Therapy spotlight: Brainspotting therapy vs EMDR?

In an earlier blog I discussed brainspotting therapy as a powerful, body-based method that can help to relieve symptoms of trauma, promote well-being, and help with emotional regulation. It is a form of trauma therapy that uses eye movement to identify and process traumatic or emotionally charged memories and experiences.

If you think that sounds similar to EMDR therapy (eye movement desensitization reprocessing), you would be right! Brainspotting was actually developed out of EMDR therapy in 2003 by David Grand, a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist. Instead of using only eye movements from left to right, Grand discovered that by holding a single eye position, clients seemed to process at a deeper level.

But what are the differences between EMDR and brainspotting therapy? And how do you know which one is right for you? Let’s get into it!

How does brainspotting therapy work?

During brainspotting therapy, the therapist helps the client to identify a "brainspot," which is a specific point in the client's visual field that corresponds to the area of the brain where the traumatic memory or emotion is stored. The therapist typically does this using a pointer. Focusing on the “brainspot” can help to bring up emotions and memories related to the issues you want to work on. The therapist will invite you to observe the emotions, memories, thoughts, and physical sensations coming up for you as you focus on the “brainspot” and think about your issue. Your therapist will use a variety of techniques to help you process and release the emotions and memories that come up during the session. As you do this, the brain is reprocessing the material connected to your issue in a way that is more integrated and decreases negative symptoms or negative core beliefs. The result is clients often feel more clear, connected to self, and calm.

What kind of topics can I address with brainspotting?

Brainspotting therapy is based on the idea that traumatic memories and emotions are stored in the brain and can be accessed and released through focused attention on specific areas of the brain. It is considered to be an effective treatment for a range of conditions, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, addiction, and chronic pain. It can also be used on issues that are less about trauma and more about expansion of self, such as increasing creativity, be less socially anxious and more outgoing, breaking through writer’s block, decreasing procrastination, overcoming fears around dating, connecting deeper to one’s spirituality, having a more positive relationship with finances… The sky is the limit, really.

What is EMDR therapy?

EMDR therapy is a type of psychotherapy that integrates elements of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and somatic therapy. It was developed in the late 1980s by psychologist Francine Shapiro, who noticed that eye movements seemed to reduce the intensity of her own negative thoughts and feelings.

EMDR therapy is a type of therapy that can help people who have experienced difficult or traumatic events. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. During EMDR therapy, a trained therapist will guide the person through a series of eye movements, sounds or taps, while they recall the traumatic event.

The goal of EMDR therapy is to help the person process the traumatic memory so that it becomes less distressing and overwhelming. This is done by connecting the memory with more positive or neutral thoughts and feelings.

EMDR therapy can be used for a variety of issues, including PTSD, anxiety, and depression, similar to brainspotting.

How are brainspotting and EMDR different?

Brainspotting and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) are both therapeutic approaches that can be used to treat trauma and other mental health issues, but they have some important differences.

1. Focus: Brainspotting focuses on identifying and working with "brainspots," which are specific points in the visual field that are connected to traumatic or emotionally charged experiences. EMDR, on the other hand, focuses on bilateral stimulation, which can include eye movements, tapping, or other forms of rhythmic stimulation.

2. Eye Movements: In EMDR, the therapist guides the client through a series of rapid eye movements while they focus on a traumatic memory or negative belief. In brainspotting, the therapist helps the client identify a “brainspot” by having them scan their visual field while focusing on the issue they want to work on.

3. Processing: In EMDR, the therapist helps the client reprocess the traumatic memory or negative belief by guiding them through a structured sequence of phases. In brainspotting, the therapist follows the client's lead and allows them to process the issue in their own way, often through verbal processing or physical sensations.

This final point is probably the biggest difference that clients would notice between the two therapies. EMDR therapy tends to be very regimented and protocol-driven, while brainspotting is more fluid, allowing the client‘s body to direct what is most important to focus on. In brainspotting, the therapist is attuning carefully to the client’s lead in determining where the session goes and what they need for their healing.

As a therapist, this is why I prefer brainspotting to EMDR. Each of us is different, and we are the expert on our own body and experience. By tapping into the client’s innate wisdom and healing process, I believe the client’s body can get us to where we need to go more effectively than me trying to force the session to unfold a certain way.

Brainspotting is also flexible to work with topics that are not trauma-related per say, but have to do with improving one’s quality of life, as mentioned above.

How are brainspotting and EMDR the same?

The theory behind brianspotting and EMDR therapies is that traumatic experiences can become "stuck" in the brain and cause distressing symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, an over-activated nervous system, or negative core beliefs. Both the bilateral stimulation used in EMDR therapy and the focus on the “brainspot” in brainspotting therapy is thought to activate the brain's natural healing process, allowing the traumatic memory to be processed and integrated into a person's life in a less distressing way. You can think of it like a computer running a software to de-bug a corrupted file so that it can be resaved cleanly.

Experts also believe these therapies work by accessing deeper parts of the brain, such as the limbic system, which is involved in emotional regulation and memory processing. By focusing on the “brainspot” or doing bilateral stimulation, the therapy may help to access and process deep-seated emotions and memories that are related to the trauma.

The therapies may also activate the parasympathetic nervous system, the therapy may help to reduce stress and promote relaxation, which can help the brain to process and integrate the traumatic experience.

How do I know if brainspotting or EMDR is right for me?

It's important to note that both approaches have been shown to be effective in treating trauma and other mental health issues, and the choice comes down to the client’s preference and choice as to which to pursue. I would recommend trying a session of both to have an understanding of the differences and which feels like a better fit for you. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to therapy, and it’s important to explore the best fit for you in terms of the type of therapy and the therapist, taking into account their experience and style. Always honor what you feel you need.

If you’d like to give brainspotting therapy a try and want to see if we’d be a good fit to work together, please reach out for a free 15-min phone consultation to learn more.

