How to Control Chronic Anxiety – the practical skills you need

More and more people’s lives are being blighted by anxiety, causing distress to all involved. The anxiety may have initially been focused on realistic, understandable concerns – such as financial difficulties, health, job insecurity or unemployment, relationship problems (particularly complex in blended families) or fears about the future in an increasingly uncertain world – but has spiralled out of control.

Or it may have no clear cause and manifests as an ever-present feeling of being ‘wired’, tense or vulnerable, very often accompanied by out-of-control thoughts. The person may be hyper-vigilant, unable to relax and highly miserable. Left unaddressed, chronic anxiety can also badly affect sleep and physical, as well as mental, health.

The good news is there’s much that we can do to reduce this suffering. This highly practical course focuses on giving you the key information and practical skills you need to lower anxiety levels and help people manage their own anxiety better.

It concentrates on generalised anxiety (including generalised anxiety disorder – GAD), social anxiety and panic attacks, but also addresses how to handle anxiety that is a feature of conditions such as autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD and bipolar and borderline personality disorder.

What will you learn

20+ tried and tested psychological techniques for dealing with over-anxiety
Why it’s important to distinguish between two fundamental kinds of anxiety – and methods for dealing with both
How to recognise panic attacks and deal with them effectively
The genetic factors that make some people more vulnerable to anxiety
Ways to change a poor sleep pattern caused by anxiety
New perspectives on what drives anxiety – including when its basis lies
in trauma
Why some people may dissociate (appear to ‘tune out’ or not be present) when very stressed, and what to do about it
The three different components of anxiety – and why anxiety can get
out of control
How anxiety affects the body – and how the body affects anxiety
Why people become hyper-vigilant – and how this can be reduced
How to separate a person from their anxiety
Five effective methods for bringing down physiological arousal very quickly – and safely
Why social anxiety occurs and how to handle it
Tips for reducing anxiety in those with additional conditions, such as autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD, bipolar and borderline personality disorder
What happens in the brain when we become anxious – insights from neuroscience
How guided imagery speeds up treatment for high anxiety, plus special tips for using it with clients suffering from over-anxiety
How stories can complement therapy for anxiety
A range of new skills and techniques for reducing severe anxiety, with plenty of opportunity to practise them yourself on the day
And more