Do you feel stuck in Fear?
Fear is a very common emotion in my office. I often hear statements such as, “I felt so scared.” “I feel trapped and don’t know what to do.” “I fear moving on.” “I just don’t think I can do it. It’s too scary.” “I feel frozen.”
As someone who has felt scared, trapped and frozen in fear myself I know how debilitating fear can be. It can keep many of us from moving forward, moving on, and/or doing things that would benefit us, or even make us more fulfilled and happy. As a therapist in Ogden Utah, it is my job to help clients understand fear as an emotion and ultimately see if we can help them become unstuck. Let’s dig in and see what we learn about fear.
Fear is the emotion, while scared is the state of experiencing fear.
Sometimes things happen to someone that brings the person to fear. This could be a quick moment like when my husband comes home. I don’t hear the garage, but I hear someone walk through the door. My brain and body react and for a moment I am scared. Until I realize who it is, see him and I go and kiss him.
Or Fear Can Stick Around.
I have worked with many clients whose partners cheated on them. This is betrayal trauma. The person who is affected can stay in fear thinking it might happen again. This experience happened to them, their brain and body reacted in fear and now they continue to be in that place. Sometimes weeks, months, or years later.
Fear is about what might happen, not what will happen.
I also see fear arise when someone scares themselves into imagining negative outcomes to activities, experiences, or the what-ifs of the future.
Fear is common and it is important to understand.
When we are scared – so experiencing fear – it triggers the fight or flight response. Our brain wants to get to safety as soon as possible. If we are in a situation where we are scared we don’t want to make the choice of fight or flight our brains and bodies do it instinctively. We want our brains to do that. It is our brain's way of protecting us. It goes into fight mode or flight mode. The brain does this by sending signals to our bodies.
What happens in our body -
Our heart and lungs begin working faster.
This allows our muscles to get prepped to take action.
We then want to do something or get somewhere that makes us feel safe.
To sum it up –
Everyone gets scared. Our brains go into a fight or flight response instinctively. Sometimes we can get stuck in fear and have a hard time moving forward. This can impact our thoughts, emotions, images, memories, and words. Other times the feeling of scared can pass and we can breathe or talk our way through it.
You feel stuck in fear
If you’d like to work on the emotion fear, please reach out. As one of the counselors in Ogden Utah my clients and I work on where the fear is in the body. We work on releasing fear through movements, mindfulness and use Brainspotting therapy or EMDR. They learn to let the fear move and express it in ways that help. Being aware and attuned, giving fear space and gentleness can make all the difference on your emotional path to healing.
looking for a therapist in Ogden Utah who can help.
I specialize in trauma therapy and PTSD Treatment, high-functioning depression, anxiety therapy and stress relief, and body-brain-based therapies such as Brainspotting therapy and EMDR. I am excited to hear from you and be a resource in the community. Contact us today!