How therapy can help you grow in self-compassion

This is the first part in a series about self-compassion. Today we will talk about what is self-compassion, and what are some ways therapy can help me grow in this?

In future blog posts we will explore how Lifespan Integration therapy and Brainspotting therapy can help develop self-compassion in more detail.  

The number one thing that clients come to therapy for

Sometimes people ask me, “What’s the number one issue that your clients come to therapy for?”  If you were to poll my clients, I think some would say anxiety, some depression, and some stress or trauma.  Those are definitely prevalent issues.  But there’s another issue that shows up in almost all of those, even though many clients may have no idea when they start working with me.  And that issue is this: the need to learn to let go of self-judgment and embrace self-compassion. 

To me, learning to practice self-compassion is one of the most important things that I can help my clients learn, and it undergirds everything in the way I practice therapy.  

If you want to make progress in your healing journey, learning self-compassion is a must.  Let’s talk about some ways to do that.

What is self-compassion?

Very simply, self-compassion involves treating yourself with kindness, warmth, and understanding.  It means realizing that making mistakes is part of being human and not a reason to isolate or berate ourselves.  And it means that it’s ok to feel painful emotions, but that doesn’t mean that we have to fuse with them.  

Practicing compassion toward ourselves is very similar to how we would treat a good friend when they are down and out.  If a good friend was hurting and came to us, our hearts would go out to them with kindness and caring.  We would listen to their thoughts and feelings with understanding, patience, and warmth.  We would sit with them in their pain and let them know they aren’t alone.  We would affirm our love for them even when they make mistakes.  We would comfort them and help them figure out where to go from here.

Most of us find it a lot easier to show this kind of kindness to others than ourselves.  When it comes to how we treat ourselves, many of us struggle with a strong inner critic that rears its head if we make a mistake.  When we mess up, often we react out of shame and experience isolation.  Instead of being patient with ourselves, we breathe ourselves for not having it together yet.  

As a result of our inner critic, we can get mired down in guilt, shame, and depressive feelings.  We can isolate and feel unworthy or fearful of being known by others.  We can get anxious and try to protect ourselves with perfectionism.  This brings its own kind of pain and can lead to feelings of overwhelm, burnout, or crippling  procrastination.  

Is any of this sounding familiar.  Yeah, me too!  Self-criticism is an epidemic and most of us know these patterns all too well. 

But there’s good news—therapy can help you learn to practice self-compassion and be kinder to yourself.  Here are a few ways how. 

How can therapy help you develop self-compassion?

1.  The therapeutic relationship

There are practically a million different therapies out there, but the one ingredient that makes any therapy as effective as it can be is a good relationship between you and your therapist.  

Feeling safe, supported, and cared for is of the utmost importance when it comes to your relationship with your therapist.  Ideally, this is another human being who you can share your innermost thoughts, fears, feelings, pains, hopes, disappointments, traumas, and dreams with.  They may know more about you than anyone else in your life.  It’s absolutely crucial that you feel they are always on your side, believing the best about you, and holding space for you with compassion and warmth.  

That doesn’t mean they might not give you some tough love every now then, telling you things that may be hard to hear.  But it should always feel kind, gentle, and supportive, with your best interest at heart.  

As you share your story with your therapist, you should experience someone who is fully present, listening intently, making space for your feelings, and looking back at you with eyes of kindness.  Feeling warmth and compassion from your therapist can help you practice compassion for yourself.  

Shame lies to us and makes us feel like if people knew “the real us” they would cut us off, humiliate us, look down on us.  Your therapist is someone who can know the “real you” and instead show you love and support, and point out your own inherent goodness even when you have a hard time seeing it.  

Feeling known in this way is revolutionary.  It can lift a huge burden off your shoulders, knowing that you are not alone, and that you are loved and accepted WITH your faults and mistakes, not apart from them.  

2.  Therapy is a place to practice curiosity instead of judgment

A key part of learning to practice self-compassion means turning toward our thoughts, feelings, and experiences with curiosity, not judgment.  Sometimes we don’t even realize it, but there are certain thoughts or feelings that we have made an unspoken vow not to feel. We avoid those thoughts, rationalize them away, or bury them deep.  We keep ourselves so busy or so zoned out on social media that we never have to feel them.  

Or other times we may feel them, but as soon as we do, we feel immediate self-hatred or shame for having those thoughts or feelings.  Our inner critic uses this as evidence that we are lazy, lousy, good for nothing, fill-in-the-blank-mean-name-calling-here. 

Instead, your counselor can help you recognize feelings you may have been avoiding,  They can also help you pause before using those feelings as a diving board into more self-judgment. Together, with the help of another compassionate human being in your process with you, you can label those thoughts and feelings and practice noticing them from a place of neutrality.  

In the observing of these painful thoughts, feelings, memories, etc., this is where healing happens.  In getting curious and making space for them, instead of disassociating, this is where healing happens.  A therapist can help you do this in session as you learn to do this on your own.

3.  Therapy is a place to practice the re-parenting process 

Many times when we struggle with our inner critic, perfectionism, or shame, these things can be long-standing issues for us that have roots in our childhoods.  

All of us is all of our ages at once.  We may be an adult with a car payment and a 401k, but we are also still that 10-year-old who got their feelings hurt on the playground or the 15-year-old who felt embarrassed at the school dance.  

Re-parenting is a therapeutic process that involves practicing self-compassion and curiosity and learning to give these things to the younger parts of yourself that never got them.

Through this therapeutic process, we can learn to recognize where our self-judgment is originating from and learn to give love and warmth to those younger parts of ourselves.  

Your therapist can help you step back from painful emotions and notice the patterns and roots of where these things are emerging from in your past.  They can help you see that always those feelings, defense mechanisms, and behaviors are there for a reason.  What you are experiencing makes sense.  They can help you feel the pain, meet the unmet needs of your younger self, and heal at a deeper level in your present-day life. 

