WHAT DOES A PANIC ATTACK FEEL LIKE? Let's unpack the harrowing reality of a panic attack, peeling back the layers to expose the heart-thumping, breath-stealing beast it can be. My journey as a therapist in training, fused with raw personal encounters, brings a unique perspective to the forefront. We dissect those suffocating episodes, where your own body feels like an unwieldy adversary, and thoughts of impending doom loom over you like a dark cloud. In this episode we can work together to...

Ever wondered how to recognize a panic attack? Want to understand the physical and mental symptoms that hint towards an oncoming episode? Not sure if what you're experiencing are panic attacks or something else? This episode of The Anxious Truth is for you. Tune in as we delve into panic and panic attacks, demystifying the sensations, the thoughts, the fear,  and the need to escape that often accompany these episodes. This is the first in my "Foundations of Panic" series so come back in the...

Struggling to find the right anxiety therapist? Are you curious about how a therapist becomes a therapist? Let's take a look  through the maze of credentials - from Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) to Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Let's shed some light on the demanding journey of training and education, from undergraduate studies to intensive graduate training and clinical...

Do you need to find a therapist that knows and follows the "Claire Weekes method"? This week we unpack the impact of Dr. Claire Weekes, shedding light on her influential role in the therapy world, specifically in the realm of anxiety disorders. Dr. Weekes' groundbreaking principles of acceptance have proven to be timeless, remaining relevant in therapy practices today. We go beyond the surface, debunking myths about her work and examining the current relevance of her methods in therapy. It's...

Anxiety recovery can be a highly individual journey. This is especially true if you have ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, or otherwise identify as neurodivergent. While there are certainly general principles we rely on, every person will find recovery to present specific and unique challenges that have to be addressed as part of the process. For neurodivergent members of our community, this is also true. This week Dr. Terri Bacow took some time to chat with me about the intersection of...

Anxiety and the recovery process do not exist in a vacuum. You are an entire person, and all the parts of you come into this process. Holistic is not a word you hear me use often, but it is a word we need to acknowledge because when dealing with chronic/disordered anxiety and the recovery process, your background, experiences, beliefs, and views of yourself and the world will enter the picture in various ways. * They will influence how you conceptualize your anxiety. * They will influence...

The anxiety cycle starts as a seemingly never ending loop where you get triggered, you fight through it, you calm down, then you worry and fret over the next time you might get triggered. It can become an exhausting merry-go-ground if you're new to this process and convinced that high anxiety and panic are horrible disasters that must be avoided or "managed" at all costs. But over time, you will likely begin to notice that your logical brain will question that assertion, and you will start...

No new podcast episode this week, but we will be back next week with a new episode on September 27, 2023. Going forward, new episodes of The Anxious Truth will be produced every other week. I'm making this change based on time constraints and the fact that we are producing episodes of "Disordered" every week, and that's a really good podcast! Listen to Disordered here: https://disordered.fm On the weeks with no new episode of The Anxious Truth, you can catch my "Recovery Monday"...

Self-care in anxiety recovery. We hear about it all the time, but is self-care always essential oils and hot baths and candles and soothing? It certainly can by, but self-care is also giving yourself what you really need, which isn't always what you want. Sometimes self-care means challenging yourself a bit to help break the avoidance cycle. Sometimes self-care means you choose to be uncomfortable now to feel better about yourself later. Let's take a closer look at self-care in a way that...

This week we answered some common - and not so common - questions about anxiety and recovery. Thanks to everyone on Instagram that submitted a question. I appreciate it! First I reviewed some basic principles you can fall back on when asking many of the questions that were asked. That's about the first 15 minutes of the episode, which will be useful if you're new to this or need a refresher to remind you of what you're dealing with. Then we moved on to some specific questions. ...

This week my guest is anxiety and OCD specialist Joanna Hardis who stopped by the podcast to talk about the art of doing ... nothing. Wait ... what? Nothing? Yes. Nothing. Humans are conditioned to automatically spring into action to solve problems, and often we declare that our emotional and mental states are automatically problems that must be solved. When we experience discomfort, distress, anxiety, or any "negative" feeling we can get trapped into automatically trying to do...

If this is all new to you, asking for more information is normal, expected, and healthy! Everyone needs more information and explanation to start. But if you are not new to this and you've heard me and others talk about your scariest symptom or stickiest recovery issue over and over, ask yourself what you are hoping to get when you ask us to talk more about it. After multiple books, videos, social media posts, livestreams and podcast episodes on a given topic, it can be helpful to stop and...

Help! I can't get motivated to do my exposures and work on my recovery! This is a thing I hear often in this community, so this week let's address motivation and the myth surrounding it. Often we think that getting motivated means that we create a certain feeling, then we act on that feeling. This is incorrect. In fact, it's almost entirely backwards! Demanding to conjure of a feeling called "motivation" before you can act is selling yourself short and can accidentally lead harsh...

