Anxiety Archives | Green Lake Christian Counseling

Tapping for Anxiety: What is it and How Does it Work?

Tapping for Anxiety: What is it and How Does it Work?

Miranda Otsuka, Kate Motaung2026-08-20T06:34:51+00:00August 20th, 2026|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Men’s Issues, Women’s Issues|

Tapping, also known as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), is a simple, yet highly effective, evidence-based tool. It combines elements of traditional Chinese medicine, such as stimulation of acupuncture points, with components of modern Western therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, and Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). EFT sends calming signals to your brain that help reset your body’s nervous system and quickly reduce symptoms of anxiety, pain, or emotional distress. The process involves using your fingertips to tap on specific points of your face, head, and upper body, while identifying and acknowledging the negative feeling you want to release. You accept and reframe it by pairing it with a positive affirmation that shifts the focus from what is wrong to what is possible. The Science Behind Tapping The involuntary functions of your body, such as heart rate, breathing, and digestion, happen without conscious thought. They are controlled by two branches of your autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. Your sympathetic nervous system is responsible for your body’s fight-or-flight response. When it senses danger, it acts as an alarm system, triggering physiological changes such as speeding up your heart rate and breathing, and tensing your muscles, to prepare your body to handle the perceived threat. In contrast, your parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for relaxation and acts as a rest and digest system that slows things down to conserve energy and promote recovery. Scientific studies, including brain wave scans, have shown that tapping can influence brain processes related to stress and emotional regulation. It can also produce profound physical changes related to your autonomic nervous system by sending electrochemical impulses to the parts of the brain that control stress and anxiety. This disrupts fight or flight signals and rewires neural pathways. Effects of tapping on [...]

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The Importance of Listening to Your Nervous System: A Christian Counselor Explains

The Importance of Listening to Your Nervous System: A Christian Counselor Explains

Noah Cordrey, Kate Motaung2026-02-02T14:26:21+00:00January 30th, 2026|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Men’s Issues|

Let’s do a quick mental exercise. Briefly recall the last time that you were in a mildly stressful situation. Maybe you were rushing out the door to your car because you were late for an appointment. Or perhaps you were anticipating having an important conversation with your boss, a friend, or a family member. Now, once you’ve got that mildly stressful situation in your mind, bring your attention to what’s happening in your body at that moment. What is your breathing pattern? What actions does your body want to take? What sensations do you experience in your body, and where do you feel them? Finally, what emotions come to the surface? All of these are signals that come from a deeper place in you: your nervous system. The Nervous System The human nervous system is a complex and intricate web of nerve cells that send and receive electrical and chemical signals all over our bodies. From our brain stems, through our torso, into our arms, down into our stomachs, and into our legs, it covers a lot of ground, and it is an essential part of us that God has made. The questions above aim to bring awareness to what our nervous system is telling us about what we are experiencing, even when we may be unaware of it. They slow us down by training our awareness and attention to rest on a specific part of our experience: breathing, action, sensation, and emotion. Living in the modern world causes a significant amount of stress or anxiety for many people. Between juggling work responsibilities, maintaining friendships, raising children, and making sure basic needs are met, our lives can become overwhelming and fast-paced. While God has graciously given us the ability to adapt to our circumstances and environments, many still find themselves [...]

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The Importance of Measuring Your Level of Death Anxiety

