Anxiety and Stress Counselling

Therapists Plymouth

By seeking specialist support and guidance from a counsellor in Plymouth, you can identify the causes of stress and anxiety, gain a better understanding of your thoughts and emotions, develop coping strategies, and improve your mental health and well-being.

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Key benefits of counselling for anxiety

Seeking professional help from a therapist is essential when anxiety and stress impact negatively on your daily life.  Through counselling with a professional therapist, you can learn effective coping strategies to help you manage anxiety and stress and find greater balance in your life:

Symptoms of stress and anxiety

Stress and anxiety can manifest in various physical, emotional and behavioural signs, for example panic attacks, loss of appetite, and sleep disturbances.  Recognising the signs early can help you manage stress and anxiety effectively.  If symptoms persist or worsen, consulting a mental health professional is advisable.

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Personalised strategies

A key aspect of counselling for stress and anxiety is the ability to identify and address the root causes.  Through self-reflection and guided discussions with an experienced counsellor, you can gain insights into your triggers and develop personalised strategies to help manage and reduce your stress levels.

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Managing work-related stress

Feeling overwhelmed and stressed at work is something that many individuals can relate to. The demands of our jobs, deadlines, and high expectations can all contribute to work-related stress and anxiety.  If you have an unhealthy work-life balance or find it difficult to switch off, stress management counselling can be an invaluable resource.

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Symptoms of work-related stress

Here are some of the symptoms of work-related stress:

  • Difficultly sleeping or eating.
  • Getting upset or angry easily.
  • Panic attacks.
  • Feeling tense and edgy.
  • Struggling to manage a heavy or excessive workload.
  • Feeling unsupported in your role.
  • Experiencing conflict with colleagues or management.
  • Poor job performance.
  • Feelings of inadequacy.
  • Lack of job satisfaction.

counselling for stress and anxiety

Helpful therapeutic techniques

There are many different therapeutic strategies that can help manage and alleviate symptoms of stress including:

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What clients say about Frances

“Frances was extremely helpful at supporting me through a difficult time at work and helped me to keep going and working. She is very professional, insightful and supporting and I would highly recommend her counselling services to others. The best of wishes and thanks for her support.” Paul

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by stress and anxiety, you don’t have to suffer in silence. CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) provides the support and guidance you need to regain control and find balance in your life.

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Connecting thoughts, emotions and behaviours

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is grounded in the concept that your thoughts, feelings, and actions are interconnected.  It maintains that changing what you do is often a powerful way of changing thoughts and emotions, helping you to change negative thought patterns and unhelpful behaviours associated with your issues.

How Cognitive Behavioural Therapy works

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy works by helping you to identify what you want to change about your situation, and then supporting you to take steps towards making those changes.  The therapist works in collaboration with you to treat your current thoughts and behaviour, rather than tackling issues that have occurred in the past.  He/she uses worksheets to help you explore the thoughts, emotions, and behaviours around a particular situation or problem.

Keeping a thought diary

The therapist will often ask you to keep a diary of your ‘hot’ thoughts in order to identify negative thought patterns.  This helps you to begin changing the way you feel and act, even in situations that previously triggered anxiety or panic attacks.

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What issues can CBT help with?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has been extensively researched and is highly effective for a wide range of issues including stress, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, low self-esteem, anger, insomnia and fatigue.

What makes CBT unique?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is different from other therapies, as it identifies specific problems and creates targeted goals in order to solve them.  For example, a person who has previously gone through a difficult divorce may be struggling with feelings of failure and hopelessness, staying at home instead of going out and meeting new people.  Another person suffering from anxiety may be avoiding situations which trigger a panic attack, increasing feelings of low self worth, lack of confidence and social withdrawal.

Developing healthy behaviours

The therapist encourages home practice and regularly reviews progress to assess what you are learning about yourself.  By teaching you helpful relaxation exercises, asking you to plan activities and facilitating exposure therapy, the therapist supports you to overcome specific difficulties and develop healthier behaviours.

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The five steps of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a journey through self-discovery and transformation that involves several key steps. Each step is designed to help you understand and alter the way you think and act in response to life’s challenges.

Let’s dive into these steps, exploring how they contribute to the journey towards a more positive and empowered self.

