Anxiety Therapy in Chicago

Identity-affirming and neuro-affirming care in an inclusive environment in Logan Square and Avondale

Sticky notes representing overwhelming, anxious thoughts addressed by therapy

Anxiety isn’t all bad; it can be protective and productive.

Unchecked, anxiety can feel like it takes over.

Whether you’re experiencing general anxiety, social anxiety, phobias, or panic disorder, we can support you with developing tools to decrease anxiety and improve your satisfaction and peace in work, relationships, and daily life.

Anxiety shows up in different ways.

You may have anxiety if you have physical symptoms like:

nausea
headache
muscle tightness
racing heart
fatigue

Other symptoms might be:

racing thoughts
brain fog
irritability
feeling disconnected

Therapists at Common Thread Counseling can help you come up with a plan that lowers your anxiety and allows you to reclaim your life.

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Anxiety conditions that therapy can help with include:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder:

GAD is chronic or daily worry about multiple issues over an extended period of time that is hard to control.

Anxiety may be about:

work
health
family
the state of the world
your children
finances

Signs you may have anxiety:

You constantly feel a sense of ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’, even if you can’t quite name what that is.
You might have trouble putting small problems in perspective.
It feels impossible to be present in moments or enjoy activities.
You feel like you are on high alert
You have difficulty with concentration, performing daily tasks, self care, and interacting with others.

Therapists at Common Thread Counseling Chicago can help you lower anxiety so you feel like yourself again.

Start Therapy for Anxiety

Social anxiety:

If you have social anxiety, you may feel intense worry about being judged or scrutinized in social settings.

Social anxiety can be extremely disruptive.

Social anxiety can lead to avoidance and interference in daily life.
Social anxiety may lead to increased substance use before, during, and after social events to cope
Social anxiety can turn an errand, running into someone at school pick-up, or a work presentation into a consuming mental spiral.
Anticipatory anxiety can disrupt how you engage in social events.
You may also ruminate after the event, overthinking what you said, how you acted, or someone else’s perceived response to you. Did I offend her? Does my coworker think I’m stupid?

Therapists at Common Thread Counseling can help you develop tools to go into social situations feeling more confident, present, and less anxious, and leaving events feeling less stressed.

Woman hiding after social interaction because of rumination and social anxiety

Phobias:

A phobia is a persistent and unreasonable fear.

Phobias could include specific phobias or agoraphobia.

A phobia could be an animal, a fear of heights, or fear of flying.

Agoraphobia refers to fearing and avoiding situations where you believe that you could not escape or get help if you panic.

These situations could include public transportation, crowds, or small closed spaces.

Phobias can prevent you from living life to the fullest; therapy can help.

Start Therapy for a Phobia

Panic disorder:

Panic disorder involves recurrent, unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden surges of intense fear with no apparent cause. Physical symptoms include:

racing heart
chest tightness
shortness of breath
dizziness
sweating
nausea
a sense of detachment

If you have panic disorder, you have persistent worry about having another panic attack.

This often leads to avoiding certain places, situations, or activities out of fear they might trigger an attack.

Panic disorder can have a devastating impact on your quality of life; therapy at Common Thread Counseling Chicago can help provide tools and support to get back to feeling like yourself.

Our Approach to Therapy for Anxiety

In our sessions together, we can help you develop insight into the root of your anxiety and how to lower it by:

naming the symptoms associated with anxiety
identifying specific triggers for the anxiety
developing coping strategies to lower the anxious response
distinguish productive problem-solving from unproductive worry spirals

Practical skills we teach:

reframing
cognitive restructuring
behavioral rehearsal
decatastrophizing
challenging all-or-nothing thinking
exposure therapy
mindfulness and grounding techniques combat “what if” thinking
increasing your tolerance for uncertainty

Whether your goals are to be more present, feel physically more relaxed, engage in events or spaces again, feel more confident in your job, or improve how you’re showing up in relationships, therapy for anxiety can help.

Anxiety Therapy in Chicago

Identity-affirming and neuro-affirming care in an inclusive environment in Logan Square and Avondale

Anxiety isn’t all bad; it can be protective and productive.

Therapists at Common Thread Counseling can help you come up with a plan that lowers your anxiety and allows you to reclaim your life.

Anxiety conditions that therapy can help with include:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder:

GAD is chronic or daily worry about multiple issues over an extended period of time that is hard to control.

Anxiety may be about:

work

health

family

the state of the world

your children

finances

Signs you may have anxiety:

You constantly feel a sense of ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’, even if you can’t quite name what that is.

You might have trouble putting small problems in perspective.

It feels impossible to be present in moments or enjoy activities.

You feel like you are on high alert

You have difficulty with concentration, performing daily tasks, self care, and interacting with others.

Therapists at Common Thread Counseling Chicago can help you lower anxiety so you feel like yourself again.

Social anxiety:

If you have social anxiety, you may feel intense worry about being judged or scrutinized in social settings.

Social anxiety can be extremely disruptive.

Social anxiety can lead to avoidance and interference in daily life.

Social anxiety may lead to increased substance use before, during, and after social events to cope

Social anxiety can turn an errand, running into someone at school pick-up, or a work presentation into a consuming mental spiral.

Anticipatory anxiety can disrupt how you engage in social events.

You may also ruminate after the event, overthinking what you said, how you acted, or someone else’s perceived response to you. Did I offend her? Does my coworker think I’m stupid?

Therapists at Common Thread Counseling can help you develop tools to go into social situations feeling more confident, present, and less anxious, and leaving events feeling less stressed.

Phobias:

A phobia is a persistent and unreasonable fear.

Phobias could include specific phobias or agoraphobia.

A phobia could be an animal, a fear of heights, or fear of flying.

Agoraphobia refers to fearing and avoiding situations where you believe that you could not escape or get help if you panic.

These situations could include public transportation, crowds, or small closed spaces.

Phobias can prevent you from living life to the fullest; therapy can help.

Panic disorder:

Panic disorder involves recurrent, unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden surges of intense fear with no apparent cause. Physical symptoms include:

racing heart

chest tightness

shortness of breath

dizziness

sweating

nausea

a sense of detachment

If you have panic disorder, you have persistent worry about having another panic attack.

This often leads to avoiding certain places, situations, or activities out of fear they might trigger an attack.

Panic disorder can have a devastating impact on your quality of life; therapy at Common Thread Counseling Chicago can help provide tools and support to get back to feeling like yourself.

Our Approach to Therapy for Anxiety

In our sessions together, we can help you develop insight into the root of your anxiety and how to lower it by:

naming the symptoms associated with anxiety

identifying specific triggers for the anxiety

developing coping strategies to lower the anxious response

distinguish productive problem-solving from unproductive worry spirals

Practical skills we teach:

reframing

cognitive restructuring

behavioral rehearsal

decatastrophizing

challenging all-or-nothing thinking

exposure therapy

mindfulness and grounding techniques combat “what if” thinking

increasing your tolerance for uncertainty

Whether your goals are to be more present, feel physically more relaxed, engage in events or spaces again, feel more confident in your job, or improve how you’re showing up in relationships, therapy for anxiety can help.