Therapy for Teen Anxiety in Katy Texas and Also Serving the Houston Area
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Your tired of having these excessive worries that you cannot get out of your mind.
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You find that you are having more difficulty with focus and concentration and it's becoming more challenging to keep up in school.
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You can't fall asleep at night because the worried thoughts keep cycling around in your mind. No matter what you try, they continue to come back.
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Your self-worth and self-esteem are starting to be affected as you have thoughts about what others may (or must be) thinking about you.
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Table of Contents
For quick and easy navigation of this page, you can click on any of the topics below. This will take you to section of the page where the topic can be found:
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Symptoms of Teen Anxiety
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Normal Teen Anxiety vs. Harmful Teen Anxiety
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Everyone experiences anxiety in their lives. Teens and college students preparing for and taking an exam. A High School senior applying to the colleges that they have put in so much hard work to be able to attend. Applying for and interviewing for a job. There are many more examples of normal, typical anxiety that we all can relate to.​
Normal anxiety is a helpful thing. It motivates us to put in the time, energy, thought, and effort to succeed at that things we are attempting to do.
Normal anxiety can also keep us safe. The thought about walking down a dark, isolated, alley in the wrong part of town may be bringing up some feelings of anxiety even now. That feeling is there to protect you and keep you out of harm’s way.
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Harmful Anxiety is when we experience an excessive amount of fear, worry or concern. This kind of anxiety interferes with and has a negative impact on our ability function in our daily responsibilities.
Harmful anxiety can interfere with work, school, family, relationships, and more. This can leave a teen having self defeating thoughts that the teen largely knows are irrational -- but teen anxiety is pretty convincing.
An ever present, intense feeling in their life, teen anxiety makes a teen feel fearful and panicky. The things they used to be able to manage with ease now becomes difficult.
Trying to make sense of these feelings leads a teen to have thoughts that impact their self-esteem, self-worth, and their self-confidence. With teen anxiety, self-judgment and fear of other's judgment is ever present.
Rates of Teen Anxiety on the Rise
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The need for therapy for teen anxiety in Katy Texas and the Houston area has increased. Teen anxiety rates among have significantly increased over the last 10 years.
Teen anxiety is the most common mental health struggle for today's teens. Approximately 32% of teens will experience symptoms consistent with an anxiety disorder. Teen anxiety disorders come in various forms including:
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Teen Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
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Symptoms of teen GAD include:
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Your teen having difficulty concentrating
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Your teen has difficulty sleeping
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Your teen experiencing more irritability
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Your teen in experiencing more fatigue/exhaustion,
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Your teen is complaining of muscle tension,
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Your teen is complaining of physical ailments or complaints,
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Your teen is experiencing sweaty palms,
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Your teen reports rapid heart beat, and
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Your teen experiences shaking or tremors
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GAD is not the same as the normal anxiety one would feel before taking a test or performing in front of an audience. The symptoms of GAD persist even after the anxiety provoking event has taken place.
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Teen Social Anxiety
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Teen social anxiety creates an intense fear or emotional discomfort when in social situations. People with teen social anxiety will go to great and creative lengths to avoid social gatherings as they may have:
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Your teen has excessive concern or worry about how they will appear
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Your teen has excessive concerns on how they may present in front of others
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Your teen has excessive or intense fear of embarrassing themselves in front of others
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Your teen has fear of persons in positions of authority
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Your teen may experience their mind going blank while socializing with others, and
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Your teen starts experiencing panic attacks in social situations
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Teen Panic Attacks
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Teen panic attacks carry similar signs and symptoms as teen social anxiety. The difference is the onset and intensity of the teen panic attack.
