THERAPY FOR ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION IN WOMEN

IN EDMONTON, AB & ACROSS ALBERTA, NEW BRUNSWICK, NOVA SCOTIA, NUNAVUT AND QUEBEC

Helping you Overcome Anxiety & Depression, and find Calm + Joy

Lately, you’ve been feeling more anxious than usual.

The tightness and heaviness in your chest, as well as the worrying and overthinking, bother you, but that panicky feeling – which is sometimes here the moment you wake up – has been the hardest.

You feel so overwhelmed that you cannot concentrate at times.

At the same time, you’ve noticed that your brain gets stuck on details that you paradoxically find unnecessary. Yet, you cannot seem to detach from them and find yourself spending way too much time on certain tasks.

You’ve also noticed feeling less motivated – including when it comes to taking care of yourself and of your health- less energetic, and frankly exhausted. Yet, when it’s time for bed, you struggle to fall asleep and get the rest you need and deserve.

Truthfully, you have been feeling sad, crying when you’re alone and attempting to distract yourself from your pain, but your usual coping strategies do not feel sustainable anymore.

You are scared of what the future holds, and although you try to be ‘positive’, you cannot just ignore your worries and discouragement about things getting better.

You want to understand what anxiety and depression mean in your case, but more than anything, you would like to break the patterns that lead you to the same dark place, overcome anxious and depressive feelings, and feel more calm, energy, drive and joy each day.

You’ve come to the right place!

MY APPROACH

TEAM-CBT therapy for Anxiety and Depression

My first goal, as we embark on your therapy journey, will be to provide you with a warm, accepting space where you can feel free to let your guard down and come as you are. Your experience is what’s most important, and I will regularly check in with you about whether you are consistently feeling safe to share what’s on your mind and heart.

During our first few sessions, I will gather, amongst other things, information about your life story and when you started noticing anxiety and depression in your life, as well as the way you have seen them evolve over time. I will give you space to just talk about the things that have been weighing on you and that you have perhaps not felt comfortable sharing or asking about, for fear of being looked down upon and criticized.

Only when you’re ready will we move on to the active part of therapy work, which will start with describing a very specific moment in time when you felt anxious and depressed. By analyzing this event as well as the emotions and thoughts you experienced in that situation, we will be able to understand what anxiety and depression look like in your case, and adapt therapy to meet your needs.

I will curate methods from over a hundred that we will be able to test together over a few sessions, to find the ones that will help you overcome your anxious and depressive feelings sustainably.

In the TEAM-CBT approach, no two therapy courses meant to address anxiety and depression ever look exactly the same.

At the same time, there are some commonalities in what tends to work best.

For instance, overcoming anxiety usually involves some form of exposure work – while taking every measure to make sure that you are safe throughout – either in imagination or in real life. Exposure aims to help you realize that the ‘monster has no teeth’; this technique will help you come to the realization that your feared scenario does not materialize, and if it does, that you have what it takes to face it. I know that facing our worst fears is extremely daunting; this part of therapy was the hardest for me when I was seeing my own therapist. At the same time, the women I have worked with and I agree that exposure is the most effective method to overcome anxiety with the TEAM-CBT approach, and has the added benefit of providing an unparalleled boost to one’s confidence.

Also, I systematically screen all my clients for OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Although I dislike the idea of assigning a diagnostic label, I have found that OCD is often misdiagnosed as an anxiety disorder. However, OCD works a bit differently and generally responds very well to a specific kind of modality called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). ERP not only involves exposure to feared stimuli and obsessions – which are the unwanted thoughts and images that are typical of OCD – but also refraining from performing compulsions that serve to reduce anxiety; the decrease in anxiety level that compulsions afford is temporary and strengthens the OCD cycle, thereby reinforcing obsessions. ERP will disrupt the OCD cycle. We will also explore your values so your adaptive response to obsessions – which will gradually decrease and may even disappear altogether as we work together – is aligned with these values and fosters a sense of purpose and satisfaction.

ERP is one of only two modalities that have strong research support for the treatment of OCD according to the American Psychological Association.

I will thoroughly prepare you for exposures and we will ease into them together. We will do all exposure exercises during our sessions together, until you feel comfortable doing them outside of sessions and as a general rule, I will never force you to do anything you do not wish to do.

