Rewiring the Anxious Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Anxiety Cycle: Anxiety Skills #21

You can rewire your brain to be less anxious through a simple, but not easy, process. Understanding the anxiety cycle and how avoidance causes anxiety to spiral out of control unlocks the key to learning how to tone down anxiety and rewire those neural pathways to feel safe and secure. In this video, I teach three essential things you need to understand about anxiety, three steps to face and overcome anxiety, and how the brain can actually change (rewire) its structure, function, and chemistry when you change how you think and act. Rewiring the Anxious Brain Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb-clvcX7fILooking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional for $65/week. Try it now for 10% off: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshellLearn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/p/home Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanutshell Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapynutshell.com Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/best-self-help-books Check out my podcast, Therapy in a Nutshell: https://tinpodcast.podbean.com/Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC, and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.About Me: I’m Emma McAdam. I’m a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and I have worked in various settings of change and growth since 2004. My experience includes juvenile corrections, adventure therapy programs, wilderness therapy programs, an eating disorder treatment center, a residential treatment center, and I currently work in an outpatient therapy clinic.In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life’s direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believeIf you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC —- Music licensed from www.Bensound.com or Artlist.io Images from Freepik.com (premium license), Pixabay, or Wikimedia commons

Rewiring the Anxious Brain – Neuroplasticity and the Anxiety Cycle(Anxiety Skills #21)

You can rewire your brain to be less anxious through a simple- but not easy process. Understanding the Anxiety Cycle, and how avoidance causes anxiety to spiral out of control, unlocks the key to learning how to tone down anxiety and rewire those neural pathways to feel safe and secure. In this video, I teach three essential things you need to understand about anxiety, three steps to facing and overcoming anxiety, and how the brain can actually change (rewire) it’s structure, function, and chemistry when you change how you think and act. Rewiring the Anxious Brain Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb-clvcX7fISign up for my Newsletter: www.therapynutshell.comLooking for Affordable Online Counseling? BetterHelp connects you to a licensed professional for $65/week. Try it now for 10% off https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshellSupport my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanutshellLearn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: Now on Teachable! Use the code NUTSHELL for 25% off! https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/coursesSign up for my newsletter: www.therapynutshell.comTherapy in a Nutshell, and the information provided by Emma McAdam, is solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.If you are in crisis please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC—-Music licensed from www.Bensound.com or Artlist.io Images from Freepik.com (premium license), Pixabay, or Wikimedia commonsImages from wsj.com, thedailytexan,

Rewiring the Anxious Brain – Neuroplasticity and the Anxiety Cycle(Anxiety Skills #21)


