Clients who are struggling with anxiety will often share a wish with me. “I want my anxiety to be gone…I wish I didn’t have anxious thoughts.” I hear you. At its best, anxiety is uncomfortable. At its worse, it’s debilitating. And so these wishes make sense. Yet, we’re human beings. And anxiety is part of being human.

So if a future without anxiety is not possible, what is possible? In answering this question, your curiosity is an asset.

Curiosity is the enemy of anxiety.

Anxiety is invested in eliciting fear within the brain and body. When fear emerges, we are compelled to keep ourselves safe and soothe. Oftentimes, this can look like avoidance or intense distance-making or compartmentalization or distraction. And while all of these safety strategies have their time and their place, when relied on, solely, for managing anxiety, the anxious voice continues to grow and continues to gain power.

Enter, curiosity. If anxiety encourages avoidance, curiosity encourages us to pursue. “Stand closer,” it says. “Let’s understand what’s happening.” Curiosity wants to learn what the anxious voice is threatening and decide for itself how much power and time to give the anxious voice. Curiosity is like a detective, examining patterns and evidence. Therapy is a tool that can help client’s disentangle their voice from the anxiety voice and teach client’s how to use their curiosity to minimize the impacts of anxiety’s cruelty. Feeling curious? Let’s connect.