Helping our patients to reframe anxiety in a more helpful way

Many of our patients tend to view anxiety as “bad”.

So I often try to help patients reframe “anxiety” as a sport car. It’s powerful but one has to learn how to drive it.

If one doesn’t know how to drive well, then a sport car is going to be problematic.

To drive “anxiety” well, one has to learn the following skills.

1. Be present.
2. Know how to hold space for the thoughts and feelings of self and of others.
3. Know how to let go of the things we cannot change.
4. Know oneself and be assertive in moving towards a quality of life that we want to create despite the challenges.

ACT aims to teach these skills.

Do you or your patients know how to “drive” anxiety well?