Find a therapist to help you grow in self-compassion

If you struggle with shame, perfectionism, or self-judgment, and you are ready to start breaking those cycles, reach out today.  You can learn to practice self-compassion and go on a transformative healing journey—and you don’t have to do it alone.  Therapy can help.  Give me a call today for a free 15-min phone consultation to see if we’d be a good fit.  

How Lifespan Integration can help you process trauma

What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder can be developed in a person who has witnessed, lived through, or had someone close to them be involved in a scary, dangerous, or shocking event. Not everyone who goes through an event such as this will develop PTSD, but some will.

When we go through scary or threatening events, our body will activate its flight-fight-freeze-fawn response as part of its natural survival response. These responses such as elevated heart rate, nausea, lightheadedness, rapid breathing, shaking, tunnel vision, sweating, etc. are normal and designed by your nervous system to help you run to safety, fight off an attacker, etc. These symptoms are not PTSD, though they can be upsetting.

Symptoms of PTSD

PTSD symptoms occur after the trauma has ended—sometimes days, months, or even years later. The symptoms of PTSD can be broken into a couple categories: re-experiencing symptoms, and avoidance symptoms.

Re-experiencing symptoms of PTSD mean ways that your body re-experiences the trauma as part of the aftermath. These symptoms can be triggered by reminders of the trauma like trauma anniversaries, sights/sounds/sensory reminders, driving by the scene of the trauma, seeing the people involved, etc. They can also feel like they appear out of the blue. Re-experiencing symptoms can include:

• flashbacks—reliving the trauma over and over, including physical symptoms like a racing heart or sweating

• nightmares

• disturbing thoughts

Avoidance symptoms are what they sound like—behaviors that develop as defense mechanisms but that can create problems in your daily life. These include:

• Avoiding people, places, events, anything that could remind them of the trauma

• Avoiding thoughts or feelings related to the event, which could involve other behaviors such as substance abuse or dissociative behaviors to help people avoid those thoughts and feelings.

Other symptoms of PTSD affect our bodies and our minds. They can manifest through symptoms such as:

• Being easily startled

• Experiencing irritation to anger outbursts

• depressive symptoms like loss of interest in things

• Feeling a sense of guilt or blame

• Feeling on edge

• Having trouble sleeping

• negative outlook

• anxiety

An example could be someone who was involved in a car accident. They may find themselves avoiding driving in that part of town where the accident occurred, avoiding driving altogether, or experiencing panic attacks when they have to get behind the wheel of a car. When they are a passenger in the vehicle they may experience flashbacks that are distressing and come with a racing heart, sweating, and a sense of guilt about what happened. They may be plagued with reliving the trauma, imagining what they could have done differently, and experience a resulting depression and impairment of their daily life that makes it hard for them to function like they used to.

how to treat PTSD

The good news is that you do not need to suffer alone. There are many effective treatment options available for trauma. One thing we know about trauma now is that it is not all in your head. As you can see from the symptoms listed above, the body remembers and stores trauma. The body suffers many symptoms, and therefore the body needs to be included in the treatment. it can help to talk about things, but sometimes talking alone is not enough. You need a therapy that includes the brain and the body in the healing process.

What is Lifespan Integration therapy?

One such therapy is Lifespan Integration therapy.

“Lifespan Integration is a gentle, body-based therapeutic method which heals without re-traumatizing. Lifespan Integration relies on the innate ability of the body-mind to heal itself. LI is body-based, and utilizes repetitions of a visual time line of memories to facilitate neural integration and rapid healing.” (https://lifespanintegration.com/)

You can see this post here that explains more broadly what Lifespan Integration is. But today I want to share a bit about how Lifespan Integtration therapy can help with PTSD in particular.

How Lifespan Integration helps with PTSD

It is said that trauma creates a problem of time in the body. Meaning, not all of the body and brain realize the trauma is over, and part of yourself feels stuck in the past, still experiencing the trauma as if it is happening now. This is why we have the symptoms of flashbacks, the racing heart, the dreams—part of the body feels the trauma is still happening now. So our job is to help the body see the trauma is over, and to bring all parts of the self back to the present. Hence the “Integration” part of Lifespan Integration.

For PTSD clearing, the therapist will work with the client to create a list of memory cues from the traumatic event. In the example of a car accident, the memory cue list would include moments from before, during and after the accident, like a list of scenes in a movie. The client does not have to retell these in detail, merely a brief statement about them is enough. The therapist writes all of these scenes down and the timeline always ends in present time, up to the day of the session.

The therapist then reads the timeline back to the client and the client re-experiences it like a movie, always ending in the present moment. We do many quick repetitions in session, not dwelling on any moment too long, but emphasizing to the body with each repetition, “you survived, and the worst is truly over.” We go through very quickly to keep your distress in hearing the timeline as low as we can.

This helps the body come to realize that the past truly is over. The part of the body that is still alive in the moment of the trauma is reclaimed and brought back to the present.

The therapist is there to help the client not get overwhelmed by the intensity of the timeline, and the therapist has different ways to keep the client from getting overwhelmed by the processing.

Lifepsan Integration can help you find peace again after trauma

The result is truly amazing to see. Many people who experience this protocol within a single session can feel relief. For more complex trauma, especially early childhood trauma that extended over many years, treatment takes many sessions, but the results are still lasting and incremental peace, removal of symptoms, and people feeling whole again.

Finding a Lifespan Integration therapist in Tacoma, WA

If you’d like to try Lifespan Integration therapy for PTSD, feel free to give me a call for a free 15-min phone consultation to see if we’d be a good fit. And have hope, there are many wonderful therapies that are effective at helping people resolve trauma, such as EMDR, brainspotting, somatic experiencing, and others. You don’t have to suffer alone, reach out for help today.

What is brainspotting therapy and can it help me?

