EMDR for Anxiety
Do you struggle with anxiety? As the world changes, I’ve noticed a lot more prospective clients meeting for consultations to talk about anxiety. Health anxiety. Environmental anxiety. Relational anxiety. You name it. The uncertainty of the past few years has led to a lot of questions about ourselves, the state of the world, our futures, and what truly matters.
Learn more about how online therapy for anxiety can help!
Thoughts
Mind-based anxiety (aka those pesky thoughts) is one of the most common ways that anxiety shows up in our lives. You know… that nagging feeling like you’ve left something undone, that you’re incapable, that you’ll be abandoned, or that you’ve messed up socially (to name a few). Our minds are stunningly intelligent and wonderfully capable of helping us sort through life’s many difficulties. Unfortunately, our minds can also act against us when we then turn all that brain power inward and start to view ourselves as the problem or difficulty to fix. Yikes! 😳
Many of the clients that I work with struggle with self doubt, perfectionism, and a constant feeling that I’m not good enough. These thoughts can show up at any time of day and typically derail or take away from an otherwise neutral or even great moment. You may also find that you struggle with concentration or that you get stuck in a loop of overthinking (and never about how awesome or worthy you are). Sound familiar?
Click here to learn more about anxiety treatment for women.
Body based
This one is for everyone that struggles with heart racing, flushed skin, tummy issues, all the sweating 💦, feeling like you’re going to throw up, shut down, or lose control.
Emotions, while both beautiful and necessary, are POWERFUL. They are there to get our attention and alert us to our environments. It wouldn’t be helpful if we were about to get hit by a car and we felt neutral. Our bodies are wired to keep us alive, to tune into our environments, and to keep us safe.
The issue is, however, that our bodies are also capable of making us feel all kinds of anxiety… when we’re not really in any kind of danger.
✨ Maybe you notice your palms sweating while meeting with a trusted friend.
✨ Perhaps you’re feeling nervous about an upcoming date and your upset stomach shows up just in time to make things even worse.
✨ Or you might notice that you get body aches and feel tired every time you’re supposed to present a new project at work.
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Emotions
The way we relate to emotions can set the template for the severity of our anxiety. Imagine you grew up in a home where you could openly express fear or worry. When you did, your caregivers provided you with emotional support, gave you space to feel your feelings, and shared that ALL emotions are natural. If you needed to bounce ideas off them, they listened. If you needed help making actionable steps, they were on your team. If you were fortunate to grow up this way, then you likely relate to your anxiety as an emotion that is completely normal, part of life, and not a threat.
BUT…. What if you grew up in a home where you never spoke about emotions, where emotions were viewed as weak, or where your caregivers didn’t have the bandwidth to sit with your emotions… let alone their own. From this environment, you would likely view your emotions as an inconvenience, shameful, something to hide, or to get rid of.
What’s your emotional narrative?
Specific Anxieties
Maybe your anxiety really only feels related to some big triggers. When providing EMDR for anxiety, the most common fears that I work with are heights 🧗, flights ✈️, and driving 🚗.
EMDR for Flight and Driving Anxiety
Research suggests that 33 - 40% of Americans experience anxiety around flying. This can show up as intense worry before the trip - like thinking through all of the potential worst things that could happen which could include:
Thoughts around fear of flying:
✨ What if I get pulled over in security?
✨ What if I miss my flight?
✨ What if the plane crashes?
✨ What if I have a panic attack and embarrass myself?
✨ What if I want off the flight, but we’re over the ocean?
Thoughts around fear of driving:
✨ What if I lose control?
✨ What if I want out of the car, but I’m stuck in a traffic gridlock in Los Angeles?
✨ What if I make a mistake?
✨ What if I hurt someone?
✨ What if I can’t get home?
Many of the clients I have worked with through EMDR for fear of flying and driving can feel like they have lost control of their body, like they’re experiencing pins, and needles, or like they can’t quite catch their breath. With anxiety around flying and/or driving you may also experience…
Behaviors:
These anxieties are often paired with engaging in safety behaviors
✨ Only flying at certain times
✨ Packing specific items (e.g, safety blanket, a photo of a loved one, etc…)
✨ Trying to knock yourself out by taking sleeping medications
✨ Self-medicating by getting drunk or high.
✨ Cancelling trips at the last minute or finding reasons why you can’t go.
EMDR Therapy for Anxiety Can Help!
An EMDR Therapist can help you to address both the mind-based and body-based anxiety as well as specific anxieties like fear of flying, driving, or heights to name a few. Click here to learn more about how EMDR works. When starting EMDR for anxiety, I spend time learning more about my client’s emotional narratives:
✨ Who was there for you when you were feeling fearful?
✨ How you do view yourself when you experience anxiety?
✨ How do you talk to yourself when you’re experiencing anxiety or panic?
Many of my EMDR clients share that they feel overwhelmed, out of control in their bodies, or afraid that they’ll embarrass themselves in front of friends, family, and coworkers. Through EMDR, we explore more around the memories that influence how you feel and think about yourself in relation to your anxiety. Throughout the process of EMDR for anxiety, we will also tap into how those memories impact you in the present as well as the future.
Online EMDR Therapy for Anxiety in Los Angeles
EMDR therapy is one of the most highly requested services at Worth and Wellness Psychology. With modern technology, I love that I can easily provide clients with online EMDR therapy when they want to address anxiety and/or trauma online.
As a Los Angeles Psychologist, I often engage EMDR for clients struggling with anxiety, trauma, and/or PTSD, as well as for those with phobias (e.g., fear of driving, flying, heights, etc…). Clients who engage in online EMDR therapy often remark that they like that they can take a break from home after a session, rather than having to hop back in their car and sit in traffic.
If you are in Irvine, Los Angeles, New Port Beach, San Diego, or anywhere in California and want to start virtual EMDR follow these steps:
Reach out for a free consultation where you can ask questions and we can connect.
Schedule your first appointment for virtual EMDR.
Start letting your brain heal.
Other Counseling Services I Offer in Newport Beach, California
At Worth and Wellness Psychology, I offer a variety of services. This includes individual therapy for relationship issues, and dating. In addition to therapy for therapists and women of color, I also love working with Highly Sensitive People (HSPs). Reach out to talk about how I can support you.
About the Author, an EMDR Therapist
Dr. Adrianna Holness, Ph.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist for women at Worth and Wellness Psychology, serving clients in-person in Los Angeles and online throughout California. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology from Loma Linda University. As a trauma and PTSD psychologist, she specializes in creating space for healing and wholeness as clients take on the brave and beautiful work of addressing life’s hardest moments. She is trained in many evidence-based trauma treatment approaches, including EMDR trauma treatment. She also works with clients in the spaces where trauma intersects with your self-confidence, relationships, dating, anxiety, and identity.
Disclaimer:
This blog provides general information and discussions about health and related subjects. The information and other content provided in this blog, website, or in any linked materials are not intended and should not be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This blog does not constitute the practice of any medical or mental healthcare advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We cannot diagnose, provide second opinions or make specific treatment recommendations through this blog or website.
