Stress
"In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers."
Stress
Do you feel that these demands of daily life are becoming too much?
Is your to-do list growing more than it’s shrinking?
When the stress of modern living goes unchecked, the symptoms can linger and pile on, chipping away at your physical and mental health.
What is Stress?
Stress is a feeling of being tense, overwhelmed, worn out, or exhausted. The stress response by the body, sometimes known as “fight or flight” (we also like to add “freeze”) is a natural and normal process. In some cases, stress can even be healthy! Exercise puts good stress on your muscles so they can grow.
Stress can also push you to take care of your responsibilities. Even acute levels of stress response can get you through life-threatening or dangerous situations.
But chronic, long-term stress takes a toll on your mental and physical well-being. Symptoms can range from mild (e.g., headaches, stomachaches, and sweating) to severe (e.g., chest pain, high blood pressure, symptoms of anxiety and depression).
Are There Different Types of Stress?
Yes. There are two common types of stress, and Inside Psychotherapy is equipped to help with both!
Acute Stress
Brief but intense. Short-term stressors, (giving a speech, getting into an argument, or studying for an exam) can cause acute stress.
Chronic Stress
Long-lasting. The symptoms may not be as intense, but the long-term effects are more severe. Long-term stressors, (a difficult job, an unhealthy relationship with frequent arguing, or financial difficulty) can cause chronic stress.
Finding Balance and Stress Relief
If you are struggling with unmanageable stress, the moment you set up your first initial psychotherapy consultation is the moment you begin to reevaluate the role that stress plays in your life.
You may have been socialized to believe feeling stressed out or overwhelmed is important to achievement and success. Unfortunately, that philosophy doesn’t pan out if your quality of life is a priority.
At Inside Psychotherapy, you and your therapist will begin with an honest assessment of how stress fits in your life. What do you get out of it? What’s in the way of giving it up (we know it can be scary…)?
You will develop skills to recognize true priorities in life, and (re)discover activities that bring you joy to help with stress management, as well as overall decreasing stress levels.
Psychotherapy is about both gaining the tools to help relax the mind and body as well as addressing some of the deeper underlying issues that cause the stress in the first place.
Over time, it can also be a space to learn how to be comfortable with vulnerability and painful emotions. Tackling stress through Psychotherapy won’t be a “quick fix,” but stress reduction is possible, and so is taking back your life.