So here is the amazing thing about your ability, it’s made to rewire itself all the time. This is called neuroplasticity. Scientists believed that after childhoodour ability was pretty much locked in place, but now that we have better likeness technology, we are able to literally see how the brain deepens depending on how we use it. So, in this video I’m going to talk aboutone very simple thing you can do to rewire your brain to be less watchful, and it is simple, but it’s not easy.So I’m also going to share three steps youcan take to make it happen, and share ten extra skill you can develop on your own, orwith a therapist, to build up your ability to take control of your feeling. And if you would like to learn more in depthinformation about how analyse your nervousnes, I’ve got a course on Udemy that I am workingon called Rewiring the expectant brain, so you are able to check out that tie-in in the description. So, let’s start off with one example of neuroplasticity. In London the taxi moves have this superdifficult exam where they have to prepare by learn all of the streets and eventsand places in this huge city.Researchers took portraits of their ability beforethey started studying, and after this two year process and they only literally ableto see the brand-new neural connects, the wire that changed in the intelligence. And there’s good evidence that changing howyou think, like going to therapy, can actually change the structure of your psyche and thetypes of chemicals that it’s running out. Our brain has an amazing ability to rewireitself to learn, flourish, and mend. So, let’s talk about how to do that with tension. If we want to change how our brain processesanxiety, we need to understand three principles of anxiety. Number 1, we need to understand what is anxiety. Now, this may sound dumb, because you alreadyknow what anxiety feels like, but what you need to do is understand your perspectiveon anxiety. You need to let go of the relevant recommendations that anxietyis bad. Anxiety is not inherently bad. Anxiety is disagreeable, some times anxietyis illness, sometimes nervousnes does in accordance with the arrangements, but we all experience anxiety becauseit is supposed to serve a really important function.To motivate us to avoid real danger. We’re supposed to feel expectant when standingon a cliff hem, it helps us be safe. We’re supposed to feel desirous when we knowwe have an important test coming up because that should cause us to study. Anxiety tells us that something is importantto us. Anxiety and hullabaloo are basically the samechemical reaction in your organization with adrenaline triggering that affectionate activating andprepping you for action. When we look at anxiety as unpleasant, but acceptable and a regular part of life, unexpectedly we develop new tools to work withit, and that includes working with the other type of anxiety.So, the second thing we need to understandis we need to understand ailment distres. And this is when anxiety seems to take overyour life. This is anxiety that establishes it hard to go towork, to clas, or to enjoy life at all. And the harder you try to make it go away, the stronger and stronger it gets. Now, contrary to popular belief, that anxietyis agitation when it is more severe, anxiety is actually ailment when one of two thingshappen. When, number one, when you feel endanger whenyou are actually safe, and I made a video on this, it’s called perceived vs. actualsafety. For illustration I is cooperating with a patron who wasafraid of radiators. She would feel anxious and sweaty around themand she couldn’t represent herself go into a chamber with a radiator in it , now radiators are not actuallydangerous, but she was having a real, physiological response to something that was actually safe. So tension can be illness when you havea danger response in your form, but you are actually safe.The second mode feeling is likely to be disease is when your tension interferes with your ability to function. This is essentially what determines if youmeet the criteria for an anxiety disorder diagnosis. When your nervousnes, or your attempts to avoid anxiety stop you from effectively facing life. When this happens you start avoiding school, or calling in sick to work. You stop leaving the house, or spend timewith friends, pretty soon your feeling is taking over your life and stopping you fromdoing the things you desire. So causes talk about what causes anxiety to coiling out of control. This is called the anxiety cycle. Every day throughout our daytime “were having” events and we understand these experiences as either being safe or dangerous.So make say for example you determine a dog. Now, each person performs an experiencedifferently, for some people this would be extincting and fun, but for some reason youthink, that dog is going to bite me! This leads to feelings of horror, anxiety, maybeeven panic. These are unpleasant feelings and you may even make them as a clue that your thoughts are true. So, you escape, you run away, you get outtathere.And, Nothing bad happens. So your brain liberates this flood of easing, Whew! That was close! The only way I subsisted was because I ranaway. I could have died! And your intelligence judges I better do that again, I’m going to make make human avoid that situation by increasing their anxiety about it. And, vola! your nervousnes goes up. Every single time that we bypass a threat andsurvive, our mentality conceives, Let’s do that again. So it lays down neural pathways, this wiringthat reinforces that behavior. And the whole function of affections is to motivateus to action, but that’s a whole other video. So our mentality, because we have persuasion itthat the dog was a threat, it shall take such action into it’s own hands and it increases you anxietylevels around dogs.Every term we feel suspicion, and then avoidthe situation, our nervousnes height will go up a notch. So this is principle number three, avoidancefeeds illness suspicion. It literally originates devastating feeling. Now, there are lots of ways to avoid. There’s running away, and physically shunning, but there’s also feelings escape, so if you have social anxiety, you might still goto the party, but only if you get drunk ahead of time, or you might be in a relationship, but scared of getting hurt, so you don’t allow yourself to let the other person into yourheart.You stand emotionally remote, or you protectyour self by not dedicating. social media, rage, denounced, distraction, andeven coping sciences, can be avoidant. Regardless of the type of avoidance, it increasesyour nervousnes and, all the more serious, it reduces down your world. So with the dog example, you might start avoiding situations where a puppy might be present, by