What is brainspotting?

Brainspotting is a powerful technique that is a combination of neuroscience, somatic therapy, mindfulness, and the healing power of the relationship between you and a caring, attuned therapist.

In nutshell, brainspotting is staring at a point in your visual field that helps to activate an emotional issue you want to process. The brain uses this eye position to help you activate these neural networks in the brain and body, and it goes to work re-processing them as you practice mindfulness with the help of your therapist.

If you’ve heard of EMDR, brainspotting uses eye movements in a similar way to access certain parts of the brain, but the technique is a little bit different.

Brainspotting helps to activate the natural healing system of the brain and body.

What happens in a brainspotting session?

A brainspotting therapy session is different than a regular talk therapy session. In a brainspotting session, you and your therapist will identify an issue you want to work on. This can be a trauma, a negative self-belief, a powerful emotion, a creative block, or an area of expansion and self-growth you want to focus on.

Then together we will determine a point in your visual field where this issue is most activated in you. By “activated,” what I mean is that you are aware of somatic feelings in your body related to this issue. As you tune into those feelings in your body, your brain will also be lighting up in the deeper regions where neural pathways related to this topic are located.

“Where you look affects how you feel.”

The therapist will then use a pointer to help you fix your eyes to this point and then invite you to notice what you are feeling and thinking. This is essentially practicing mindfulness, making space for any emotion, thought, or feeling with compassion and curiosity. This is also powerful to do with a therapist present with you, attuning to your needs, helping you when you get stuck, and assuring you that you are not alone as you re-experience whatever things come up for you.

As you do this, the brain is literally changing the way this content is stored in your body and re-processing it in a way that promotes more healing, resilience, and integration. Think of it like locating a corrupted file on your computer and running a software program that de-bugs the file and re-saves it as an intact file that is no longer corrupted. That’s an analogy of how this technique activates the innate healing power of your own brain and body.

The power of brainspotting also comes from the relationship between the therapist and client. Having the attuned presence of a caring and grounded therapist can enable clients to feel safer to experience painful or anxiety-provoking thoughts, feelings and sensations. It is powerful to experience your thoughts and feelings mindfully but knowing that are not alone with them, but connected to another compassionate human being here to help navigate you through whatever comes up.

How to find a brainspotting therapist in Tacoma, WA?

If you are looking for a brainspotting therapist in Tacoma, WA or WA state, I can help! I would love to introduce you to this powerful modality and draw upon it and other therapeutic tools to help you find lasting relief from trauma, anxiety, depression, or whatever patterns you are looking to re-write in your life.

Give me a call today for a free 15-min phone consultation to find out if we’d be a good fit!

10 ways to stop a panic attack

In the last blog, we looked at the symptoms of a panic attack. Today, let’s talk about 10 tips for helping to stop the panic.

1. Realize that you are going to be ok

Often having a panic attack can feel like you’re about to die. It is common to have impending feelings of doom or to mistake them for a heart attack. If panic attacks are a new experience for you, you should consult with your doctor to rule out medical conditions. If it’s determined to be panic attacks you are dealing with, when they start to happen remind yourself “I’m going to be ok.” Repeat that in your head as a mantra. Panic attacks are physically uncomfortable, but not dangerous. And they always end. Typically the worst of a panic attack will peak after 5-20 minutes.

2. Be kind to yourself

Panic attacks are nothing to be ashamed of. They do not mean you are weak or over-dramatic. The symptoms show that actually, your body is working hard to try and keep you safe from something it perceives as a threat. So be kind to yourself. Many people feel embarrassed by experiencing these, but if you can turn your attention toward kindness, that will help soothe the panic. Be kind to yourself like a comforting and safe adult would be to a child. In the moment, repeating a mantra like “it’s going to be ok,” or “I can get through this,” or “this will end,” can help. Turn on a comforting song, wrap yourself in a weighted blanket if that helps you, and when it’s over, give yourself some extra comfort.

3. Ride the wave

Treat panic attacks as a wave to surf rather than something to resist. In surfing, if you try to resist a cresting wave, you are just going to get pounded by that wave and taken under. Don’t resist the symptoms. Don’t focus on how you want them to stop. Do you remember those finger-trap toys we played with as kids? The ones that would trap your fingers at either end if you pulled to escape them? The more forcefully you try to pull out of those, the more stuck you become. The trick is to lean into the symptoms. Let them run their course without resisting them. That means letting the rapid heartbeat, the shaking, the derealization, etc. happen without trying to stop it or overly fixate on it. If you do this, the symptoms will alleviate much faster.

4. Try box breathing

When you’re having a panic attack your system is in fight or flight. Regulating our breathing is a powerful way to help the brain shift back into the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps to relax your body. During a panic attack, we are often breathing shallowly and possibly hyperventilating. Try box breathing instead. To do this, you inhale for a count of 4, hold your breath for 4, breathe out for 4, and then pause for 4. Then you inhale for 4 and keep repeating the cycle. Here’s a video on youtube that lets you breathe along with a calming visual to make box breathing easy.

5. Use grounding techniques

In addition to box breathing, grounding techniques are something you can do in the moment to help alleviate your symptoms of a panic attack. Grounding here refers to grounding yourself in the present moment using your 5 senses. Most often when we have panic attacks, our bodies are responding to a perceived threat that might not be happening at the moment. Our threat detection system is overly sensitive, and it’s like a car alarm going off with a firework—no one is actually breaking in, but the system went off by mistake. If that’s the case, then getting into our 5 sense and the present moment helps our body see that we are actually safe right now. To do this, focus on physical sensations. What can you hear? See? Touch? Taste? Smell?

