Nobody enjoys having a panic attack…

But they're particularly awful when they happen at school. On top of experiencing all of those physical symptoms - shortness of breath, tense muscles, pounding heart - you're worried about how other people will respond to you. 

College and highschool students have to deal with a lot of stress.

School stress, performance stress, life stress, future stress… It’s a lot to handle.

And when you’re dealing with stress, it’s really tough to know how to let it go.

Stress is important. It’s a healthy emotion.

It lets us know that we have things that need to be addressed. It can motivate us to get things done. But at a certain point, that stress reaches a place where it’s not longer healthy. It starts to get in our way. It can even have an impact on our health, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Today’s meditation is focused on letting go of stress and over-control.

Meditation is great for kids, teens, and college students with anxiety. It’s important to help you let go of control.

When you’re an anxious teen looking for therapy, you’ll probably come across the letters CBT a lot. What do they mean? And how is CBT used in anxiety therapy?

CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and is an evidence-based treatment for anxiety and anger management issues.

Our anxiety specialists are trained in and incorporate pieces of CBT into their work with kids, teens, and college students at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis.

Anger and anxiety can go hand in hand, which is why our team is full of anger management AND anxiety therapists in St. Louis.

Our therapists have specialized training to identify and treat anxiety-driven anger, a specific anger subtype due to underlying anxiety issues.

Anger can often mask what’s underneath the surface.

Because anger leads to really big reactions, parents, and even other therapists, aren’t always looking for another explanation for the behavioral reactions. But stress and anxiety can lead to outbursts, too, and rarely if ever is a person just angry. There’s usually something else going on.

As anxiety counselors in St. Louis, we know how important it is to feel supported and accepted for exactly who you are.

That’s why we want to make sure that our kids and teens who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community have a safe space to be themselves. It’s also important to connect them with resources that will continue to support and help them through any feelings that may come up. We are so happy to have had the opportunity to interview Rachel Kalina, MSW, LCSW, about her work with gender awareness and inclusion! She is doing really awesome work and we are excited to have her as a resource for our kids and teens.