Treatment for Anxiety in Naperville

Feeling anxious and stressed can make it hard to enjoy life to the fullest. The world today is full of things that can make you feel overwhelmed and unsure. Dealing with anxiety can make it difficult to be the best version of yourself.  Our team works with people of all ages to help them navigate through tough times and give them the tools they need to achieve their goals.

For adults, past traumas, strained family or interpersonal relationships, employment stressors, competing demands, and impactful life events can greatly impact one’s overall functioning.  These stressors can make it difficult to effectively manage daily life and result in avoidance, irritability, or withdrawal.  

For students, managing everything at school or college can be tough. Expectations from teachers and social pressures can be a lot for anyone to handle. If a child or teen is struggling with social issues, academic pressure, or family stress, they might act out in ways that adults find hard to understand.

Our experienced clinicians apply a skills-based approach to anxiety treatment.  We help you understand the relationship between negative thinking patterns, bodily symptoms, and anxious feelings, with the goal of helping you develop effective strategies to cope with stress.  When working with children, we involve parents in the process to make sure that the new skills can be used in real-life situations. We also collaborate with teachers and school staff to identify and address the things that are causing anxiety and stress. By working together, we can find a solution that works for you and your child, making experiences at school, home, and in the community better.

Types of Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders include various conditions marked by extreme fear and worry. Knowing the different types can help us differentiate symptoms and get the right treatment. Here are some of the most common ones we deal with:

• Generalized anxiety and worry
• Obsessive-compulsive patterns (OCD)
• Post-traumatic stressors (PTSD)
• Situational anxiety due to life events
• Panic symptoms
• Selective mutism
• Separation anxiety
• Situational anxiety due to life events
• Social anxiety and performance fears

Our practice understands that anxiety changes throughout life, influenced by milestones, social settings, and life changes. Spotting anxiety symptoms is the first step to getting help. By knowing the challenges children, teens, and adults face, we tailor our care to support healthy growth at each life stage. This includes building social skills in children, fostering independence in teens, and improving coping strategies in adults, ensuring age-appropriate care.

Common Anxiety Signs and Symptoms

For Children

• Physical Symptoms: Stomachaches, headaches, muscle tension, and fatigue without a medical reason.
• Behavioral Changes: Clinginess, excessive worrying, irritability, avoiding certain situations, and difficulty being away from caregivers.
• Academic Challenges: Trouble concentrating, restlessness, perfectionism, and avoiding school tasks or social interactions.
• Sleep Disturbances: Difficulty falling asleep, nightmares, or bedtime resistance.

Our therapists create a safe space for children to express their feelings. Through play therapy, cognitive-behavioral techniques, and parent involvement, we help children develop coping skills to manage anxiety. Parents can attend sessions to observe and learn how to support their child at home.

For Teens

• Social Withdrawal: Avoiding social activities and isolating from friends.
• Academic Stress: Perfectionism, procrastination, test anxiety, and trouble managing school responsibilities.
• Physical Symptoms: Racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, and sweating during stressful situations.
• Mood Changes: Irritability, mood swings, tearfulness, restlessness, and agitation.

Our therapists work with teens to understand their anxiety and build confidence. We use methods like mindfulness, exposure therapy, and interpersonal therapy to address anxiety and build resilience and self-esteem.

For Adults

• Excessive Worry: Persistent worry about work, relationships, health, finances, and future events.
• Physical Symptoms: Tension headaches, muscle aches, fatigue, digestive issues, and sleep disturbances.
• Difficulty Relaxing: Trouble unwinding due to constant tension and worry.
• Avoidance Behaviors: Avoiding situations or activities that cause anxiety, like social gatherings, public speaking, driving, or traveling.

We help adults by addressing thought patterns and developing effective coping strategies, aiming to provide lasting relief from anxiety.

Symptoms Across All Ages

• Ruminative Thoughts: Persistent, intrusive thoughts related to fears and worries.
• Somatic Symptoms: Physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, dizziness, and digestive issues without a medical cause.
• Difficulty Concentrating: Trouble focusing on tasks or making decisions.
• Sleep Disturbances: Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or experiencing restful sleep.

What to Expect from Treatment

Our therapists use evidence-based treatments like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), exposure therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), tailored to each client.

• Education and Psychoeducation: We provide clients with comprehensive information about anxiety, including symptoms, triggers, and coping strategies. This helps clients understand their experiences and engage in the treatment process.
• Collaborative Goal Setting: We work with clients to set treatment goals that match their needs and strengths, ensuring interventions address their daily challenges.
• Parental Involvement in Therapy: Parents are encouraged to attend sessions with their child, learning therapeutic techniques to use at home. Therapists guide and coach parents to reinforce positive behaviors and support their child effectively.
• Skill-Building: Our therapists teach practical strategies for managing anxiety, like relaxation exercises, communication skills, and behavior regulation. Clients practice these skills through role-playing and hands-on activities.
• Homework Assignments: Clients may receive homework to practice skills learned in therapy, reinforcing concepts and applying them to real-life situations.

Your Naperville Anxiety Therapists

At Konick & Associates, our Naperville-based clinicians are experts in various gold-standard methods for managing stress and anxiety disorders. We help clients find their stress triggers, understand how anxiety affects their mind and body, and learn effective ways to manage their symptoms for a more balanced and fulfilling life.

Our skilled therapists use research-based methods to help people of all ages with anxiety. Some of the approaches we use in anxiety treatment include:

We are here to help you overcome anxiety. We combine empathy with a goal-focused approach, empowering you to take an active role in your journey to success!