EMDR. It's become an insanely popular therapy over the last few years. Originally developed as a trauma recovery tool, EMDR is often touted as being appropriate or effective in many more clinical circumstances. But ... is it? Is EMDR an anxiety disorder recovery treatment? This week I'm joined by Florida therapist Anne Thomas to talk about EMDR, what it is, what it isn't, and how it might be applied in the context of panic disorder, agoraphobia, and other anxiety disorders. The takeaway...

Just a quick update on reaching the field/clinical work phase of my masters degree and why there's no actual podcast episode this week. We'll be back with another episode of The Anxious Truth next week as usual, but in the meanwhile why not check out Disordered, the podcast I do with Josh Fletcher. Find that podcast at https://disordered.fm Of course, you can also check out any of the 268 previous episodes of The Anxious Truth that I've recorded over the last 8 years or so. They're all free...

It's not really what I did in my recovery that matters. Its WHY I did it. This week we're talking about why its far more useful to focus on the principles I followed in recovery than to try to mimic my recovery step by step and action by action. Don't use my recovery as a literal blueprint for yours because you are not me and I am not you. We are all different and those differences matter in terms of specific steps, actions, and instructions to follow in recovery. Instead, connect to the...

Let's talk about the dreaded social media doom scroll and the negative impact it can have in your recovery. Learning to be a bit more mindful and intentional with your social media use can go a long way toward helping you get what you need while avoiding some of the more common traps and pitfalls that default scrolling without purpose can have. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/267 --- My books, social, and other...

When you decide to start facing your fear, doing exposures, meeting challenges, and breaking your avoidance cycle, that's awesome! You're being brave and choosing to do hard things because it's help you in the long run, so take the credit for making that leap! But you may - like many do - accidentally fall into the trap of only meeting challenges, doing your exposures, and generally doing hard things only on the days when you feel "good". This week on the podcast we're talking about why...

There is no automatic immune response that fixes an anxiety disorder while we retreat, rest, wait, and hope. This is an active process that requires that you do more than just hope and wait. This week we're trying a little experiment! I'm re-visiting episode 11 of the podcast from way back in 2015 to give it a little update, add some detail, clarify a few things, and make some much needed corrections. I hope you find this helpful in some way. Feedback - as always - is welcomed. For full...

Recovery from an anxiety disorder can impact not only the recovering person, but the people close to them. Sometimes our helpers wind up needing help themselves! When that happens, we may want to be supportive of them, but anxious fear may also turn this into a disaster. Anxiety may tell you that your helper reaching out for help is a nightmare and that the fear, uncertainty, and discomfort you feel about this turn of events means you must insert yourself into the process and try to...

HOW CAN I ACCEPT OR ALLOW ANXIETY WITHOUT SPIRALING? This week on The Anxious Truth let's answer a common question about "spiraling". This is a term used every day in our community so lets dismantle it a bit and re-conceptualize spiraling in two parts. One spiral - the downward spiral - is based on how you feel. The other spiral - the anxiety itself - is an UPWARD spiral, which is more accurately described as a storm. Let's look at how we can address the first spiral by addressing the...

End Stage Anxiety Recovery - What Does It Look Like? What does end stage recovery from an anxiety disorder look and feel like?  How do you know when you're recovered? Is there a moment when things change?  Will you automatically be happy and joyful? What will like look like as you get closer to the recovery "finish line".  Lets talk about end stage anxiety recovery so you can have a bit of a road map to bring with you as you progress. It might help you stay out of some common traps. For...

If you love anxiety success stories, you're gonna love Jon Brandon Cruz (aka "Cruz'). Cruz went from stuck in his apartment, riddled with panic and afraid to leave, to back at work on a world tour to promote the Black Adam film with Dwayne The Rock Johnson.How did he do it? Cruz is an almost textbook case of how to apply the principles of recovery in a committed, tenacious way. Grab a beverage and listen to this one. Cruz is inspiring and his story will give you hope. Check out Cruz's...

I CAN'T STOP SCANNING FOR HOW I FEEL!!! This is a common issue for anxious people that leads to frustrating and a fear/scanning/fear cycle that seems like it never ends. This week we're talking about that cycle and answering the question, "How can I stop constantly scanning and checking how I feel?" For full show notes on this episode: ⁠https://theanxioustruth.com/259 --- My books, social, and other links: ⁠https://theanxioustruth.com/links ⁠ Support The Anxious...

VALUING YOURSELF MEANS MORE THAN JUST SOOTHING AND SMOOTHING... This week we're examining the idea that in recovery we must value ourselves in such a way that we go beyond the common sense of soothing and smoothing to allow ourselves to struggle for a reason. There are lessons - critical lessons - in the recovery struggle. Allowing oneself to struggle is important. We must be mindful of either devaluing ourselves or accidentally coddling ourselves because we think that's what high self-value...