Anxiety
Fear can be a helpful emotion in response to threat, as anxiety can be a helpful emotion in response to stress. Both emotions can encourage us to pay attention, to prepare, and to respond. For example, fear from a rabid dog running towards us may cause us to run and anxiety in anticipation of a job interview may cause us to role-play interview questions. Anxiety as a disorder, however, differs from these helpful feelings of fear and anxiety and instead involves excessive fear and anxiety that interferes with our lives. We may experience intrusive or worrisome thoughts, feel overwhelmed, feel irritable, experience disrupted sleep, avoid people/places/experiences that cause fear or anxiety, and experience physical sensations such as muscle tension, increased heart rate, and shortness of breath. These experiences may even lead to panic attacks. We can become distracted both mentally and physically by our fears or anxieties.
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Dr. Rodolff will work with you to provide the necessary skills to improve the way your mind and body respond to fear and anxiety. We can focus on thought-based skills, such as acceptance and mindfulness, to create space from your thoughts and feelings in order to behave differently and to avoid avoidance. We can also focus on body-based skills to soothe the body, such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relation, and meditation practices. These strategies will help you get out of your mind and back into your life.
Depression
Sadness and depression are often used interchangeably; however, depression goes beyond the momentary feelings of sadness or feeling down that many of us experience. Depression can significantly impact how we think, feel, behave, and function in our day-to-day lives. We may become critical of ourselves and think we are not “good enough.” We may struggle to get out of bed or struggle to complete daily tasks. We may lose pleasure in activities that were once pleasurable. We may experience uncontrollable tearfulness, feelings of hopelessness, or have thoughts of death or dying. We may feel stuck, unable to move in any direction in our lives.
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Dr. Rodolff will help you find new ways to re-engage in your life. We will work together to create a safe therapeutic space to explore your thoughts and feelings while modifying them to promote overall health. We can focus on how to create a structured, yet flexible, schedule that encourages completion of necessary tasks and participation in pleasurable activities while maintaining consistency with sleep, eating, and physical activity. These strategies will help you reclaim your life.
Complex Trauma & Posttraumatic Stress
Trauma can profoundly impact the way we think, the way we feel, the way our bodies respond, and how we develop relationships. We may think negatively about ourselves, others, and the world around us. We may feel sad, angry, fearful, guilty, or shameful. We may become hyperaware of or disconnected from our surroundings. Our body may be ready to fight, flee, freeze, or submit. Our relationships may become conflictual or unsafe and we may even retreat from old and new relationships. We may not be able to tolerate any emotions and to soothe ourselves we may self-injure, over- or under-eat, abuse substances, or have thoughts about death or dying.
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These impacts are posttraumatic responses to traumatic events and are the NORMAL REACTIONS TO AN ABNORMAL EVENT. The mind and body are attempting to make sense of an event(s) and are attempting to protect us from any current or future threatening event. Unfortunately, such attempts can significantly interfere with creating the life we want for ourselves. We may feel stuck, unsure how we can do anything different. We may struggle with symptoms of anxiety or depression or both. For trauma survivors, the decision to enter therapy is often a courageous act. When those we trust betray or hurt us, the willingness to trust another person may feel like too great a risk.
Dr. Rodolff would be honored to join you as you take the risk to trust again. We will work together to create a safe therapeutic space to process your thoughts and feelings at your pace while you learn the necessary skills to help you more effectively manage posttraumatic responses to live the life you want. Through connection, you will find healing.