Effective Anxiety Treatment in
Boulder, CO

• Chronic stress (from work, relationships, finances, health concerns) is the leading driver of ongoing anxiety. The idea is that our body habituates to hyper arousal states and ‘forgets’ how to have rest and peace states that allow our brain and nervous system to heal and rest. 

• Perceived lack of control — feeling like you can’t manage or change your situation — is often what turns normal stress into persistent anxiety. This is commonly related to trauma. In situations where there really was limited to no control and those situations were experienced as overwhelming and most importantly isolated and without support, we can respond by becoming what we call hypervigilant, which means wanting to control and pay intense attention more often than our mind and nervous system can accommodate. 

• Biological factors (like genetics, brain chemistry, and nervous system sensitivity) also play a major role, making some people more prone to anxiety even with relatively low stress. Biological factors can give us a predisposition or a lower threshold of activation for anxiety experiences. 

The number one way to get rid of anxiety — according to both research and clinical practice — is to train your nervous system to feel safe again.

Practically, the most effective way to do this is usually through regular nervous system regulation, especially by combining:

• Breathwork (slow, deep breathing to signal safety to your brain)

   

• Therapy: Exposure and cognitive work (gradually facing fears while retraining your thoughts)

   

• *Lifestyle changes: Prioritizing safe relationships and living situations. Improving sleep, limiting overwhelm and over stimulation (easiest way is limiting non-essential screen time), and moving your body.

If you want one single principle that covers it all, it would be:

Anxiety reduces when you consistently teach your brain and body that you are safe — even when you’re uncomfortable.

We do this by taking all responsibility we can to make ourselves safe first and foremost. We can’t teach our brains that we are safe when we are not making a safe place for ourselves. *see lifestyle changes above

Therapies like:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

   

• Somatic Experiencing, Humanistic talk therapy

   

• EMDR and Brainspotting

   

• Mindfulness-based practices

   

are proven to be among the most effective structured ways to do this.

In short:

Regulating your body + re-training your thoughts = the best long-term way to get rid of anxiety.

• A newer approach that’s excellent for chronic or generalized anxiety.
•  Focuses less on “getting rid” of anxious thoughts and more on changing your relationship to them.
• Builds psychological flexibility (tolerating discomfort while still living meaningfully).

• Focuses on the body’s physical stress response rather than just thoughts.
• Helps regulate the nervous system, which is key for trauma-based anxiety or when you feel anxious even if your thoughts seem fine.

–Originally for trauma, but increasingly used for anxiety (especially if it’s tied to past events).

-Helps reprocess old memories that trigger present-day anxiety.

Anxiety

• Gradual onset: It builds up over time — you feel it coming.

   

• Chronic: It can linger for hours, days, even weeks.

   

• Milder to moderate intensity: Often described as worry, unease, nervousness, or tension.

   

• Mental focus: Lots of “what if” thinking, anticipation of bad things happening.

   

• Physical symptoms: Restlessness, muscle tension, stomach aches, trouble sleeping — but more spread out and manageable.

   

• Trigger: Usually tied to specific worries (job stress, social events, health fears).

   

In short: Anxiety is like a slow-burning worry engine.

Panic

• Sudden onset: Comes on out of nowhere — often within minutes.

   

• Acute: Peaks fast (within about 10 minutes), and usually fades within 30–60 minutes.

   

• Extreme intensity: Feels overwhelming, like you’re losing control, dying, or going crazy.

   

• Physical focus: Racing heart, chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, numbness, sweating, chills, trembling.

   

• Trigger: Can happen without any clear reason — or from something minor that feels catastrophic.

   

In short: Panic is like an explosion in your body and brain — sudden, intense, and short-lived.

This is different for each person. You will need to find your unique recipe/s.

Here are some things from our anxiety specialists to try out.

Use Breathing: for some folks breathing is great. For others it exacerbates the symptoms. Here is a breathing exercise that has many variations and that has worked for a lot of folks in their anxiety.

Box Breathing = 4 Steps, All for 4 Seconds Each

Inhale (breathe in) for 4 seconds
Hold your breath for 4 seconds
Exhale (breathe out) for 4 seconds
Hold your breath again (empty) for 4 seconds

Then repeat the cycle.
You can picture each side of a box — that’s why it’s called “box” breathing. Do this for a full 2 minutes – use a timer on your phone if possible.

Use Your Eyes: expanding your field of vision (also called optic flow or panoramic vision) — and it can calm anxiety fast by directly shifting your brain out of fight-or-flight mode.

Here’s how it works:

How vision affects anxiety

When you’re anxious or stressed, your eyes naturally narrow into “focal vision” — you zoom in tightly, like you’re looking through a tunnel.

• Tunnel vision = survival mode.
  (Your brain thinks there’s a threat and needs to lock on.)

   

When you widen your field of vision, you send your brain the opposite message:

• Wide vision = safe mode.
  (Your brain realizes you aren’t under immediate threat.)

   

👉 Your eyes literally help control your nervous system!