A helpful exercise to practice this is the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise. To do this, look around your room and say out loud 5 things you can see. I like to name 5 things that are the same color, like 5 blue things in my room. Then 4 things you can touch and as you touch them, describe the texture and allow yourself to focus on what it actually feels like. Then 3 things you can hear, really tune into those sounds. Then 2 things you can smell, maybe an essential oil, some lotion, a scented candle, an orange. Let the smell fill your sense. Then one thing you can taste. Eat a piece of chocolate, a hard candy, some orange, whatever you have. Focus on the sensation of taste you are experiencing. The more you focus on your physical experience the less you are focusing on the anxious thoughts and allowing yourself to reconnect to the present moment. Here’s a video to walk you through this exercise.

6. Use visual imagery

Another thing you can try in a moment of anxiety is to imagine a peaceful place and try to inhabit that vision in your imagination as much as possible. Maybe you imagine sitting by a mountain stream, or walking on the beach. Pay attention to the physical details. Can you feel the wind on your face? The sound of waves crashing? The feeling of sand between your toes? Choose a location that is calming for you. Try to get into the sensory details of the experience as much as possible. This is another way to take the focus off your symptoms and help you ride the wave of panic safely to the shore.

7. Go for a walk

When you are in fight or flight, your body systems are on alert to try and protect you from a threat. One way our body does this is preparing your body to run from a threat. Blood literally goes into your arms and legs so you can run, which is why you may have a tingling sensation in your hands and feet. Blood is channeled away from your abdomen and head, which is why you may feel sick to your stomach or light-headed. Going for a walk is doing what your body wants to do—to move! So try walking around the block, or doing some pushups, or doing a short sprint. This one won’t be for everyone, but some people find this immensely helpful. Plus, if it’s safe to go outside, the change in environment can be calming.

8. Ask for support

This is a big one! Don’t go it alone! If you have a friend, family member or pet that you can be with while you are experiencing a panic attack, that can help comfort you. They can be a loving presence with you helping you know that you are going to be ok. If you’re alone when you’re having one, think about if there is anyone you can call or text for support. Do be careful with this one though as some people don’t know how to respond when you’re having a panic attack. It’s best if you talk to your support people before a panic attack comes on. Let them know this is something you experience sometime and ask if they’d be willing to support you if you are having an episode. Then tell them how to support you. Generally, that means that they just are a loving and kind presence with you. Let them know there’s nothing to fix and that it’s not a medical emergency, just something that you have to let run its course.

9. Be careful with medications

If you are experiencing panic attacks, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor. It used to be a practice in the past that a class of medications called benzodiazapines would be prescribed for panic attacks. That includes medications like Klonipin, Valium, Xanax, and others. These meds work as gentle tranquilizers and slow down messages between your brain and body. These medications have their place, but are generally only safe for very occasional use, like before a surgery. If they are taken frequently, they can be addictive. When the body habituates to them and then you try to come off of them, many people experience rebound anxiety. Sometimes the rebound anxiety can be worse than the initial anxiety that drove them to start the medication in the first place. These are not often prescribed for panic attacks anymore, but it’s good for you to be aware of and stay away from these medications if possible unless monitored closely by an experienced psychiatric medication prescriber.

10. Counseling can help

Panic attacks can be very scary, especially if they come on out of the blue or often. Just know you don’t have to go through this alone. Panic attacks are highly treatable, and working with a therapist can help you practice these techniques to get through them more easily. A counselor can also help you identify what is triggering your anxiety, help you process and heal past trauma that may be contributing, and help you create a plan for wellness to minimize the impact of panic attacks. If you’d like to see if you and I might be a good fit to help you decrease panic attacks and find your peace again, give me a call today for a free phone consultation.

What are the symptoms of a panic attack?

Do you struggle with panic attacks?

You’re not alone.

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent of any mental illness in the US. Nearly 20% of the US population aged 18 and older suffers from an anxiety disorder every year (Anxiety and Depression Association of America). Almost 5% of Americans will experience a panic disorder at some time in their lives (National Institute for Mental Health). Women are twice as likely to experience panic disorder than men.

The good news is that panic attacks are highly treatable, as are all anxiety disorders. But sadly many suffer without seeking help.

My own experience with panic attacks

As a therapist, I work with a lot of folks experiencing these symptoms, and I have experienced them myself, too. In my mid-20’s I had my first panic attack “out of the blue,” and I had no idea what was happening to me. The heart palpitations, the light-headedness, the feelings of doom… I hated getting ambushed by panic attacks.

When they first hit, I felt like I might die, or at the very least something was seriously wrong with me. At that time I hadn’t even heard of a panic attack. As they started happening more and more, I feared being in crowded public places or traveling, in case one hit me and I felt trapped. If I did have to be at a public event, I always had an eye on the exits, sat on the end of a row so I could get out quickly if I needed to, and I was never without water and snacks in case I felt the dreaded light-headedness coming on.

I went to my primary care doctor and she diagnosed with me panic disorder, and I thought, “Whoa, that sounds serious—I have a disorder now?” She didn’t offer any help except for a medication that I could take when one came on, but the meds made me feel floaty and disconnected from reality. I didn’t really like it, and I didn’t want to get addicted to a medication. This ended up being a good instinct as the kind of medication she prescribed me (Klonipin, which is in a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines) are now known to be addictive and often makes things worse if taken too frequently for panic attacks. (These drugs are less often prescribed now, and prescribers are more aware of the danger of dependency and do a better job educating patients about this.)

It wasn’t until years later in therapy and my own research that I learned the skills that helped me get the panic attacks under control. The biggest breakthrough came through learning that panic attacks, while very uncomfortable, are not actually dangerous. Once I learned that and a few skills, things dramatically changed for the better. But more on this in the next post.

My goal in this blog is to help you learn to recognize the symptoms of a panic attack so you can feel less afraid of the symptoms and more empowered to get the help you need to feel better fast.

