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Therapy in a Nutshell

Lasting Treatments for Anxiety vs. Coping Skills - Is THIS why Therapy isn't working?

Therapy in a Nutshell

Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam

Mental Health, Education, Health & Fitness:mental Health, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 658 Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Have you tried a bunch of stuff to manage anxiety and depression, but you’re still struggling? This might be why: Some strategies that work great for the short term, don’t help in the long run. They might make you feel better in the moment, but they do nothing to resolve your anxiety in the long run. A lot of articles, books, your friends, and even therapists recommend over and over that you learn “coping skills” to deal with anxiety. But coping skills only work in the short term. The most common problem for people like Gwen is they haven’t been taught how to implement the long-term skills that actually make your anxiety go down over time, instead of just coping. Long-term treatments can help you get out of crisis mode and into fixing mode. Fixing the leak in the boat takes more effort and time up front, but it addresses the root cause. Instead of endlessly bailing water, you’re working to repair the hole so you won’t keep ending up in the same situation. This is where cognitive treatments, therapy, or even medication come in—they help you change your relationship with anxiety or reduce its intensity over time. But here’s the thing about these long-term treatments–they often don’t help in the short term. They sometimes even make you feel worse–at first. Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional from the comfort of your own home. Try it now for 10% off your first month: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshell Learn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanutshell Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapyinanutshell.com Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/best-self-help-books  Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger Institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome back to another episode of the Therapy in a Nutshell podcast. I'm Emma McAdam and I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist. And this podcast is all about taking the life-changing, but usually kind of complicated topics of therapy and boiling them down into simple, easy-to-understand concepts that you can use in your daily life. If you find today's

0:21.7

episode is helpful to you, please pass it on to someone else who could benefit from it as well.

0:25.9

Each podcast episode comes from a corresponding video you can find on the Therapy in a Nutshell

0:30.3

YouTube channel. Also, these podcasts are educational and don't replace the advice or direction

0:35.1

you may be receiving from a therapist or other health professionals.

0:38.5

Now please, enjoy the episode.

0:40.9

Have you tried a bunch of stuff to manage anxiety and depression, but you're still struggling?

0:45.2

This might be why.

0:46.3

Some strategies that work great for the short term do not help in the long run.

0:51.1

They might make you feel better in the moment, but they do nothing to resolve your anxiety in the long run. They might make you feel better in the moment, but they do nothing to resolve your anxiety in the long run. Let me give you an example. Gwen had anxiety. She'd spent a lot of time

1:01.6

in therapy and quite a bit of time on the internet trying to learn how to make her anxiety go away.

1:05.9

She had learned breathing techniques. She tried grounding exercises. She talked with her

1:09.4

therapist about stuff that made her anxious, and she tried to avoid her triggers. But her anxiety just kept coming back.

1:15.7

Her life did not feel any more manageable now than it did before. I mean, maybe a little,

1:20.6

but she still struggled to function in college. And when she felt anxious, she would leave class,

1:25.7

which happened a little too often.

1:27.8

She didn't really make friends, and she spent a lot of time alone in her room, feeling completely overwhelmed with life, and not knowing where to start on her huge class load.

1:36.6

Maybe, she told herself, I just have to cope with anxiety for the rest of my life.

1:41.0

And this thought made her more anxious and depressed.

1:43.4

Can you relate? A lot of articles,

1:45.3

books, your friends, and even therapists recommend over and over that you learn coping skills to

1:50.7

deal with anxiety. But coping skills only work in the short term. It's like you're in a small boat

...

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