Teen panic attacks can come seemingly out of nowhere. They can be so intense, they trigger the body's survival mechanism of flight, flight, or freeze. Symptoms of a teen panic attack can include the following:​
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Your teen experiencing intense feelings of impending danger or death
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Your teen experiencing fear of loss of control
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Your teen reports shortness of breath
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Your teen experiences tightness in the throat
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Your teen starts experiencing nausea
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Your teen reports having hot flashes
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Your teen complains of dizziness
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Your teen begins to tremble, and
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Your teen starts shaking or having tremors
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Signs and Symptoms That Your Teen May Need Therapy for Teen Anxiety
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To help identify if your teen is struggling with teen anxiety, below is a review of the symptoms of teen anxiety:​
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Your teen is feeling on edge and/or irritable
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Your teen is having difficulty concentrating
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Your tee is having difficulty remembering things
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Your teen looks or reports in increase in restlessness
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Your teen starts avoiding certain activities or social interactions with friends
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Your teen starts spending increased time alone
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Your teen complains of body aches including frequent headaches, stomach aches, gastrointestinal problems, etc
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Your teen complains of feeling ill with no observable or obvious medical cause
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Your teen starts experiencing excessive fatigue and difficulty falling and/or staying asleep
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You've noticed a change in your teen's eating habits
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You've notices a change in your teen's grades
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You've noticed your teen is starting to miss assignments
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Your teen has voiced feelings of being overwhelmed with homework and other activities
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​Your teen reports experiencing rapid heart beat
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Your teen reports difficulty breathing or catching their breath
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Your teen starts to experience dizziness
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Your teen reports sweating and trembling
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Your teen having experiences where they feel like they are going to die (panic attacks)
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Your teen feels like they are 'going crazy' (panic attacks)
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Your teen reports tingling in their arms or legs
Impact of Teen Anxiety​
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Teen anxiety creates significant, lifelong issues if untreated. Teen anxiety can impact their ability to succeed at the level they would like to in school and other extracurricular activities. Teen anxiety can leave teens with decreased self-confidence and self-value. If left untreated, these things can follow them into their adult years.
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Counseling for Teen Anxiety Can Help Your Teen
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There is good news for those who experience symptoms of teen anxiety. Teen anxiety has been a long time and is one of the more common emotional struggles that teens experience. As a result, there are highly effective teen anxiety therapy approaches to help your teen.
There are many teens in our area who have sought out counseling for teen anxiety. Many of those teens who put in the work are successful in resolving their struggles with teen anxiety.
At Katy Teen & Family Counseling, we have been providing therapy for teen anxiety since 2003. We encourage you to reach out, speak with one of our teen therapy specialists, and see how we can help you.
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Approaches for Treating Teen Anxiety: Katy Teen & Family Counseling
Establishing a Trusting Therapeutic Relationship
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First, it is critical that the therapist develop and build a trusting relationship with your teen. Trust is the foundation in any relationship. If a teen is going to talk about difficult topics like teen anxiety, they need to feel comfortable and safe. Exploring the topic of teen anxiety if not for the feint of heart!
For a teen, coming to therapy for teen anxiety initially is an anxiety provoking experience in and of itself! The teen is meeting a new person who they do not know but are hopeful can help.
The teen knows that this person will explore some of the things that may be uncomfortable talking about and which may be a part of the cause teen anxiety. It is normal to experience this initial session anxiety. Because of this, our counselors go out of their way to help your teen feel comfortable, safe, and not judged.​
As a trust based therapeutic relationship is established, the counseling interventions will be more effective. Whether that be Neurofeedback therapy, EMDR, CBT, the foundation of trust is what will make these interventions effective.
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Neurofeedback Therapy for Teen Anxiety in Katy Texas
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Neurofeedback is a research supported approach in treating teen anxiety. Neurofeedback therapy is different than CBT and EMDR counseling. Neurofeedback is not talk therapy and it's focus is optimal brain performance. Neurofeedback therapy is a fun and enjoyable approach to treating teen emotional struggles.
Neurofeedback utilizes sophisticated software to measure brain performance. Neurofeedback uses a cap with 19 sensors which reads the teen's brain performance.
A teen who has anxiety will have a brain that performs in an anxious state. Likewise, a teen without anxiety will have a brain that performs in a non-anxious state. Neurofeedback helps train the teen to change the way their brain performs to resolve their anxiety.
Sophisticated software, resembling a video game, is the training tool used. When the teen's brain performance resembles a non-anxious teen, the teen controls the video game.
When a teen's brain does not perform in this way, they lose control of the video game. Through this reinforcement, the brain learns to change to a non-anxious state. The change that occurs is normally long term.
During neurofeedback therapy for teen anxiety, we will periodically create a brain map to measure progress. The brain map will provide concrete direction on how treatment should progress.
In traditional talk therapy, the direction of treatment comes from the therapist's experience. With neurofeedback, the direction comes from scientific brain maps of the brain's current state of functioning.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR Therapy)​ for Teen Anxiety Counseling
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), is another research supported approach in treating teen anxiety. EMDR therapy is different than CBT. EMDR targets the parts of the brain where hurtful experiences have become stuck. These stuck experiences in the brain are unprocessed data and contribute to the feelings of anxiety.
EMDR helps shift these stuck experiences where they can be processed by the brain. Once this occurs, much of the emotions around anxiety will drain away. EMDR is not talk therapy which appeals to those teens who may struggle to open up in therapy sessions.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Therapy for Teen Anxiety in Katy Texas
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the gold standard approaches in therapy for teen anxiety. CBT centers on identifying:
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Negative core beliefs
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Automatic negative thoughts
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Behaviors that arise due to the automatic negative thoughts.