Symptoms of a panic attack

A panic attack is characterized by a onset of sudden and intense anxiety. It is accompanied by physical symptoms such as:

• Racing, pounding heart or the feeling your heart is skipping a beat

• Brethtlessness

• Shaking

• Sweating

• Tunnel vision

• lightheadedness or dizziness

• nausea or stomach distress

• dry mouth

• feelings of derealization or depersonalization

People not familiar with panic attacks may think they are having a heart attack. It is also common to feel like you may faint or even die.

It’s easy to see how these scary symptoms can lead people to develop a fear of having the next one, and to try and shrink their world down in protection to prevent that.

Panic disorder versus panic attacks

Panic disorder is when you’ve had at least two panic attacks and you constantly worry and change your routine to keep from having another one. It’s a type of anxiety disorder (WebMD).

What makes panic disorder debilitating is not necessarily the panic attacks themselves, but the fear of panic attacks. This fear of fear causes people to shink their lives smaller and smaller to feel safe. For example, people may become afraid of being in crowded places, driving, traveling too far from home, exercising, or even leaving the house. This can be incredibly debilitating and cause a strain on people’s ability to go to work or school, have relationships, and function in their daily lives.

Get help for panic attacks

In my next post, I will discuss ways to treat panic attacks, including some exercises you can use on your own.

But in the meantime, if you relate to any of these symptoms, counseling can help. You don’t have to suffer alone. Reach out today for a free 15-min phone consultation to see if we’d be a good fit, and let’s walk together through the panic and out the other side to a more peaceful, empowered life.

The benefits of online therapy | How to find online therapy in Washington state

Are you looking for an online therapist in Washington state? The verdict is in, and online therapy is an effective and accessible means of working on your mental health goals from anywhere. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of online counseling.

Online therapy is as effective as in-person therapy

Covid sucks. But one good thing it gave us (other than our new sourdough baking habit and collection of sweatpants) is way more opportunities to see therapists online than in the pre-pandemic days. Now, practically all therapists offer online appointments. But is seeing a therapist online as effective as in-person?

Yes!

There have been numerous studies that support the effectiveness of online therapy in a host of mental health issues like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more. Not only that, but studies find that patients are generally just as satisfied with online counseling as they are with in-person counseling.

According to the National Center for Health Research:

Research has found that online therapy can be effective at treating anxiety, depression, and trauma. There is no difference in patient satisfaction depending on whether therapy is online or in-person, and for either method of receiving therapy, the outcomes are better the more sessions someone attends.

Doing online therapy in Washington state means you have more selection in finding the right therapist for you

It can be hard to find the exact right therapist you are looking for. Someone who has the personality that puts you at ease, the expertise to help with your issue, and the methods that suit your needs best. Sometimes, you just aren’t able to find that person in your city. But with online therapy, that is no longer a problem. You can expand your search to anywhere in your state! Try googling your search terms and using different metro areas in your state. If you already searched “anxiety therapist Tacoma,” or “therapist for women Seattle,” try searching with different metro areas like Bellingham, Spokane, etc., or “online therapy WA state anxiety.,” etc. This will help you expand your options. You can also do this by using different zip codes on websites like www.psychologytoday.com or www.therapyden.com.

Online therapy gives you convenience and comfort that make taking care of your mental health a little easier

It feels like there is more to be stressed about in life than ever before, and many of us have never been busier. It’s really hard to make time for the self-care things we all want to do and know we should be doing. Exercise, prepping healthy food, taking care of our mental health. It can feel impossible to fit everything in. Online therapy in WA state is a great option if this sounds like you. No parking, no traffic—you can even do sessions on your lunch break or in your office or car after work. Or you can do it from home while your child takes a nap or watches a couple epsides of Cocomelon. 😁 Online therapy makes mental health care so much more accessible for so many more people who wouldn’t otherwise have the time.

Also, some people find it easier to open up virtually as opposed to in-person. The screen can be a welcome buffer for some people that helps them let their guard down without feeling overly vulnerable. And you can have sessions from a place where you feel safe, like in your home, with your dog on your lap, a weighted blanket around your shoulders, and your favorite mug of tea in your hands if you want to.

Call today for a free consultation about online therapy in Washington state

If you’re looking for an online therapist in WA state, I would be happy to chat and see if we are a good fit! I help women to get unstuck and back on a path to feeling calm and connected to their best selves. Give me a call today for a free 15-min phone consultation.

How to find a therapist in Tacoma

So you’re looking for a therapist in Tacoma—where do you start? Here are some suggestions to get you started!

Ask friends if they have a therapist in Tacoma they love

Word of mouth is always the best! Do you have any friends or coworkers who have ever mentioned “Oh, let me tell you what my therapist told me once…” Thankfully there is less and less stigma around mental health these days, especially with younger generations, and many people are as excited to tell you about a therapist or type of therapy they loved as they are their favorite bahn mi shop! Don’t be afraid to ask around. Many people are glad to know that their experience can help others. Ask questions about where they found their therapist, how many therapists they interviewed before deciding on the right one, what helped them know their therapist was “the one,” and what they like the most about who they see.

Ask your doctor or medical professional for referrals

Another great source for a therapist in Tacoma is of course your doctor. You probably thought of that, but if you didn’t get the right recommendation, don’t stop there! Other medical professionals network and have therapists they know and trust as well. Think about asking your dentist, massage therapist, acupuncturist, or chiropractor.

Contact your insurance for therapist referrals and psychotherapy benefits coverage

Calling your insurance company has the benefit of only giving you referrals that are in-network with your plan. But in case you aren’t finding the therapist in Tacoma you want to work with, or they are full, don’t fret! You may still be able to use your insurance benefits with an out-of-network provider. Many people can still receive a percentage of reimbursement for services by mailing in a “superbill” (a receipt of services) to your insurance and then getting paid back later. When you call for in-network referral options, go ahead and ask about your out-of-network mental health benefits. That way, if you find the perfect therapist who is out-of-network, you’ll already know your options and may even be entitled for some money back.

