Anxiety is a normal part of life, and learning the tools to manage anxiety is important for our well-being.
When anxiety gets high, we can feel overwhelmed and out of control, making it hard to stay connected to ourselves and our values.
As Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, we regularly help clients use tools to manage their anxiety that are backed by research.
In this article, I’ll show you 15 proven therapy techniques that can help you feel less anxiety and improve your mental health.
To understand these tools to manage anxiety, we’ll start by looking at anxiety through the lens of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), understand the cycle of anxiety, and then learn helpful coping strategies.
The CBT Triangle and Anxiety
The CBT triangle is a key idea in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that shows how our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are connected and can interact with each other. By understanding these connections, we can take targeted steps to manage anxiety.
We can use the CBT triangle to examine these three components of anxiety more closely. Let’s start with our thoughts…
1. Thoughts:
When we have anxiety, we often have negative, threatening, or irrational thoughts that make us feel scared or worried. These thoughts happen automatically and can make things seem worse than they are.
- Example Anxious Thoughts:
- “I’m going to fail this test, and my life will be over.”
- “If I go to the party, everyone will laugh at me, and I’ll embarrass myself.”
- “Something bad will happen to my family if I don’t keep checking on them.”
2. Feelings:
Anxious thoughts can lead to strong emotions, like fear, worry, or panic. Anxiety can also arise from stressful situations or from experiences our brain associates with danger before we’re aware of any negative thoughts. In either case, these feelings can be very intense and make us feel uncomfortable or out of control.
- Emotions Associated with Anxiety:
- Nervousness
- Fear
- Dread
- Panic
- Restlessness
3. Behaviors:
In response to anxious thoughts and feelings, we may do things that we think will help us feel better. However, some behaviors can make the anxiety worse because they stop us from facing our fears and learning that our anxious thoughts may not be true and that we can cope with our anxious feelings.
- Example Behaviors:
- Avoiding situations or places that cause anxiety (like social events or crowded areas).
- Asking others for reassurance.
- Putting off tasks to avoid feeling anxious.
- Using “safety” behaviors, like carrying a lucky charm.
The Anxiety Cycle
The interactions between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can get us stuck in an anxious cycle.
- Thoughts Lead to Feelings: Negative or irrational thoughts can cause anxious feelings. For example, thinking something terrible will happen can make us feel very scared or worried.
- Feelings Make Certain Thoughts More Likely: Anxious feelings prime our emotional system to be on the lookout for danger. This leads to our mind being more likely to think negatively and imagine how things may go wrong.
- Feelings Drive Behaviors: Feeling anxious often leads to actions intended to make uncomfortable feelings go away. This might mean avoiding certain situations or doing things to neutralize anxious feelings.
- Thoughts Lead to Behaviors: Anxious thoughts can impact behavior. For example, catastrophic thinking, thinking that something will go horribly wrong, may cause us to give up, avoid, or only partially engage in an activity.
- Behaviors in Turn Reinforce Thoughts and Feelings: When we avoid or use safety behaviors to manage anxious thoughts and feelings, we may feel temporary relief. This makes us think our anxious thoughts and feelings were right, which creates a cycle that strengthens our anxiety and worry.
All of this keeps the anxiety cycle going.
Understanding anxiety through the CBT triangle shows how anxious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact to maintain and strengthen anxiety. The good news is, decades of research has taught us effective ways to manage anxiety so we can break this cycle!
So let’s get to those tools, starting with our coping strategies for managing anxious thoughts…
Tools For Your Thoughts
1. Challenge Thinking
Challenging negative or irrational thoughts is an important part of anxiety reduction. These thoughts often come from mistakes in our thinking, like believing the worst will happen (catastrophizing), drawing broad conclusions based on little evidence (overgeneralization), or assuming bad things will happen without proof (jumping to conclusions).
When you notice these types of thoughts, pause and evaluate them by looking at the evidence for and against them. Ask yourself questions like, “What evidence do I have that supports this thought?” or “Is this thought helping me move toward what’s meaningful and important in my life?”
Doing this helps replace distorted thinking patterns with more balanced, realistic and value-based views, which can help reduce anxiety.
2. Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of being present in the moment and paying attention to our thoughts and feelings without reacting to them. This approach can help us become more aware of our mental patterns and reduces anxiety by promoting acceptance rather than resistance.