not going to friend’s homes, or bouncing thepark. And your world contracts, you miss out on goodrelationships, or you stop going to parties.And your world gets more and more restricted. Avoidance can perform your world tiny and scaryand happy. But each time you get anxious and eschewed something, and live, your psyche multiplies your nervousnes in that area. Now, looking at this cycles/second, “were having” two placeswhere we can intervene. Where we can stop that anxiety from spiralingout of control. The first place is with our actions.When we feel suspicion, but we are actuallysafe, if we stick with it, if we stay there, we experience our ardours and sensationswith out running away, and again, if you do this, and you don’t die, then your psyche learnswhew! what a comfort! I guess that not all pups are dangerous, let’sdo that again! And it sends out a surge of succour. This leads to a gradual decrease in anxietyover time, and a gradual increase in your feelings muscles, your ability to feel sentiments and impressions that are unpleasant, with out needing to escape them all the time. So you to be all right at feeling. As you do this your brain literally lays downnew neuro pathways saying not all bird-dogs are dangerous, I don’t need to be anxious arounddogs. And it literally changes your brain chemistry, liberating less cortisol and adrenaline and other stress hormones.This is the most straight forward way torewire your psyche to have little nervousnes. But, I get it, this is super hard-boiled. If “its been” easy, you would have already doneit. So I’m going to break it down into three bigsteps for you. Now on a line-up greenback, the second place in thiscycle to intervene is with your thoughts. Changing how you think about the dog. And this can be a potent and efficient treatmenttoo, but it can also get really complicated. And it is more efficient before your expectant, ratherthan during. Now I can talk about some of the ways youcan change your thinking in other videos, but in this video we’re going to talk abouthe most straight forward way to rewire your expectant intelligence and that’s through your wars. So, how to get it on. There are three steps. So step one, make an exposure hierarchy, I’ve made and entire video about this, but mostly you take one thing that scares you and youbreak it down into teeny minuscule paces, and you start by courageously facing the easiest onefirst.Now this is the part that most people miss. They jump in too fast and then they panicor the flee and they never make love again, and then that fright is reinforced. So make and exposure hierarchy and write downas countless teeny little steps as you can think of. Step two, deepen your rules. Now, spirit doesn’t mean the absence of fear, but preferring that something is more important that by-passing panic. In acceptance and commitment therapy, thisis called willingness. Allowing yourself to do something even thoughit makes you awkward. If you make a rule for your ego like, I’mgoing to do this until I get too watchful, then you brain will be like cool, let’s dothat, then I can escape. So it will constitute you really anxious, and whenwe say I’m going to do this thing unless in reaches me desirous, then we are just invitinganxiety to make all of our decisions for us. So when it comes to exposure, you choose aneasier activity to start with and then you stay with it and watch yourself for a certainamount of time, or until your nervousnes increases by half during the exposure.Now, while you’re facing your nervousnes andpracticing your willingness, footing works, and selfregulation activities, this bodyupapproach to weakening feeling can be useful. But the most important part is that you sitwith your feeling for a little while until it declines, or at least for a certain setamount of duration. Now, step three. Do it. Face it. Go get anxious and see if you live. A little spoiler alerting here, you will. So with the dog example, start be repeatedlyimagining yourself interacting with a pup and you rule every day for ten minutesuntil that activity no longer originates you very anxious.And then you might want to work with a friendwho has a dog to set up the nest paces. So you might check a hound through a window andjust stay there and you sit with it and you breath with it and you allow your self torelax and you do this every day for ten minutes until your nervousnes reduces. And then you pattern being in the same roomwith a insignificant puppy on a leash, and the perhaps touching a tiny dog on a leash and then pettinga tiny dog on a leash and eventually you are moving up to a bigger dog and the off a leashthen eventually you get your self to the point where you can go to a pup common, sit down, and stay there for thirty minutes. It’s ok it you feel uneasy. It’s ok if you feel uncomfortable or you sweat, or you shake, or whatever, but you time stick with it. And pretty soon your mentality learns It’s cool, most pups are safe, your ok. And your feeling will decrease. Now again, you can do some physiological groundingactivities while in the midst of your suspicion, but don’t use those as another way to justavoid anxiety.Use those as a highway to practise willingness. This willingness to feel what you are feelingand professed it as being regular, natural and ok. So there’s the simple solution to anxiety. face your suspicions and they will decrease. This may seem too simple, or too absurd, too big of a bounce, so therapist have organized a assortment of ways to break that leap down intoa knot of tiny paces, a bunch of talents that you are eligible to learn to make it easier. If you want to go more in depth into thatlet’s do that. Let’s talk about the more detailed processof how we do this. The specific skills that help us move fromanxiety avoidance to ability over our nervousnes. Because I am trying to cram so much informationinto this topic, I’ve decided to split this video up in to two parts. So check out part two for the ten knowledge youcan develop to help you face your nervousness. Gradual exposure therapy, which is what Ijust described, is a researched backed approached demonstrate to help reduce anxiety and plow anxietydisorders.It does this because it literally changesthe mentality. Rewiring the neuro pathways and changing therelease of substances in the brain. So make sure to check out my part two withthose ten talents to assist you face your frights and if you’d like to learn more in depth informationabout how to treat you anxiety, I’ve got a course on Udemy that I am working on it’scall Rewiring the Anxious Brain, so you can also check out that associate in the description. Now, please share this video, you never know who might benefit from it, thank you for having watching and take care ..




