Virtual Anxiety Therapy Toronto: 6 Helpful Ways To Heal Your Anxiety Naturally
Discover six therapist-recommended strategies to help you manage and heal your anxiety naturally and regain control of your life through virtual anxiety therapy serving residents in the Toronto area.
6 Ways a Therapist Helps Your Anxiety
Anxiety can feel like a constant hum in the background of your mind, or a loud, crashing wave. It shows up in our thoughts, our breathing, our sleep, and even in our relationships. For me it feels like tension and burning in my chest, my breathing gets shallow and my thoughts start spinning in my head. Often, my brain starts screaming lies to me that I really struggle to step back from.
Usually, we need tools and support to work through our anxiety so we can know what’s real, and what is just our imagination. Here are six ways a virtual therapist can walk with you and help you heal anxiety naturally.
Click here to make your own anxiety toolkit
1. They help you understand what’s causing your anxiety
Sometimes, the scariest part of anxiety is not knowing why it’s there. Therapy helps you understand how anxiety works in the brain and body, which brings a bit of calm all on its own. Once you’ve identified the patterns that are causing the problems you can begin to work towards re-wiring your neural pathways naturally.
Some possible causes of anxiety are:
– Trauma
– Chronic Stress
– Personality Factors
– Social and environmental factors
– Certain medical conditions
A great way to get to know yourself is to write down your feelings during the day. Be a detective for what’s going on in your body. Here’s a free downloadable tool that will help you observe your anxiety through the day. Try it and see what you can learn about healing your anxiety naturally.
2. Therapists offer tools to help you understand how anxiety is impacting your nervous system
Therapists have so many tools at their disposal and can suggest strategies tailored for you, like the PDF above. Simple strategies like grounding, breathing, or naming what’s hopeful in the moment can make a big difference. Therapy is about finding what works for you, not forcing a one-size-fits-all solution. Many clients are looking for interventions beyond meditation and mindfulness practices, but as cliche as they sound, yoga and muscle relaxation are investments that help you to achieve powerful results and one of the most effective tools you can use to heal anxiety naturally.
All parts of you are connected. When you learn to master your fight/flight responses you will be more capable of staying in control of unexpected surprises that come at you.
Did you know: stress, worry, and anxiety over-activate your amygdala and shrink your prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive functioning and clear thinking? When you are activated in stress-mode, it is hard to think clearly, which in turn exacerbates your stress. Virtual anxiety therapy can help you to identify your unhelpful thoughts so you can grow in self-awareness and work with a professional who can help you heal anxiety naturally.
3. Anxiety Therapists Help you Reframe how you See Things
We all have stories we tell ourselves—about who we are, what we can handle, or what others expect. Anxiety therapy gently helps you notice those patterns and begin to shift the ones that aren’t serving you.
Therapists skilled in Narrative Therapy and CBT can help you reframe your damaging thoughts into something more hopeful.
Another reframing tool is cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, a way to challenge unhelpful beliefs so you can move into healthier actions and feelings about your situation and what you believe about yourself.
4. Anxiety therapy gives you space to be honest
Whether you’re a teen feeling overwhelmed, a caregiver carrying too much, or someone walking through grief or trauma, a virtual anxiety therapist will offer you a space where you don’t have to pretend. The process of debriefing with a trained stranger is extremely powerful and corrective as you seek clarity and a space to be honest with yourself. Other interventions like journaling can give you some distance and objectivity for your thoughts.
5. Anxiety has a why from your past
Sometimes anxiety is tangled up in old pain. Therapy can help you name and tend to those deeper wounds in a safe and steady way. Understanding our own story is very helpful in creating new patterns and being intentional about creating a different future for ourselves and our families.
6. Virtual anxiety therapy can meet you where you feel safe
Online therapy makes support more accessible, especially for those living in rural areas or juggling full schedules. When struggling with anxiety, even leaving the house can feel overwhelming. When you are starting the healing journey, having some distance between you and your therapist can help you to feel safe and enter into the process in your own environment.
Many therapists in Ontario and across Canada offer flexible appointments and support for things like insurance coverage. If you’re carrying anxiety today, know that there’s help and hope. Sometimes the first step is simply reaching out and saying, “I think I need someone to talk to.” And that’s more than okay. You don’t have to have it all figured out – your therapist is trained to help you discover the source of your anxiety and help you find strategies that fit your unique needs so you can heal anxiety naturally. Please reach out if you’re looking for virtual anxiety therapy.
Listen to a psychotherapist talk about how to deal with anxiety here on TedX:
How to find the best virtual anxiety therapist in Ontario for you
Psychology Today is a great way to find the right mental health practitioner for you in Ontario. Use the filter button and search for the things that are important to you in a therapist. All therapists are verified and credentialed and their info is plainly visible in an easy to read format. Tell your therapist that you want to heal your anxiety naturally and you would like tools and strategies to help with this.
