Anxiety doesn’t have to stand between you and
success
You're about to...
step up to the microphone. Maybe it’s on a stage, in a courtroom, or in a classroom. You can feel the butterflies in your stomach. Your limbs shake. Your armpits are sweaty. Your mouth feels like cotton. You’re trying to hold it together, but the panic takes over as your mind goes blank.
Or maybe...
you’re on the brink of a big moment in your career – asking for a raise, pitching to a big client, starting your own practice. Part of you believes you have what it takes, but another part of you keeps shrinking back and doubting you can do it. So you let the opportunity go by…again.
Your inner critic is...
rearing its ugly little head, and it seems to be getting worse as time goes on. The pressure to be perfect is weighing you down. It’s a vicious spiral – the worse you feel, the harder it is to perform well, which diminishes your confidence.
You've tried...
deep breathing, positive affirmations, and telling yourself you’re “fine”. But your head and your body don’t seem to be on the same page.
Anxiety is a normal feeling that we all have.
Some amount of anxiety is actually helpful when it comes to performing at your best. It gives you energy and motivation to do well. If you didn’t have ANY anxiety, you wouldn’t have gotten to this point in your career.
But if you are feeling too much anxiety, your performance can suffer.
It’s not that you need the anxiety to go away. You just need the right amount of it.
One way I explain anxiety to my clients is that your brain has an alarm system, kind of like a house. If you have an alarm set for your house, you only want it to go off when someone is actually trying to break in. You don’t want it to go off when there’s a strong breeze, when the mailman comes, or when a friend knocks on your door.
But that’s what happens when we feel anxious in situations where there is no real danger.
Your brain has a “bug” in its alarm system, causing it to go off at inappropriate times.
We have had experiences in our past that taught us to react in this way. Like being judged, humiliated or criticized by others. Sometimes there was a performance-related trauma, like an injury or a disappointing performance. And sometimes there is nothing in particular we can point to that explains why we feel this way.
When we aren’t performing our best, it can feel like we are locked up in our own minds and can’t find the key.
Some of us can feel tremendous shame that we feel this way.
You might have even used alcohol or other drugs to try to cope, which can add to the problem.
Maybe you have started avoiding certain people or situations so you won’t have to speak or perform.
And if you love - or want - a career that depends on you being able to perform, avoiding the problem is not a great option.
You need a better solution.
Fortunately your brain can learn to adjust the alarm.
Are you ready to:
Feel more confident
Get into your zone of genius more easily
Be less afraid of judgment or criticism
Together we will:
Assess the thoughts, feelings and physical sensations you are experiencing. We will include earlier life experiences. They may be feeding into how your brain is interpreting current challenges.
Strengthen your “C” qualities. They are: calm, confident, creative, clear, curious, courageous, compassionate, connected. You will learn how to apply them
Reboot your brain. We will support your mind and body in being able to work together. You can grow and develop your skills instead of watching them atrophy.
EMDR Intensives can help
EMDR Intensives can be a great alternative to traditional weekly therapy. They are for those who need faster progress than the older model of therapy allows. This is especially true for an imminent event, such as a presentation, performance or test.
Think of EMDR Intensives as an accelerator for your healing. We aren’t skipping any necessary steps in the process, but we can do them faster.
Specializing in EMDR Intensives for:
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Performers/creatives who identify as ACOA
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Mental blocks after injury, accident or other performance-related trauma
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Confidence issues
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Creative blocks
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Perfectionism
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Performance slumps and burnout