Carolina Gaviria, LMHC, NCC, CEDS-C
Psychotherapist

Stress affects all of us! Life has ups and downs and while a little stress is OK and at times beneficial to motivate us to make changes, too much stress can lead to mental and physical illness. Chronic stress can occur when life stressors are unrelenting, for example, dealing with difficult relationships or a messy divorce, chronic pain or academic/work related issues. It can also take place when small stressors accumulate. As long as your mind perceives stressors as a threat, your body remains aroused and your chances of you getting stress-related symptoms increase.

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When you feel threatened, the "fight-or-flight” or the stress response prepares you through a series of biochemical changes to deal with the threat. During stress response, your heart rate increases, breathing quickens, muscles tighten, and blood pressure rises. You get ready to act and protect yourself. This process when experienced for too long can lead to muscular tension, cardiovascular disease, migraines, chronic fatigue, and gastrointestinal issues such as ulcers and chronic diarrhea.

 

Fortunately, the same mechanism that turns the stress response on can turn it off. This is called the relaxation response! To learn more about how counseling and relaxation techniques can reduce stress, please  contact me directly at 561.305.2497 or email me at carolinagaviriamhc@gmail.com. I will provide a FREE 20 minute phone consultation to answer your questions and explain you how therapy can help!