Anxiety… the word itself produces increased anxious thoughts. The mystery isn’t why some people suffer from anxiety disorders, but why everyone isn’t suffering from anxiety all the time. As humans, we are self-conscious, and we recognize we are vulnerable and fearful of what can go wrong. Everybody has a reason to be anxious, and every person has some form of anxiety, but it’s at the level to which it inhibits our ability to function. Unfortunately, we don’t have a shortcut to heal or rid you of your anxiety, but there is clinical research that shows us the best way to combat your fears.

Let’s examine how to approach your anxiety:

First, in detail, define what it is you’re afraid of and what might happen. One issue with anxiety is we don’t talk about it, and then it becomes more significant than it should be. Once you start talking about it, you’ve already cut it down in size. Then you decompose it into small manageable parts and figure out how to approach each. What’s going to happen isn’t that you are going to become less worried, but you are going to get braver. When you become braver, you don’t just become fearless and forget about your anxiety, instead, you take on those fears as a voluntary challenge. When you voluntarily face your fears, your body uses an entirely different physiological system; you use the system associated with approach and challenge, instead of the system associated with withdrawal and defensiveness.

This is where the myths and legends of dragons come into play. These stories have been told across time and across many cultures for a good reason. The dragon in these stories represent what it is you’re afraid of; it’s an embodiment of your fears, it’s your anxiety. This is when you hear about the hero, climbing the highest mountain or diving into the deepest darkest cave to face and slay the dragon. They are essentially conquering their biggest fear, and then they are set free.

“Can someone still be brave if they are afraid? That is the only time someone can be brave” -George R.R. Martin.

Sometimes, however, our dragons can feel too big to slay alone, and that is where NCTP can help. We can join your story and fight the battle with you--providing you the tools needed to slay your own dragons.