and East Asians, recognized the healing power of connecting with the earth, a practice now validated by modern science. Part of the beauty of Conscious Grounding certainly lies in its simplicity and accessibility. No fancy equipment or unique skills are necessary. Your mindful presence, as well as your willingness to connect with the here and now, are all you need.⁠⁠ Here is how it works:⁠
  • Find a quiet and comfortable place: The environment plays a crucial role. For this reason, opt for a quiet corner, preferably in nature. If you’re in downtown Chicago, a park or balcony would work just as well.⁠
  • Observe your surroundings: Take in the sights, sounds, and smells around you. You might hear the rustling leaves, feel the cool breeze, or smell the fresh grass, all of which can anchor you to the present moment.⁠
  • Ground your body: Feel your feet firmly planted on the ground. Imagine roots extending from your feet deep into the earth. This visualization helps to solidify the grounding effect.⁠
  • Mindful breathing: Now, draw your attention to your breath. Follow its natural rhythm without trying to control it. With practice, this will help quiet your mind and can likewise cultivate a sense of inner peace.
• Journaling: Get your thoughts, feelings, and anxieties out of your head and onto paper. You might be surprised at what a powerful exercise writing therapy can be. Putting pen to paper is an excellent method for processing emotions while also helping us gain valuable insight.

• Movement: We ❤️love❤️ yoga! Research has shown it can enhance the treatment of anxiety disorders by providing a process of integration–connecting mind, body, breath, and spirit. Furthermore, yoga’s ability to connect our mind to our body can help with emotion regulation, awareness, and self-acceptance. Another form of movement that tops our list for anxiety management is walking, especially a stroll in nature, the benefits of which are pretty astonishing.
• Deep Breathing: Start by inhaling through the nose, holding it, then exhaling slowly through the mouth to put your body in relaxation mode.
• Observing Our Thoughts Without Judgement: Distance yourself and remember you are not your thoughts. Moreover, become curious about your thoughts. This curiosity will help you become an actor rather than a reactor, lessening the anxiety response.
• Self-Compassion: Self-compassion is a powerful tool. Treating ourselves with gentleness, humor, love, and respect may not come naturally, but it is often the way forward in recovery from anxiety disorders and more. Learn more from our recent deep dive “Self-Compassion Will Not Make Me Lazy, Weak, or Self-Indulgent.

• Connection: Isolation keeps us sick. Because of this, recovering from anxiety disorders and other mental health conditions is enhanced by finding connection and community. Being alone with our disease is not only unnecessary, it thwarts recovery. In larger metropolitan areas such as Chicago, there are more opportunities to discover like-minded people, but in some ways, it is also more difficult because of the fast pace of city life. Be diligent, find help, find your people, and recovery will follow.⁠

Specific Ways Loved Ones Can Help

Support from loved ones can be crucial to reducing loneliness, helping with emotional regulation, and validating your experience while also normalizing the act of seeking support. A therapist can help you learn how to ask for help. They can also guide you in effective communication methods to obtain this much-needed support. A therapist will also remind you that this process is trial and error and to be patient with yourself.

Below are some practical ways your loved ones can support you when you are struggling with anxiety:

• Knowledge is power. Encourage your loved ones to learn about anxiety in general and your unique triggers in particular.
• Encourage your loved ones to listen without judgment or interruption. Being able to talk through your anxiety with a safe person can be incredibly helpful.
• Ask your loved ones to check in with you about what specific support you need, if any.
• Ask for support with self-care, and encourage your loved ones to be patient and gentle. They should not offer solutions; instead, just listen. Recovery takes time, and consistent support can make all the difference.

Conclusion

Expertise and experience matter when it comes to finding a therapist. The best psychologists have years of practical experience treating anxiety disorders and are familiar with higher-level care settings like inpatient, residential, and partial hospitalization. Moreover, many clinicians have additional training in mindfulness, trauma, and family dynamics, allowing for a more holistic approach to treatment.⁠
⁠
You don’t have to navigate this journey alone. SpringSource Psychological Center, with offices in downtown Chicago and Northbrook, Illinois, specializes in treating anxiety, eating disorders, mood disorders, relational issues, and trauma-specific concerns. We carefully selected our dedicated team for their expertise in these areas. We take pride in the diversity of our practice, understanding that each individual’s path to well-being is unique.⁠

Let’s treat the anxiety and end the unnecessary suffering! Call or email SpringSource Psychological Center today to schedule a virtual or in-person appointment. 224-202-6260⁠ | info@springsourcecenter.com

We offer free 15-minute initial consultations—schedule here.