The Importance of Measuring Your Level of Death Anxiety

Grace Mavindidze2025-12-02T07:58:29+00:00November 29th, 2025|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Everyone’s a little bit wary of the Grim Reaper, and it’s quite natural to have some level of concern about dying. But the moment such thoughts start to take over normal daily functioning, it becomes a sign of a serious problem, like death anxiety. It is not normal to be thinking about dying all the time to the extent that it disrupts your daily activities like working or hanging out with others; this only reduces your quality of life. Death anxiety is also known as death phobia or the more technical term, thanatophobia; a strong and excessive fear or irrational awareness regarding one’s death, the dying process, the afterlife, and even events that surround the death of loved ones. Do you know that methods are now available where you can measure how unhealthy your fears of death are? Knowing your level of death anxiety, or that of a loved one, is an important preparatory stage for addressing and managing such crippling fears, and whether you need any help. One widely used method is called the Death Anxiety Scale, or DAS. How the Death Anxiety Scale works This approach was originally developed in the 1970s by American psychologist Donald Templer, and it has since proved to be a valuable tool in clinical and research applications. DAS, in brief, is a collection of 15 statements measuring different facets of anxiety related to dying, such as anxiety about the unknown, anxiety about the dying process, and anxiety about separation from those you love. The statements below are some examples: I am terrified to die The thought of death frequently enters my mind It makes me nervous when I hear people talking about death I am afraid to be operated on I am terrified of getting cancer The thought of death frequently worries me [...]

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8 Types of Loneliness and How to Navigate Them

8 Types of Loneliness and How to Navigate Them

Noah Cordrey, Kate Motaung2025-10-22T15:36:47+00:00July 3rd, 2025|Abandonment and Neglect, Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Men’s Issues, Pornography Addiction, Relationship Issues|

Listen to this article https://greenlakecounseling.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Greenlake-Christian-Counseling-8-Types-of-Loneliness-and-How-to-Navigate-Them.mp3 Loneliness is an emotional experience characterized often by sadness, desire, longing, and the belief that says, “I am alone in this world.” In many ways, this can be a devastating experience for the heart and mind. Universally, it is true that we were made for connection to ourselves, God, and others. However, despite living in one of the most connected ages where most people are only a phone call or text message away, this is also one of the loneliest and most isolating times. How can this be? If we desperately want to be connected relationally, then why does it sometimes feel so hard to achieve? Loneliness, as an emotional experience, carries nuance. There are different types of loneliness that we can experience throughout our lifetime. Being aware of some of these nuances is a first step in taking action toward being more connected. Today, we will look at eight varieties of loneliness and some ways to practically combat them. Eight Types of Loneliness Emotional Loneliness “I have people around me, but no one truly sees me.” This is a type of loneliness that often leaves you feeling invisible to others, as if when they look in your direction, they see right through you. Along with this type of loneliness comes feelings of deep-rooted bitterness, anger, and resentment at being ignored, overlooked, or unseen. To navigate this type of loneliness, practicing vulnerability will be an essential part of regaining a sense of emotional connection. People who have experienced emotional loneliness often present themselves as independent, capable, and high-achieving. They have gone far in their marriage, career, or relationships by being self-reliant. Unfortunately, when a person is self-reliant for so long, they may forget how to let others in. Additionally, a lot of [...]

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Dealing with Anxiety and Anger: The Unbearable Weight of Fear and Loathing

Dealing with Anxiety and Anger: The Unbearable Weight of Fear and Loathing

Kate Motaung2025-10-30T13:23:22+00:00June 25th, 2025|Anger Issues, Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling|

If there are any two emotions that we’ve all felt at some point in our lives, it’s probably anxiety and anger. Whether it’s about your family, school, work, or related to the things you believe in or care deeply about, we’ve all felt one or both of these emotions in a given moment. While at face value it might seem as though they have little to do with each other, there are a lot of connections between these two emotions. Being angry, anxious, or both can be a heavy burden. The things that typically lead us to experience these emotions generally aren’t things we would choose for ourselves. Additionally, being angry or anxious takes a toll on our mental, emotional, relational, and physical well-being. Chronic anger or anxiety can impair your ability to function well day-to-day, making it all the more important to know how to deal with them effectively. What Anger and Anxiety Do to Your Body One thing that you’ll notice almost immediately about both anger and anxiety is that they seem to affect your body in the same way. When something angers you or makes you feel anxious, it can trigger your body’s fight-or-flight response. The physical symptoms that result from releasing stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol prepare your body to deal with the situation, whether by fleeing from it or standing your ground to fight it. When these powerful hormones are released into your bloodstream, you may experience an increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, a tight chest, muscle tension, a rush of heat, headaches, or gastrointestinal issues. Even though anger and anxiety are distinct emotions, they tend to trigger a similar physiological response. These emotions are also often triggered by the same things, and they both have an impact on one’s well-being, especially [...]