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CBT helps replace faulty core beliefs with accurate, positive core beliefs. CBT also focuses on the negative thoughts that stemmed from the faulty core beliefs. Changes in these thoughts arise as the core belief changes to a positive core belief. As the core beliefs and thoughts change, the change in behavior follows.
CBT also focuses on how a teen with anxiety views or perceives situations in their lives. The 'A-B-C' model helps teens with this exploration:
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Activating event
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Your Belief about the event
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Consequences whether emotional and/or behavioral
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Being able to perceive an event accurately and not through a negative filter of anxiety helps teens shift their belief about the event. Once the belief shifts the emotional results change as a result
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Start Therapy for Teen Anxiety at Katy Teen & Family Counseling:
Katy, Tx & Houston
Your teen does not have to live with the crippling effects of teen anxiety any longer. Teen anxiety places an artificial ceiling on your teen's ability to succeed to their full potential. Your teen has the talent, the intellect, and the will. Teen anxiety is a script running in the background at all times convincing your teen that it's not safe to try and keeps them mired in self doubt.
Your teen can break free of the effects of teen anxiety and burst through the artificial ceiling teen anxiety creates. They can succeed to their full potential once teen anxiety is managed or eliminated.
There are caring teen therapy specialists who have helped other teens just like yours overcoming teen anxiety.
Katy Teen & Family Counseling serves the Katy, Houston, and surrounding areas. We are conveniently located just off of I-10 and 99.
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To start your counseling journey, you can follow these simple steps:
1. Contact Katy Teen & Family Counseling
2. Speak with and/or meet in person with your teen therapist
3. Start the investment into your teen's future. Help them overcome teen anxiety and realize their full potential!
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Other Therapy Services Provided by Katy Teen & Family Counseling:
Katy, Tx & Houston
While we specialize in treating gifted teens and talented teen athletes at Katy Teen & Family Counseling, we also specialize in other emotional and behavioral life struggles and provide the following approaches such as:
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Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
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Neurofeedback Therapy for Depression
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Teen Therapy for Self-harm
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Teen Therapy for Self-esteem and Self-worth
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Teen Anger Management Treatment
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In the Meantime: Strategies to Combat Teen Anxiety From Katy Teen & Family Counseling
While you are considering next steps for your teen, below are some suggestions and strategies to combat teen anxiety. These are also strategies that can help anyone if implemented into our daily routine. When implemented, we would find less stress and anxiety in our own lives:
Adequate Sleep
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With the demands on today's teens, they rarely get the required number of hours of sleep recommended by pediatricians. Teens should be getting in around 9-9.5 hours of sleep a night. On average, today's teens get between 8-10 hours of sleep.
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Regular Exercise
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Exercise has been found to be nearly as effective as medication in treating anxiety. High aerobic exercise has been found to be more effective than low aerobic exercise. But even 10 mins of walking has shown to be effective in temporarily reducing stress and anxiety.
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Meditation, Guided Meditation, and Breathing Exercises
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Research has shown the benefits of deep breathing and guided meditation. There are many free apps out there that will provide guided meditation exercises. It's as easy as downloading the app, selecting a guided meditation, putting ear buds in, and pressing play.
The exercises will instruct you on how to perform the guided meditation. The more you practice, the more effective it becomes with greater emotional benefits. YouTube and Google are also excellent resources in finding guided meditation.​
You can also find deep breathing or diaphragmatic breathing that can help calm a racing mind and heart. These can be found in the app store, YouTube, or simply by Googling deep breathing or diaphragmatic breathing exercises.
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Play Time, Down Time, and Family Time (PDF)
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Research has shown the importance of each of these activities in healthy physical and neurological development. Having balance in a teens life with all the pressures they experience day in and day out can help stave off or reduce their anxiety.​​
Play time is important for a developing teen mind and body. Unstructured down time and family time are also critical elements to help with teen anxiety. To help remember play time, down time, and family time just remember 'PDF'.
Other suggestions are:
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maintaining a well balanced diet
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limit caffeine intake, and
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identifying what it is that commonly triggers the anxiety​
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Reach Out Today to Start Therapy for Teen Anxiety in Katy Texas and Also Serving the Houston Area
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We are right down the road and in some cases right around the corner. We are ready to help your teen recover their confidence and happiness. Let us help remove the barrier to success that anxiety creates. Start therapy for teen anxiety in Katy Texas and also serving the Houston area.
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