A lot of the women I have worked with who struggled with anxiety described themselves as ‘people-pleasers’ – much like I used to – and found the hidden emotion model of anxiety to be helpful. The hidden emotion model is a method used in TEAM-CBT that is derived from psychodynamic theory. The model posits that anxiety may arise when we suppress another emotion, which is too hard for us to express, often out of fear of hurting someone else’s feelings. The suppressed emotion hence persists on a subconscious level. Another way to think of this is the idea that when we push an issue under the rug because it is too uncomfortable for us to address, the problem, which we continue to be aware of – at the very least on a subconscious level – is still there, causing us to potentially feel anxious about how it will evolve over time. The hidden emotion technique involves bringing this issue to the conscious level and equipping you with tools, often communication strategies, that will help you address relational challenges in a way that is healthy, empathetic and respectful – for you and the other person – and will help to repair and deepen your relationships, should you wish to do so.

TEAM-CBT for depression also involves the use of different methods from one person to another. Commonly used methods include behavioural activation and CBT techniques, which are both strongly supported by research as per the American Psychological Association. TEAM-CBT uses several CBT techniques that take the form of role-play exercises, which involve ‘giving life’ to self-defeating thoughts and beliefs, and allowing you to talk back to them, making these techniques quite powerful and effective.

Islamic Therapy for Anxiety and Depression

Therapy for Anxiety and Depression with me, from an Islamic lens, involves using teachings derived from the Qu’ran, Ahadiths and Seerah, as a central part of therapy, bolstered by the TEAM-CBT approach (see above) to help you attain recovery as well as strengthen your connection to Allah SWT. As Muslims, we have have a lot of beneficial knowledge about Islam, Alhamdoulillah. However, there is a difference between knowing and internalizing. If you wish to work with me from an Islamic perspective, we will use TEAM-CBT to, amongst other things, transform how you respond to moments when you feel particularly anxious and depressed, in a way that aligns with Islam. The way we achieve this will be tailored to your unique difficulties and needs, In Sha Allah, but I have found that helping clients strengthen their level of Tawakkul (reliance on Allah SWT while making active efforts to achieve our goals) is beneficial, Alhamdoulillah.

The rationale for this is that anxiety is fear of the future, which ultimately only Allah SWT has any control over. Through increasing our level of Tawakkul – so we may completely trust in Allah SWT and His mercy, while trying our best in all circumstances – our level of anxiety naturally decreases, Alhamdoulillah.

Umar ibn Al-Khattab narrated that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said:

“If you were to rely upon Allah with the required reliance, then He would provide for you just as a bird is provided for: it goes out in the morning empty, and returns full.”

Reference: Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 2344

Similarly, depression often comes with feelings of discouragement. As our level of Tawakkul increases, so does our level of belief in Allah’s words, Alhamdoulillah:

So, surely with hardship comes ease.
Surely with ˹that˺ hardship comes ˹more˺ ease.

Qu’ran (94:5-6)

Interested in working together to overcome your anxiety and depression?

FAQS

Frequently asked questions about therapy for anxiety and depression

What are your session fees?

Your investment will be $220 per 50-minute session or $350 per 80-minute session. Longer sessions are available at the same rate.

As services that are offered by a psychologist, my therapy sessions are covered by most insurance policies, although I recommend that you call your insurance provider to check. It may also be beneficial to ask if you have a health spending account that you may also use toward therapy.

My fees may be claimed under tax deductible health care expenses on your income tax return.

If you are eligible for these programs, please note that I also have an agreement to provide services under and direct-bill:

the NIHB (Non-Insured Health Benefits) program which provides eligible First Nations and Inuit clients with coverage for various benefits, including mental health counselling. Through this program, eligible clients can receive up to 22 hours of counselling a year.
the Bigstone Health benefits program which provides benefits to members of Bigstone Cree nation. Through this program, clients can receive up to 22 hours of counselling every 12 months.
federal programs such as the Interim Federal Health program (IFHP) administered under Immigration, Regufees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC); this program provides limited, temporary coverage of health care benefits for specific groups of people who don’t have provincial, territorial, or private health care coverage. I also direct-bill federal programs such as programs for members of the Canadian armed forces (CAF), Royal Canadian Mounted police (RCMP), and Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC).

I also have a partnership with Sisters Dialogue that allows Muslim women residing in Alberta to see me free of charge, for 5 sessions with the possiblity to extend coverage.

How can I book an appointment?

You may email me at audrey@overanxietypsych.com or schedule a free 15-minute consultation here.