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Dr. Patrick McGrath’s Blog

When Stress Is Just Too Much to Handle

    This may just be the time that help is necessary, so let’s talk about that for a minute. Asking for help is not easy, and finding the right help is even more difficult. So, where do you go?

    At Anxiety Centers of Illinois (ACI), our goal is to give you the help that you need for the stressors that you experience. We focus on your anxiety and stress. All of our therapists are trained in assisting you to fully face your fears and learn ways to handle anxiety that are really helpful. Our therapists will not tell you things such as, “Just don’t think about it,” or, “You’ll be fine.” If those types of phrases worked, then there would be no need for anyone to be in treatment. Instead, we will work with you to develop a plan to specifically do the things that you fear. Starting with your lowest level fears, we will work to desensitize you to the emotions and physical sensations that bother you, allowing you to see that you can handle what you are afraid of or what stresses you.

    Once you learn that you can handle small level fears, we will work toward exposing you to higher level fears until you are facing your main fears and stressors. We can do this with you or you can also have support people involved in your sessions.

    We want to be sure that the work that you are doing is quick, efficient, and economical. Our goal is not to keep you in therapy forever – we want you to learn your tools to face your stressors and then go out and live your life. We are always available for booster sessions if you need them, but many of our patients are able to go back to their lives after 10 to 15 sessions and they require very little work with us when they leave, as long as they continue to practice the tools that we taught them.

    So, feel free to set up an appointment with one of our therapists and allow us to help you to face your fears.