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How to Take Every Thought Captive: Finding Support for Your Anxiety

How to Take Every Thought Captive: Finding Support for Your Anxiety

Jane Zerabruk, Kate Motaung2025-05-14T06:58:44+00:00May 14th, 2025|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Does this sound like you? Your mind is plagued with a never-ending cycle of anxious thoughts. Do these thoughts look or sound like fear or self-doubt? Sometimes they can be accompanied by sweaty palms, a queasy stomach, and the feeling that you are going to vomit. There are days when you have life figured out, but then, you are blindsided by anxiety. You wonder if you will ever be free. Lies Spoken by Anxiety Anxiety tries to convince you that you must be in control. It whispers in your ear that if you let your guard down, everything will fall apart. It tells you that you must babysit your problems, keeping careful eye on them so they don’t multiply or grow into something even larger and more dreaded. The lie that anxiety whispers, and sometimes screams in your ear, is that you have to be in control always. Anxiety wants you to reach and maintain a state of heightened awareness, where your mind neither rests nor relaxes. Sometimes, there is no realistic or apparent danger. It makes you live on the edge and encourages you to overanalyze every situation, expecting something bad will happen. Lies lead to self-doubt Anxiety also ties your self-esteem and self-worth to your productivity and accomplishments. Do you feel as if your productivity or your accomplishments, or even your ability to manage your emotions perfectly is a measure of your worth? Many people feel the pinch that not keeping their anxiety at bay is, well, anxiety-inducing and hard on the ego. They believe not having control over their anxiety is a weakness and a source of shame. For example, you may believe that those moments when you are too exhausted to prepare for the worst (because that’s what your anxiety has convinced you will happen) will [...]

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Existential Anxiety: Causes, Signs, and Treatment Options

Existential Anxiety: Causes, Signs, and Treatment Options

Kate Motaung2025-10-30T13:24:18+00:00April 1st, 2025|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Have you ever wondered about your purpose and place in the universe? Many of us have had an experience like that at one point or another. Maybe it came upon you as you pondered the vastness of nature and what it means to exist. Perhaps the thought captured your attention briefly, but it quickly passed, swallowed up by daily demands like chores, work, paying bills, school runs, and the habits and rhythms of life. For some people, thoughts about purpose, meaning, and the nature of our existence are more than just passing or intrusive thoughts. They can become distressing realities that they live with, and they can be quite damaging to one’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. These ongoing thoughts and feelings can grow into existential anxiety. Existential Thoughts and Existential Anxiety Some people naturally gravitate toward thinking about things beyond the humdrum of daily life. However, even if you don’t carve time out of your day to ponder the deep questions of life, meaning, and the universe, that doesn’t mean you can’t feel unease about your life. That unease may come in the form of restlessness, struggling to sleep or make decisions, or just feeling like there’s no point in your life or the things you’ve been doing. You may start having existential thoughts when encountering an event or situation that makes you confront your or a loved one’s mortality. Let’s say you’re involved in an accident, and you escape uninjured. That could leave you pondering on things like the meaning of life. If a loved one gets quite ill, or you lose them, it can lead you to start thinking about meaning and purpose. Existential anxiety, on the other hand, is more intense, and it can be described as a sense of fear or uneasiness about the meaning [...]

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Signs of Social Anxiety and How to Navigate It

Signs of Social Anxiety and How to Navigate It

Miranda Otsuka, Kate Motaung2025-02-24T03:38:48+00:00February 24th, 2025|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Men’s Issues, Women’s Issues|

