Finding Calm in a Frantic World: Keys to Managing Anxiety
Presented by
Dreya Blume, LCSWWe’ll examine how therapeutic modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, exposure therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to address anxiety and explore tools such as mindfulness, deep breathing, bilateral stimulation, and Emotional Freedom Techniques.
Overview
6 CEs Recorded: Summer, 2024
So many of our clients struggle with anxiety, ranging from mild worry to panic-attack levels of distress. The good news is that there is a wide variety of non-pharmaceutical strategies to address anxiety, and in this training, you’ll become familiar with them.
We’ll begin by briefly reviewing the different types of anxiety disorders. Then, we’ll explore the physiology of anxiety. Sharing this type of psychoeducation with anxious clients will help them understand what is happening and why. Then, we’ll move into the heart of the training, which consists of practical ways to manage anxiety that you can easily share with clients.
This will be an interactive training, so you’ll be trying out much of what you learn for yourself. We’ll examine how therapeutic modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, exposure therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to address anxiety and explore tools such as mindfulness, deep breathing, bilateral stimulation, and Emotional Freedom Techniques.
In addition, you will become familiar with the role of diet in managing anxiety: which foods and nutrients (and anti-nutrients) excite the nervous system and which calm it. We’ll also examine holistic methods of anxiety management and the information we can share with clients so that they can make more informed decisions about how to find relief. These include aromatherapy, sound (such as singing bowls), herbs, weighted blankets, and Chinese medicine. Finally, we’ll discuss the impact of the minority stress model on anxiety and how clients can manage distressing feelings associated with racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia.
Because this is experiential training, please have a journal or notebook.
Objectives:
Differentiate between the various types of anxiety disorders.
Discuss the physiology of anxiety.
Identify the relationship between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Become familiar with at least 15 ways to manage anxiety.
Practice a wide range of anxiety management techniques.
Explore holistic methods of managing anxiety.
Identify how minority stress feeds anxiety.
About the Presenter
Dreya Blume (she/her) is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, author, and educator. Dreya began working in the mental health field in 2004 in southwest Virginia, where she spent almost two decades serving the local transgender community as a gender therapist. She recently moved to Durham, NC, where she focuses on offering continuing education training to therapists and coaching for private practice clinicians who want to expand their business uniquely. Dreya loves to write and is the author of several books, including, “The Tarot Activity Book: A Collection of Creative and Therapeutic Ideas for the Cards,” “Journaling the Tarot,” “Everyone Has a Story: Using the Hero’s Journey and Narrative Therapy to Reframe the Struggle of Mental Illness,” and “Tarot for Transformation: Using the Major Arcana to Discover Your Best Self and Create a Life Worth Living.” All of Dreya’s books (under her former name, Andy Matzner) are available here: https://dreyablume.com/books. Dreya is also passionate about teaching. Before becoming a mental health clinician, she spent many years teaching English as a Second Language in places such as Japan, Australia, Thailand, and Hawaii. Once in Virginia, Dreya worked as an adjunct professor for almost twenty years at Hollins University, teaching gender studies and sociology in their Master of Liberal Studies program. In addition, she spent twelve years teaching future social workers in the human services program at Virginia Western Community College. Learn more about Dreya on her website: https://dreyablume.com/.