1.  Identification of problematic situations or conditions

The first step in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is about recognising the specific issues that are causing you distress. This could range from identifiable mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, or insomnia to broader challenges such as stress at work, relationship difficulties, or general dissatisfaction with life.

The goal here is to pinpoint the areas of your life that need attention and change. By identifying these problematic situations or conditions, you set the stage for targeted therapy. It’s about naming your battles so you can effectively strategize how to win them.

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2. Awareness of thoughts, emotions, and beliefs about these problems

Once you’ve identified the problems, the next step is to become more aware of your thoughts, emotions, and beliefs surrounding these issues. This stage is important because it’s often your automatic thoughts or knee-jerk reactions to situations that contribute to emotional distress.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy teaches you to become an observer of your mind, noticing patterns of thinking that may be unhelpful or inaccurate. This increased awareness is the foundation for change, as you can’t change what you don’t notice.

3.  Identifying negative or inaccurate thinking

With heightened awareness, you can start to identify specific negative or inaccurate thoughts that are contributing to your problems. These might include “catastrophising” (expecting the worst), “black-and-white thinking” (seeing things as only good or bad), or “over-generalisation” (viewing a single event as a never-ending pattern of defeat).

This step is about challenging the validity of these thoughts and recognising that they are not facts but perceptions that can be changed.

4.  Reshaping negative or inaccurate thinking

After identifying these thoughts, the next step is to begin reshaping them into more accurate and constructive patterns. This involves questioning the evidence for your negative thoughts, considering alternative viewpoints, and testing out the reality of negative predictions.

It’s about replacing unhelpful thoughts with more balanced and helpful ones. For instance, instead of thinking, “I’ll never be able to solve this problem,” you might learn to think, “I haven’t figured it out yet, but I can try different strategies and ask for help.” This process of reshaping thoughts is at the heart of CBT, empowering you with a more flexible and resilient mindset.

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5.  Changing behaviour accordingly

The final step is about translating these changes in thought into changes in behaviour. This might involve facing fears rather than avoiding them, taking small steps towards your goals, or practising new skills in communication or stress management.

As your thinking becomes more adaptive, your behaviours naturally follow suit, leading to improved mood and overall functioning. This step is where the benefits of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy become evident, as you notice yourself responding differently to the situations that once caused you distress.

Benefits of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive behavioural therapy can benefit you in many ways:

  • Focuses on personal development and mental wellness.
  • Provides practical strategies for coping with daily life challenges, offering tools that remain useful long after therapy concludes.
  • Often effective for people who haven’t found relief solely through medication, offering an alternative or complementary path to well-ness.
  • Flexible in delivery, accommodating individual preferences through one-on-one sessions, group therapy, digital platforms, and self-guided materials.
  • Typically requires a shorter time commitment than other forms of psychotherapy, making it a time-efficient option for achieving mental health goals.
  • Enhances self-awareness and emotional intelligence by teaching you to identify, question, and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours.
  • Promotes resilience and adaptability, equipping you with the skills to handle future stresses and challenges more effectively.
  • Can be tailored to treat a wide range of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and OCD, among others.
  • Encourages a proactive approach to mental health, empowering you to take control of your emotional well-being.
  • Offers a structured yet flexible framework for therapy, providing clear goals and measurable outcomes.
  • Can improve the overall quality of your life by reducing symptoms of mental health conditions.  This leads to better relationships, work performance, and social engagement.

CBT for depression

CBT for depression using cognitive behavioural therapy focuses on:

  • Challenging and changing unhelpful cognitive distortions and behaviours.
  • Improving emotional regulation.
  • Developing personal coping strategies to help you identify dark clouds of thought and learn practical tools to clear them away.

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Counsellors in Plymouth

Don’t let anxiety and stress affect your productivity and quality of life.  Whether it’s through talk therapy, emotional support, cognitive-behavioural techniques, or mindfulness practices, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can equip you with the tools you need to navigate life’s challenges with greater resilience and emotional well-being.

About Frances

I am a fully qualified and experienced counsellor in Plymouth, offering sessions face-t0-face and online, depending on your needs and preferences.  Reach out today to schedule a FREE 15-minute initial consultation, with no obligation to book.