Simple Eye Exercise to Calm Anxiety

1. Sit or stand comfortably.
   Look straight ahead, and soften your focus — like you’re staring at a big open scene (imagine watching a sunset).
2. Without moving your eyes, notice your side (peripheral) vision.
   Can you see the walls next to you? The floor below you? Ceiling above you?
3. Keep breathing slowly. You may also may an effort to notice the weight of your body and feel the ground beneath you.
   Let your awareness expand outward rather than narrowing inward.
4. Stay in this expanded, panoramic vision for 30–90 seconds. 

• You might feel a yawn coming on.
• You might feel your shoulders drop.
• Your heart rate might slow down.
  (These are all signs your nervous system is shifting.)

It’s almost like a shortcut — no deep thinking or emotional processing required

Use Cold

 Why Cold Works for Anxiety

Cold triggers the mammalian dive reflex — a primitive survival mechanism.
When your body senses sudden cold (especially on your face), it automatically slows your heart rate, shifts blood to your core, and calms your nervous system.

It forces your system from sympathetic (fight-or-flight) mode into parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) mode.

No thinking required — your body just does it.

Simple Ways to Use Cold to Reset Anxiety

1. Cold Water on Hands or Face

• Splash cold water on your face, particularly across your forehead, cheeks, and around the eyes.

   

• OR put your hands and wrists under very cold water for 30–60 seconds.

   

Why it works:
Your face and hands have dense nerve endings that signal directly to your brain’s calming centers.

Bonus tip:
Hold your breath briefly while splashing cold water on your face to enhance the dive reflex effect.

2. Ice Pack or Ice Cube Trick

• Hold an ice cube in your palm.

   

• Or place an ice pack on the back of your neck, upper chest, or cheeks for 30–60 seconds.

   

Why it works:
The cold + pressure on these nerve-rich areas sends a rapid “all clear” to your autonomic nervous system.

Super effective during a panic attack or intense anxiety wave.

3. Step Outside into the Cold (if available)

• If the weather is cool or cold, just step outside.

   

• Take slow deep breaths and expose your face, hands, and forearms to the air for 1–2 minutes.

   

Why it works:
Natural environmental cold is gentler and can reset your nervous system without overwhelming you.

Tip:
Focus your attention outward (trees, sky, buildings) while breathing — this combines cold exposure + expanded vision (double calm-down power).

How Fast Does It Work?

• Most people feel an effect within 30 to 90 seconds.

   

• Your heart rate often drops noticeably.

   

• You might notice a natural deep breath happening — that’s a sign your body is resetting.

   

Important Safety Tips:

• Don’t overdo it: You just need 30–60 seconds to reset — no need for ice baths unless you’re trained for that.

   

• If you feel dizzy, too cold, or numb, stop immediately.

   

• Cold exposure is a tool for regulation, not suffering — it should feel sharp, but not painful or punishing.

   

Quick Script for Using Cold to Reset Anxiety

“Pause.
Splash cold water on face or hands.
Breathe slow.
Notice the shift.
Repeat if needed.

Use Honest Self talk: 

A big step in many people’s anxiety therapy is working with their therapist to realize that the thoughts we have when we are anxious often suggest the anxiety MUST stop, that the anxiety itself is a threat. If nothing else works, often simply telling ourselves that it is okay to have anxiety and it’s okay if it takes a while to go away can be helpful. 

This becomes accessible when we realize that we have been anxious before. It is safe to be anxious even if we don’t like it and it feels bad. Not liking something is not the threat our bain tells us it is. This is one step in unraveling what feels like an impossible mystery of anxiety. Anxiety is a misguided bid for self care. 

The honest answer is: Yes — but not always in the way people expect.

Here’s the deeper truth:

1. Anxiety can go away — but usually not by trying to eliminate it.

Most people accidentally make anxiety worse by fighting it, fearing it, or trying to get rid of it as fast as possible.

When you learn how to:

• Regulate your nervous system (calm your body)

   

• Change your relationship to anxiety (see it as a messenger, not an emergency)

   

• Strengthen your emotional resilience (handle discomfort without panicking)

   

— anxiety loses its power and often fades dramatically.

For some people, anxiety can almost fully disappear after therapy, body regulation, lifestyle changes, and time.

For others, anxiety might pop up once in a while — but it becomes so small and manageable it barely impacts life anymore.

2. Chronic anxiety usually needs a nervous system reset — not just “positive thinking.”

Anxiety that sticks around is almost always rooted in:

• A brain that’s gotten too good at predicting danger (even when there’s none)

   

• A body that’s stuck in a chronic stress loop

   

• Old survival patterns (from trauma, conditioning, life experience)

   

Good news: Your brain and body are incredibly adaptable with the right tools and practice. Anxiety pathways can literally rewire over time.

3. You don’t have to live “at the mercy” of anxiety.

Even if anxiety never 100% vanishes (for some people it doesn’t), you can absolutely get to a place where:

• It doesn’t control your decisions.

   

• It doesn’t block your relationships, work, or freedom.

   

• It feels more like a passing wave, not a permanent storm.

   

You move from “anxious person” to “person who occasionally feels anxiety — and knows what to do about it.”

That’s real, permanent freedom.
And it’s absolutely achievable.

Summary:

Anxiety can go away — or become so small it stops running your life — if you focus on calming your body, changing your relationship to discomfort, and giving yourself enough time and support to rewire old patterns.