And of course, Google it to find a therapist in Tacoma

I know you definitely thought of this one! But try a few different search terms in Google to see your options. Maybe you tried googling “therapist in Tacoma,” but did you know you can see different options if you search “counselor in Tacoma” or “anxiety therapist in Tacoma?” Try searching more specifically for the issues you want to work on or the type of therapy you want, like “therapist for women in Tacoma,” or “Lifespan Integration therapist in Tacoma.”

Also, there are some useful online directories where you can filter your search by the issue you want to work on, insurance preference, being seen in-person or virtually, narrowed down by zip code, and more! Definitely let these directory search tools help you find the perfect therapist in Tacoma for you.

www.psychologytoday.com

www.therapyden.com

Do I really need a therapist near me? Not anymore!

There wasn’t much good that came out of the worst of the pandemic (except maybe a wider selection of athleisure wear, thanks pandemic! 😂), but one good thing is that now almost all therapists offer online virtual appointments. This is great news for consumers because while you used to be limited to only seeing specialists in your immediate area, now you can look for a therapist in WA state! So think about widening your search from “therapist in Tacoma” to googling different major cities like Seattle, Spokane, Bellingham, etc. to see if you find a therapist who you think would be a good fit.

To find your perfect therapist, set up multiple consultation calls

Finally, I highly recommend that you set up multiple consultation calls with different therapists to find the right fit for you. Most everyone offers a free 15-min consultation call. And finding a therapist is a little like online dating—it takes some persistence to pay off usually! Just know that it is normal and encouraged to interview several people til you find someone who you feel a sense of comfort with and who works in a way that would best suit your needs.

If you are looking for a therapist in Tacoma or an online therapist in WA state, I would love to set up a free call to see if we are a good fit! I help women get unstuck from anxiety, depression, and negative patterns, and feel more connected to their authentic selves. Call today and take the next step in feeling better.

How Therapy Can Reduce Anxiety: The Anxiety Equation

In the next few blogs, I will be writing a series of tips for how to reduce anxiety. As an anxiety therapist in Tacoma, WA, most clients that I work with suffer from an anxiety disorder of one kind or another.

anxiety disorders are on the rise.

During the height of the pandemic in 2020-2021, we saw an increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression from 36.4% to 41.5% (CDC). Even as the worst effects of the pandemic have waned, we have more global instability, financial pressures, and personal stressors than many of us have experienced before in our lifetime.

Now just because you have anxious feelings does not mean you have an anxiety disorder. Generally, something is considered an anxiety disorder if the symptoms you are having inhibit your functioning and cause persistent distress. There are several types of anxiety disorders including PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, burnout from work, caregiving, etc., obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety, and more. A therapist can explore your symptoms with you and work with you to understand if you meet the criteria for a diagnosis.

How therapy for anxiety has helped me.

As an anxiety therapist in Tacoma, WA, I am not immune to anxiety. I know firsthand the suffering that anxiety can cause. So I too have to stay vigilant of my own mental health and find strategies to reduce and manage anxiety in my life (which I do through working with my own therapist and practicing many of the techniques I share with clients). Today I want to share an “equation” of sorts that I personally have found immensely helpful in my own recovery from anxiety, and many of my clients have benefited from understanding this principle, too.

An anxiety disorder = OVERESTIMATING a sense of risk + UNDERESTIMATING your own ability to cope.

Is your mind-blown? 🤯 Not yet? Let’s break it down a little further.

Anxiety causes us to overestimate the risk of many situations.

One symptom of anxiety is hyper-vigilance. That means we constantly scanning our circumstances, environment, relationships, etc. for danger. This is actually a wonderful survival skill. We need to be aware to stay safe. But when we move from “normal” anxiety to “disordered anxiety,” it’s like these survival skills like hyper-vigilance get stuck in the on-switch. The brain and body don’t know how to relax and go back into our baseline of safety.

You’ve probably noticed that the more hyper-vigilant you are looking for a threat, the more you will find evidence of one. Have you ever thought you heard a sound in the house at night and your brain instantly goes toward a break-in? Those next moments in bed you are still as a statue and hyper-aware of every little creak of the house and gust of wind, and your brain can run away with this and create all sorts of scary scenarios.

Or maybe you get anxious about the feelings of anxiety itself in the body. This is common for people with panic disorder. We become afraid of feeling afraid. This can cause us to be hyper-vigilant about every little change in our bodies. We become concerned about any increase in heart or change in breathing. And if you are anxious about your heart rate and then start monitoring your heart rate, guess what—your heart rate is going to increase, and then the anxiety increases, and so the cycle goes.

These are examples of normal, everyday occurrences that our anxious brains can twist into things that feel really scary. In these examples, we are overestimating the risk of various scenarios.

anxiety causes us to underestimate our ability to cope.

The other piece of this equation is that when we have an anxiety disorder, we are prone to drastically underestimating our ability to cope in the situations we fear. Worry and overthinking really come into play here. Our brain shows us a horror movie marathon we never bought tickets for—images of ourselves devastated by an illness, ruined by financial loss, the butt of that joke whispered at the party, etc.

The brain is all too good at inventing scary stories. Weirdly, this is also rooted in survival. Your brain is always all about your survival as its number one priority, and it doesn’t know when it’s WAY TOO OVER-EAGER at its job! If your brain and body are dealing with disordered anxiety, it will want to influence your behavior to not do anything that is risky. And part of that is us imagining that these various scenarios will be too much for us to handle.

Something else that reinforces our false beliefs that we cannot cope well with the things we fear is something else that is a key player in every anxiety disorder: AVOIDANCE.

Avoidance will super-charge your anxiety.