Some individuals are the life of the party, at ease in a social setting. They seem to relish telling stories that are engaging and keep the crowd enthralled. From the outside, it seems as though they interact with others effortlessly. However, for many people, it’s normal to feel a little nervous or awkward in social settings. It’s expected to feel at least some nervousness in social settings, such as if you’re about to get interviewed for a job or when you’re going on a date, at a party with people you don’t know, or when you’re giving an important speech or presentation. Each person’s comfort level in social situations will vary. It depends on factors such as their life experiences and personality traits. Some people are naturally reserved wallflowers, while others – the social butterflies – are more outgoing. While nervousness in social situations is normal and tends to pass quickly, some forms of social anxiety go beyond this. When a person has social anxiety disorder, which is also called social phobia, they experience more than feelings of shyness or discomfort. Rather, everyday interactions make them feel extremely self-conscious, causing significant anxiety and embarrassment. They are fearful of scrutiny or being judged negatively by others. The fear and anxiety that flows from social phobia leads to avoiding social situations. It can disrupt a person’s life and affect their relationships, daily routines, work, school, sports, or other social activities. What is social anxiety? Social anxiety is more than just feeling shy around people. It names a long-term and overwhelming fear of social situations that doesn’t go away. It affects a person’s everyday activities, self-confidence, relationships, and work or school life. While many people will have some nervousness about social situations, a person with social anxiety will feel overly worried before, [...]

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Ways to Reduce Anxiety in Teenagers

Ways to Reduce Anxiety in Teenagers

Kate Motaung2025-10-30T13:24:56+00:00January 8th, 2025|Anxiety, Christian Counseling For Teens, Featured, Individual Counseling|

If you’re older, do you remember what it was like when you were young? There were things you were still learning and trying to figure out, and the world may have felt like a large, daunting place. Depending on your temperament and personality, this newness of the world and unexplored horizons may have been exciting to you, or it may have felt frightening and anxiety-inducing. Anxiety in Teenagers It comes as no surprise to us that teenagers experience anxiety. It’s important to note that some teenagers may experience mild anxiety, while others may experience severe anxiety that’s debilitating. This anxiety may be different from what they experienced when they were younger. It is sometimes a new development as they enter adolescence. People’s vulnerabilities and worries differ at each stage of their development. That’s why teenage anxiety often looks different from childhood anxiety, even though an anxious teenager may have struggled with anxiety for years by the time they reach adolescence. Younger children’s anxieties tend to focus on external things, while a teenager’s anxiety will focus more on themselves as the object. For example, a younger child may be afraid of the dark or of monsters under the bed. They may develop a fear of bees or spiders or get anxious at the idea of something happening to their parents. However, a teenager’s anxiety will often focus on the changes happening in their body, how others perceive them, and how they perform in school and extracurricular activities. Whether a child has struggled with anxiety before or not, as more is expected of them in middle and high school, anxiety can surface. As they develop an awareness and focus on their peers, anxiety can then become more severe such as social anxiety and panic attacks. While a certain amount of anxiety [...]

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Food for Anxiety: What’s Eating You? (And What You Should Eat!)

Food for Anxiety: What’s Eating You? (And What You Should Eat!)

Meluleki Ncube, Kate Motaung2024-12-16T03:21:56+00:00December 16th, 2024|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Anxiety is real and it’s no respecter of persons. It’s that gnawing little pest that sneaks up on you when you least expect it, like a toddler with a permanent marker near your freshly painted walls. Anxiety may be real and frustrating and even life-altering, but it doesn’t get the final say over your life! There are many strategies you can implement to help attack the anxiety that plagues you, but one that is often overlooked is also one of the simplest to put into action: your dinner plate. In this article, we’ll look at healthy food for anxiety and how it can help. What is anxiety, anyway? Anxiety can make your thoughts race, your heart pound, and try to convince you that the worst-case scenario about why your boss called a meeting is true. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) can make this a daily reality, affecting everything from your sleep to your relationships. The world tells us to medicate or meditate – both of which can help – but did you know that there’s a divine design to what we eat and how it affects how we feel? Let’s dive in! (And don’t worry, there’s dark chocolate ahead!) Food for Anxiety Before you roll your eyes and think, “Great! More Stuff I can’t eat,” let me assure you – this isn’t a conversation about diet restrictions. This is about freedom! Yes, freedom! Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Freedom from the worry that stalks your brain at 3 AM. Freedom from anxiety that makes you want to wear your blanket like a cape all day. And believe it or not, part of that freedom might just come from your grocery cart. So, what food for anxiety should you eat when it feels [...]

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