When we’re anxious or in distress or starting to have a panic attack, it can be hard to sit still and breathe. Here’s a breathing exercise that helps slow our breathing down while incorporating walking in with our breaths. We begin walking at a slow-ish but comfortable pace, and then tie our breathing in with […]
Category: Panic
Change Your Anxious Thinking
The previous post provided a brief overview of how to reframe our thoughts. Here we look at changing anxious thinking in more detail, focusing on anxiety in general rather than panic. Changing Anxious Thinking Transcription One of the basic premises of cognitive behavioral therapy is that our thoughts have a powerful influence on our moods […]
Change Anxious Thoughts With a Thought Record
The thought record is a structured, step-by-step process to help us modify our thoughts. It’s not something we can do in the middle of a panic attack, but we can do it afterward, when we have a chance to step back and reflect. This helps us prepare for the next time we start to panic […]
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Reframing Anxious Thoughts
In CBT we question our anxious and catastrophic thoughts and reframe them to make them more accurate and reflect reality better. This reduces anxiety and makes it less likely we start to panic. The challenge is that when we’re having a panic attack it’s hard to think clearly enough to come up with different ways […]
How To Stop Panic Attacks
Having a panic attack is terrifying, and it can be hard to know what to do. In this video, we’ll learn how to manage panic attacks with CBT by examining why they happen and the relationship between the body sensations they trigger and the catastrophic thoughts we have in response. We’ll also look at ways […]
Exposure Therapy for Panic Attacks & Panic Disorder
Do you ever avoid places, activities, or situations because you’re scared of having another panic attack? With panic disorder, the fear of having a panic attack can actually be worse than the panic attacks themselves. In this video, we focus on using exposure to make panic attacks less frequent and reduce the anxiety they cause.Exposure […]
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Free Self-Help Course for Panic Attacks
Learn how to stop having panic attacks in this free self-help course. You’ll learn: What panic attacks are and how they work Practical skills to manage panic attacks in the moment How to reduce fear of panic attacks How to make panic attacks less likely in the future You’ll also build confidence in managing panic […]
How to Breathe During a Panic Attack
One of the quickest ways to calm a panic attack is by slowing down our breathing. During a panic attack our breathing speeds up, which raises our heart rate and can make panic even more. We’re often told to calm down by taking deep breaths. But deep breathing can actually make things worse. If we […]
5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise for Panic Attacks
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise is a grounding technique that helps us connect with the outside world through our senses. We can use this coping skill whenever we’re feeling anxious or overwhelmed, our minds are racing, or we’re stuck in our heads dwelling or ruminating. The 5-4-3-2-1 exercise can also help if we’re dissociating or experiencing […]
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How To Calm Your Emotions
An important aspect of emotion regulation in DBT is the ability to name and describe our emotions, and validate and accept however we’re feeling in the present moment. Acceptance doesn’t mean we’re resigning ourselves to feeling this way. It’s just an acknowledgement of our current emotions and how we’re feeling right now. In other words, […]