It’s natural, you were bit by a dog as a kid, and subsequently, you are afraid of dogs, so you avoid dogs! But anxiety disorders tend to take on a life of their own. At first, you avoided owning a dog, but that fear can grow to never petting dogs, refusing to enter a house if there’s a dog there, breaking out into sweats when walking around your neighborhood for fear of running into a dog, etc. Every time we avoid the thing we are afraid of, avoidance is like a little reward to our brain. I don’t have to face that thing—a get out of jail free card, yay! But the more we do that, the more reinforce avoiding our fears, and teach our brain we are incapable of handling our fears! And so that fear grows.

This is how social anxiety blooms into more and more fear of meeting new people or going into public spaces. Or how agoraphobia (the fear of leaving one’s house or safe zone or familiar surroundings) starts to develop. We are less and less willing to tolerate risk because the brain has been rewarded time and time again by little avoidance treats that cut short our discomfort with facing our fears, even if it’s safe and necessary to do so.

So what’s the answer?

Reducing anxiety involves more accurately assessing risk and growing in confidence in our ability to tolerate discomfort.

The good news is there are many effective treatments for anxiety! Hurrah! We must learn to correct our exaggerated perceptions of risk by becoming aware of the thoughts we are having that scare us, deconstructing them, and replacing them with more accurate thoughts that are much more realistic about the danger. We must also learn to slowly start facing our fears in a safe environment so we can grow in confidence that we are capable of handling that discomfort. Through this process, we learn we are actually much more capable and resilient than we thought.

Another approach that is necessary is working with our bodies. Anxiety is not all in our heads. While addressing thinking is important, we also need a body-based approach. Most of the symptoms that give us discomfort are in our bodies—racing heart, upset digestion, sleeplessness, fatigue, etc.

This is why I love using the therapy brainspotting to help people who suffer from anxiety. It is a gentle body-based approach that heals without retraumatizing. Our goal here is to help your fight-flight-freeze system in your brain go back to its baseline and off of high alert. We are helping your nervous system to relax, which will also make it easier for you to change your thinking patterns to reduce anxiety as well.

I am an anxiety therapist in Tacoma, Wa and WA state.

Don’t suffer alone anymore! Finding an anxiety therapist in Tacoma, WA can help you to reduce anxiety, manage stress, and find peace again. Anxiety disorders are very treatable. Call today for a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if we are a good fit.

Therapy spotlight: What is Lifespan Integration and could it help me?

There are countless therapies out there and it can sound like alphabet soup—CBT, ACT, EMDR—OMG 😂 There are many therapy modalities that are effective and can work for you. Rarely is there one right answer, but instead many paths to healing. However, sometimes, a particular therapy deserves a shout-out among the rest for its usefulness when it comes to certain issues. So today I want to highlight the therapy LIfespan Integration (LI) and how it can help you in your healing journey.

What is Lifespan Integration Therapy?

From the Lifespan Integration website:

Lifespan Integration is a gentle, body-based therapeutic method that heals without re-traumatizing. In 2003, Peggy Pace published the first edition of her book, Lifespan Integration: Connecting Ego States through Time. Pace originally designed Lifespan Integration therapy for adult survivors of childhood abuse or neglect. She soon found that LI therapy facilitates rapid healing in people of all ages, and is effective with a wide range of therapeutic issues. Since 2004, Pace has been training therapists throughout the US and Western Europe.

“Lifespan Integration is a gentle, body-based therapeutic method which heals without re-traumatizing.”

Lifespan Integration is different from talk therapy in that our focus is not a cognitive approach that deals with changing thoughts or negative beliefs. LI is body-based, and utilizes repetitions of a visual timeline of memories to facilitate neural integration and rapid healing. By using the timeline from the client’s life, LI helps integrate a person’s sense of self throughout every stage of their life.

Using this panoramic approach of one’s entire life, the body can naturally allow traumatic memories to resurface without the therapist having to take the client deep into those difficult memories. We can work with those traumas with a light touch and help the body realize that those traumas are over and they are now in the present—the timeline proves to the body that this is so.

Repetitions of a timeline of the client’s memory cues are central to every LI protocol. Some LI protocols are focused on clearing body memory of trauma, and some are focused on building self-structure. Most LI protocols do some of both. In a typical LI session, the therapist will read the client’s timeline to them multiple times and the client will view their life as a movie. Other interventions will be done depending on our goal.

What kinds of issues is Lifespan Integration good for?

We can use Lifespan Integration to clear traumas, build self-esteem, help diffuse relationship stress, help with grief, target negative beliefs, decrease anxiety and depression, promote a calmer nervous system, and more. Lifespan Integration helps rewire a person’s nervous system to help them be more resilient to stress and better able to regulate their emotions. It does this through integrating neural pathways to create a solid core self.

Imagine a trampoline that was hanging by only a handful of springs, parts of the fabric flopping down. I bet you’d be nervous to jump, am I right? With good reason! There aren’t enough points of connection to provide that buoyancy against your weight.

But think of a properly assembled trampoline—there are dozens of points of connection all the way around between the fabric and the springs attached to the frame. The more points of connection, the stronger that trampoline is to support your weight, and the more fun you have jumping.

Lifespan Integration helps create those points of connection between all of our neural networks (which are stored all over our brain and body). The more internally connected we are (aka integrated), the stronger our core sense of self and well-being.

looking for lifespan integration therapy near you?

Imagine feeling you really know yourself deeply, and love who you are. Imagine cultivating a relationship of compassion with yourself at every stage throughout your life. Imagine getting to go back in time and “input” some of the love, affirmation, advocacy, and support that you needed back then, in a way that matters for your present-day self. Lifespan Integration allows you to do all these things in a way that is not just on the level of our thoughts, but in our very body itself.

I provide Lifespan Integration therapy in Tacoma, WA, and online to residents of WA. (Lifespan Integration therapy works very in online therapy, by the way)! If you'd like to find out more about Lifespan Integration and if this therapy is right for you, give me a call at 253-365-0403 to ask about counseling. I provide a free 15-min phone consult to see if we are a good fit.