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The Anxiety Cycle (In 2 Minutes)

Understanding the Anxiety Cycle not only gives us a clear explanation of what causes our anxiety to increase, but it also shows us the key to decreasing anxiety. So just as the brain learns something is “dangerous” when we avoid it, it can learn that something is actually safe when we face it and survive. This simple act breaks the anxiety cycle. Our brain’s inherent ability to rewire itself is called neuroplasticity.This basically means we can change the physical structure of our brain by changing how we think and how we act. In essence, the most powerful and effective way to combat the anxiety cycle is to distinguish between real and perceived danger, and then to gradually face those fears instead of avoiding them. When we do this, our brain learns we are safe and decreases our anxiety.The full length video on the anxiety cycle -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTuX_ShUrw0The full length Anxiety course is still in progress My Intensive Mental Health Courses are now on Teachable! Use the code NUTSHELL for 25% off!Change your Brain: Mental Health and Neuroplasticity Course: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/p/change-your-brainCoping Skills and Self-Care for Mental Health Course: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/p/coping-skills-and-self-care-for-mental-healthFREE! Grounding Skills Course: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/p/grounding-skills-for-anxiety-stress-and-ptsdHow to Help Course: Practical Skills to help Loved ones with Mental Illness: https://therapyinanutshell.teachable.com/p/practical-psychotherapy-skillsCheck Out My Favorite Books for Mental Health: https://www.therapynutshell.com/post/my-favorite-self-help-booksMusic licensed from www.Bensound.com or Artlist.io Images from Freepik.com (premium license), Pixabay, or Wikimedia commonsTherapy in a Nutshell, and the information provided by Emma McAdam, is solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.If you are in crisis please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or your local emergency services.

Rewiring the Anxious Brain Part 2: 10 Skills to Beat Anxiety (Anxiety Skills #22)

You can rewire your brain to be less anxious through a simple- but not easy process. Understanding the Anxiety Cycle, and how avoidance causes anxiety to spiral out of control, unlocks the key to learning how to tone down anxiety and rewire those neural pathways to feel safe and secure.In part 2 of my series on Rewring the anxious brain I teach 10 skills that you can learn to help you overcome anxiety and develop mental resilience. Check out Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/zTuX_ShUrw0You can change your brain! Check out my online course “Change your Brain: 10 alternatives to medication to change Brain Chemistry” it’s packed with ways you can improve your mental health through simple changes that take minutes a day: https://www.udemy.com/change-your-brain/?couponCode=THERAPYNUTSign up for my Newsletter: www.therapynutshell.comChange your Brain: Mental Health and Neuroplasticity Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/change-your-brain/?referralCode=49D58F6A4DDAB470C05CCoping Skills and Self-Care for Mental Health Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/coping-skills-and-self-care-for-mental-health/?referralCode=B581946ECDF88EAE776DHow to Help Course: Practical Skills to help Loved ones with Mental Illness: https://www.udemy.com/course/how-to-help-depression-and-anxiety/?referralCode=9BE508815586D307F4A2My Favorite Books for Mental Health: The Anatomy of Peace: https://amzn.to/372uqco Anxiety/Depression: Get out of your Mind and Into Your Life: https://amzn.to/2udkG0s Trauma- Healing Trauma: https://amzn.to/2u9VZlk Marriage- The 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work: https://amzn.to/3auVPWy Anxiety/Depression-Get out of your mind and into your life for Teens: https://amzn.to/2Tws3dT Social Anxiety- Painfully Shy: https://amzn.to/2NA5P6M The Worry Solution: https://amzn.to/2R21wDE A Calm Brain: https://amzn.to/2G13Swa