Conditions I Treat:

Anxiety Conditions:

Would you call yourself a “worrier?” Do you often feel stressed, on-edge, or find it difficult to relax? Are you constantly overwhelmed or waiting for the next shoe to drop? These are common experiences of anxiety. However, anxiety takes many forms. Some people experience a chronic undercurrent of anxiety (e.g., worry, stress), while others experience acute, sudden rushes of intense fear (i.e., panic attacks). Some people experience anxiety related to specific themes or situations (e.g., health anxiety, social anxiety, the fear of driving, etc.).

For some, anxiety can be so impairing that it interferes with daily functioning. They may have trouble motivating themselves, going certain places, or engaging in certain activities. For others, anxiety can be high functioning (e.g., perfectionism, people-pleasing, over-functioning for others). These individuals often have difficulty resting because they don’t feel productive enough.

Pre- or Post-Partum Anxiety. Some women develop anxiety during pregnancy or after giving birth due to hormonal changes and the major life transition of caretaking for a baby.

Common Physical Signs and Symptoms of Anxiety:

• Feeling nervous, restless, or on-edge

• Chronic muscle tension, pain, or headaches

• Fatigue, lethargy

• Difficulty falling or staying asleep, insomnia

• Increased heart rate or chest tightness

• Rapid breathing, constricted breathing, or hyperventilation

• Shaking or trembling

Common Cognitive Signs of Anxiety:

• Catastrophic thinking (i.e., jumping to the worst case scenario)

• Worrying about the future or things that are out of your control

• Negative or pessimistic thinking

• Overthinking

• Obsessive or cyclical thinking (e.g., fixating on a problem over and over)

Fortunately, we have very effective therapies for any and all forms of anxiety. You may find fuller descriptions of the therapies I provide in the “Services” page, but generally speaking, these therapies focus on education about how anxiety works, how to develop effective skills for managing anxiety, and how to change thinking patterns that cause or exacerbate anxiety. Furthermore, I am intentional about targeting root causes and incorporating holistic approaches (i.e., emphasizing mental, physical, and spiritual health). If you’re searching for peace and calm, I invite you to contact me. My passion is helping you reach that goal.

Trauma- and Stressor- Related Conditions:

Stress is a part of life, and there are lots of different kinds of stressors we may experience. For example, transitions through different stages of life can be stressful (e.g., from adolescence to young adulthood, from working to retirement). Other life stressors might include moving, divorce, separation, or family restructuring. Furthermore, grief/loss, stressful job or economic circumstances, and stressful world events (such as COVID-19) can all impact our mental health.

Many individuals experience traumatic life events, which can include physical or sexual abuse, emotional or narcissistic abuse, Veteran combat trauma or workplace/first responder trauma, serious car accidents, natural disasters, and so on… Posttraumatic stress is a natural nervous system response to trauma, which can include four categories of symptoms:

• Re-Experiencing the Trauma. This may occur via unwanted thoughts or memories of the trauma, flashbacks, nightmares/disturbing dreams about the trauma, and/or re-experiencing emotional and physical feelings related to the trauma.

• Avoidance of Trauma Reminders. This includes avoiding external reminders of the trauma (e.g., people, places, and things) and/or internal reminders of the trauma (e.g., one’s own thoughts and feelings about the trauma).

• Anxious Arousal. This includes high anxiety and/or panic attacks, hyper-vigilance (e.g., constantly being on guard or alert to potential danger), strong startle responses, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and/or difficulty sleeping.

• Negative Alterations in Thinking Patterns and Mood. This includes a tendency to experience strong emotions, such as anxiety, anger, shame, guilt, depression. This also includes adopting more negative or pessimistic thinking patterns or beliefs about one’s self (e.g., self-worth, self-esteem), other people (e.g., “people can’t be trusted”), and/or the world (e.g., “the world is an unsafe place”).

Whether you’re experiencing a stressful season of life or recovering from trauma, we have effective therapies designed to help you heal. I am a trauma survivor myself, and have the lived experience combined with formal psychology training to help you recover. If you’re ready to start your healing journey, I encourage you to contact me. I am dedicated to providing you with the compassionate support and evidence-based therapy you need.

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Conditions:

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): OCD is complex and multidimensional, but characterized by two main components, obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted, distressing thoughts. Examples of obsessions include thoughts of contamination/germs, thoughts of harming others, doubting that a task was performed “just right,” and thoughts against one’s morals, values, or religion (e.g., sexual thoughts, blasphemous thoughts). Compulsions are repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing distress. Examples of compulsions include washing hands/body, cleaning, ordering, checking, praying, making things symmetrical, and repeating numbers, letters, songs, or phrases.

Trichotillomania (e.g., compulsive hair pulling): People with Trichotillomania engage in recurrent hair pulling resulting in hair loss. The hair pulling feels very difficult to control and causes significant distress.

Excoriation Disorder (e.g., compulsive skin picking): Individuals with excoriation disorder engage in recurrent skin picking resulting in skin lesions. The skin picking is difficult to control and causes significant distress.

Hoarding Disorder: People with hoarding disorder experience great difficulty discarding possessions, regardless of the value of the possessions. They experience a strong need to save possessions and experience great distress when faced with the prospect of parting with possessions. This results in the accumulation of possessions that congests and clutters active living areas of the home.

Pre- and Post-Partum OCD: Some women with certain risk factors develop symptoms of OCD during pregnancy and post-partum. These symptoms may involve obsessions and/or compulsions about harm coming to the baby, concerns about contamination or germs, checking, etc.

Fortunately, we have effective therapies for these conditions, which primarily involve exposure and response prevention (ERP). If you relate to any of these concerns and you would like to break free from them, I invite you to contact me. I am here to help you.

Other areas I’m happy to help you with:

• Depression

• Insomnia

• Relationship difficulties (e.g., intimacy/connection, healthy boundary setting, communication, building healthy support system)

• Parent coaching (i.e., learning skills to support kids & overcome parenting challenges)

• Drug/Alcohol Addiction

• Enhancing insight, self-care, and personal growth

The Anxiety Counseling Clinic, P.L.L.C.

1902 Common St., Ste. 300B, New Braunfels, TX 78130

Phone: 830-217-2321

Email: Dr.Chase.T@gmail.com

If you are having a mental health emergency, please call 911 or visit your nearest emergency room.

Copyright © 2019, Tannah Chase, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved.