– Learning How to Get Out of the Anxiety Loop with Nashville Individual Counseling

Last Updated on May 4, 2023 by Chris Roberts

LEARNING HOW TO DEAL WITH ANXIETY IN MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS WITH PSYCHOTHERAPY IN NASHVILLE, TN

By: Chris Roberts, MACP, LMC-MHSP Two Trees Counseling Nashville

Reference: “The Worry Trick.” Dr. David A. Carbonell. 2016. Raincoast Books.

In a fantastic book by Dr. David Carbonell entitled, “The Worry Trick,” Dr. Carbonell reveals some different ways for dealing with anxiety. In a previous article about anxiety, we detailed 4 intuitive ways that most of us deal with anxiety (and have been taught to deal with anxiety) that ultimately prove ineffective for many of us. In a rather bold move, Dr. Carbonell attempts to “flip the script” on typical anxiety recommendations and instead asks us to play by the Rule of Opposites when dealing with frustrating or chronic anxiety.

WHAT IS THE RULE OF OPPOSITES WHEN DEALING WITH ANXIETY?

Dr. Carbonell lays out his idea of rule of opposites by primarily addressing intuitive or common responses to anxiety. Without much thought, most of us want to avoid or attack things that make us uncomfortable or create suffering. For those of us dealing with chronic anxiety, “suffering” is an understatement. But, rather than avoiding or attacking anxiety directly, Dr. Carbonell asks us to use more counter-intuitive responses when dealing with chronic worry. Basically, he is saying that whenever we have a natural, or intuitive, or organic response to anxiety we should try the opposite!

HOW DOES THIS WORK IN REGARDS TO CHRONIC ANXIETY?

Most of us take one of 2 different approaches (recognizing there are many more) when anxiety starts to affect us: we try to hard to not think about it and pretend it isn’t there; or, we argue with it in an attempt to logically reduce it to rubble. Ironically, Dr. Carbonell says, the more we try not to think about something, the more we actually spend time thinking about it. So, instead of working to not think about it, Dr. Carbonell recommends that we set up a specific time to worry and fret and give the anxiety all the time it needs to spin around in our mind. There is a specific technique to doing this that is more than this article can address, but suffice it to say that we wouldn’t be trying not to think about it. Just the opposite!

Regarding the second position of arguing with the anxiety, Dr. Carbonell asks us to humor it. That’s right. Instead of trying the 8 million ways to “debunk” our dreaded anxiety, he asks us to basically accept that anxiety is “right” and just be playful with it. One of the ways is to exaggerate it even more. This sounds downright hellacious to anyone who has ever dealt with severe anxiety. Our greatest fear is that the worst-case-scenario of our anxiety is not only true, but might not even be worst-case. Exaggeration sounds like a death knell. However, according to his rule-of-opposites, he postulates that arguing is what we have been doing our whole lives, so why not try doing something on the other end of the spectrum.

WAYS INDIVIDUAL THERAPY IN NASHVILLE CAN BE HELPFUL

As with any recommendations from an outside source, it’s always most effective when we can apply them to our specific situation. Nashville individual counseling is a place where you can bring your specific anxieties along with your previous attempts to quell them, and then determine if there is a better method for reducing this antagonizing beast. Chris Roberts at Two Trees Counseling is experienced in working with individuals who suffer with anxiety and chronic worry. Chris is a licensed professional counselor who would to talk with you more about your specific situation and see if we can get you back to living fully. Chris can be reached at chris@nashvillecounselor.net or (615) 800-9260