is this anxiety or just stress?

Falling asleep at night is difficult because you’re already attempting to mentally brace yourself for tomorrow.

At social events, you’re so distracted by whether or not you look stupid that you don’t make any real connections with people… never mind remembering anyone’s actual name.

With your partner, you end up replaying past conversations, looking for things you might’ve said wrong, and then you think of all the possible conversations you want to be ready for in the future…. Just so you’ll know that you have a well-thought-out response.

You feel like at any given moment, one slip up is going to cause the entire house of cards you’ve built (and a damn good house of cards, might I add) to come crashing down around you.

So you spend all of your energy making sure that slip up doesn’t happen.

You end up missing opportunities to connect with your spouse or your kids because you’re focused on all the things you need to deal with in order to keep the household from falling apart.

Deadlines loom, and you avoid and procrastinate, but you’re not actually relaxing in that “extra” time… you’re constantly thinking about what’s coming next.

you’re exhausted from being on all the time

What would it be like to have a day (hell, an hour…even 5 minutes?) where you were truly free to relax without guilt or a looming deadline?

What would it mean for your closest relationships if you were emotionally available to them and able to really tune in when spending time together?

How would your days be different if you were rested and your mind wasn’t the jumbled traffic jam of “what if” that it is today?

Imagine a day where you were able to feel connected to your loved ones, to say no to someone without feeling guilty, to have a conversation where you spoke honestly and confidently without fear of looking stupid.

is counseling right for me?

Counseling can help you identify the underlying thoughts and beliefs that are keeping you stuck in those habits.

Then, we can look at ways to change those patterns, so you can feel like you’re living life on purpose.

If you feel like you’re looking around thinking “how can someone so successful feel like such crap?” and you’re ready to learn how to silence the voice of self-judgment, check out which of our therapists might be the right fit and schedule a phone consultation.

find a therapist

The following therapists at The Joy Effect currently work with stress & anxiety.  Click on each name to read more about the therapist.

Carolyn Robistow