When a client suffers from anxiety, they’re often locked in worry about the future . . .
. . . which can prevent them from enjoying meaningful parts of life in the present.
But one way that clients can work through their anxiety is by building a values-based mindset.
So in the infographic below, we laid out a four-step process that can help shift a client’s focus away from their anxiety and motivate them to work toward their goals.
Have a look, and please share with your clients.
Click the image to enlarge
In life, you’re constantly managing unknowns. But when anxiety takes hold, it can be difficult to face those unknowns and do the things you once enjoyed. So how can you overcome anxiety when it’s holding you back?
One way to motivate yourself in the face of anxiety is to build a values-based mindset.
1. Identify the meaningful parts of life that the anxiety is blocking.
2. Shift the focus away from the anxiety itself toward the meaningful goal.
3. Create a list of positive messages that would motivate you toward that goal.
4. Be gentle with yourself – you’re not alone. Many of the people you meet may be working through something similar.
Think, for example, about a person who is afraid to drive on the highway. In order to shift the focus, their therapist might ask, “Why do you want to drive on the highway? What’s in it for you?”
That person might want to drive so they can go on a date, see a grandchild, get to a job, or buy a present for someone they love.
When anxiety threatens to keep you from people you love and activities you enjoy, these four steps can give you powerful motivation to do what is meaningful to you despite anxiety.
(If you’re sharing this infographic, please attribute it to NICABM. We put a lot of work into creating these resources for you. And if you’re sharing this digitally, please link back to this page in your attribution. Thanks!)
If you’d like to print a copy, you can use one of these links:
For more practical tools and strategies to help clients manage anxiety, have a look at this short course featuring Steven Hayes, PhD; Marsha Linehan, PhD; Richard Schwartz, PhD; Stephen Porges, PhD; Pat Ogden, PhD; and other top experts.
Now we’d like to hear from you in the comments below. Do you use values-based approaches with your clients? What else do you find helpful when working with anxiety? Please let us know.
If you found this helpful, here are a few more resources you might be interested in:
Working with the Body to Release Anxiety, with Pat Ogden, PhD
[Infographic] Four Core Strategies for Managing Stress and Anxiety
I can’t get the short course but really appreciate Linda Graham, LMFT sharing the tools. So helpful thank you.
The goal, the reason I want to do something, is important. But if I am set in failure, I try to imagine a variety of possibilities that would keep me from reaching the goal. And make a plan for those possibilities. That is not worrying, it is preparing. And if something unanticipated happens, I have practiced solving other problems, and do not get so anxious. Perhaps that is positive thinking taken to another level?
Not really sure how “un-anticipating” something you don’t expect and this would leave you with no anxious fear of being not prepared for the events to happen anyway.
Plan for the worst….hope for the best!
No problem with this model thanks, but any advice about how to manage anxious memories that surface whilst anticipating the event, or during its execution please?
I am very grateful to have received this message and found it helpful reminder as I have so many others.
I just received the news that my sister and nephew in Califonia (I am in VA) tested positive for covid and my fear went through the roof. What I have learned is that I can spiral into the dorsal vagal response unless I start moving. So I took myself for a walk/run and then sat in a cold bench (46 degrees out there) for 50 minutes while I talked to a good friend on the phone. Boy did my chemistry change! I am now calm, clear minded and fully present.
Thank you NICABM for providing these infographics. I have found them to be very helpful in psychoeducation. Sometimes they hit the nail on the head and other times they are a starting point for a good discussion, but always helpful.
Picture books! Thank you.
Love picture books 🙂
I’m going to be the devils advocate here.. what about clients who don’t like being goal focused(goals are another future based thinking process) or when they fail to meet goals it just increases anxiety?
What about the unconscious anxiety?
The media amplified and spread anxiety? The collective anxiety that is pervasive, like static ?
There has never been a greater need for psychology to move into primarily teaching mindfulness.
All anxiety( fear) is from not knowing who you are, believing you are a little person(just a conditioned mind= past and future).
Whenever you are not in the present moment fear( anxiety) will arise. The cross over to mindfulness( teaching clients to learn how to be present moment focused and centered) is essential for any real help in relieving anxiety . They will soon learn that a new state of being free from anxiety is possible from the firsthand experience of their Being.
Thanks, I find this very helpful – reminding that anxiety is related to fear and the need to present in the moment.