Practice mindfulness through meditation, mindful breathing, a body scan, or simply by focusing on your surroundings and 5 senses. See Tools for Your Emotions below for more about how to use these approaches.
3. Journaling
Journaling is a powerful coping strategy that helps clarify our thoughts and emotions, reducing anxiety by providing an outlet for self-expression. When we write down our worries or concerns, we can better understand our thoughts and explore possible solutions.
Keep a journal where you can express yourself freely, jotting down worries or concerns and exploring possible solutions. Check out tools like an anti-anxiety journal or journaling techniques like stream of consciousness journaling, gratitude journaling, problem solving journaling, or mood tracking.
4. Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations are statements that help challenge negative self-talk and build self-confidence. By repeating affirmations, we can reinforce positive beliefs about ourselves and our ability to manage anxiety.
Examples of positive affirmations include “I am capable and strong,” “I am calm and at peace, ” or “I am doing my best, and that is enough.” Practice your affirmations as a daily exercise to help internalize positive self-talk.
Now, moving onto tools for managing anxious emotions…
Tools For Your Emotions
5. Breathing
Breathing exercises are a simple yet effective way to reduce anxiety and increase a sense of calm. By focusing on slow, deep breaths, we activate our body’s relaxation response, which helps lower stress levels.
To breathe deeply, focus on taking slow, low breaths into your belly, inhaling through your nose, and exhaling through your mouth. Practice this relaxation technique for a few minutes to slow down your thoughts and relieve stress.
Counting can also help deepen this calming exercise. Here are two approaches.
Box Breathing: Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, and hold on empty for 4 seconds in each step. Then repeat.
Five / Five Breathing: Slow the pace of your in breath and out breath. Breathe in for 5 seconds and then breathe out for 5 seconds. You can also start with 4 seconds on the in and out breath if 5 is too challenging.
You can also use Apps that have relaxation techniques like Breath+ to help you with pacing and concentration.
6. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
PMR is a calming exercise that involves tensing and then relaxing different muscle groups to release tension.
To practice PMR, find somewhere to sit or lie comfortably and work your way up from your toes to your head, tensing each muscle group for 5-10 seconds before releasing for 10 seconds. Take steady, deep breaths (described above) as you practice, and place your attention on the different sensations you experience as you move through the exercise.
Repeat as needed to reduce physical symptoms of anxiety. This YouTube video offers a guided 11-minute long PMR practice.
7. Movement
Regular physical activity is essential for managing anxiety and maintaining or improving overall physical and mental health. Exercise releases endorphins, which are chemicals that boost our mood and reduce stress hormones.
There are many ways to move, from walking, jogging, yoga, gardening, biking, hiking, or dancing. Spending time in nature can also enhance stress relief.
8. Sleeping Tools To Manage Anxiety
Quality sleep is crucial for emotional resilience and cognitive function—it’s a basic biological need! Lack of sleep can exacerbate anxiety, so it’s important to prioritize healthy sleep habits.
Tips for better sleep include establishing a bedtime routine to help you wind down, creating a sleep-friendly environment that is dark, cool, and quiet, limiting screen time, caffeine, and heavy meals, practicing calming exercises, and sticking to a sleep schedule. More persistent sleep problems can be addressed with cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia.
9. Self-Care
Prioritizing self-care activities nurtures our well-being, relieves stress, and nourishes our bodies.
Set aside time each day for activities you enjoy, whether it’s reading, doing a journaling exercise, listening to music, doing something creative, or taking a calming, warm bath. Even reading this article is an act of self-care!
10. Acceptance
It is important to practice accepting our emotions without judgment, a strong skill for anxiety reduction. Acknowledge that it’s normal to experience anxiety at times, and allow yourself to experience these feelings without trying to suppress or avoid them and offer yourself compassion.
Here’s a YouTube video to learn more.
11. Self-Compassion
Self-compassion means being kind and understanding to ourselves, just like we would be to a friend. It helps us realize that everyone makes mistakes and faces tough times, which can make us feel less alone. By being gentle with ourselves, we can feel better about our challenges and reduce negative thoughts.
To practice self-compassion, take a moment to think about a situation that’s bothering you. Talk to yourself in a kind way, reminding yourself that it’s okay to struggle sometimes. You might also write down your feelings in a journal or try a loving-kindness meditation, where you send kindness and compassion to yourself and others.
12. Body Scan
A body scan is a mindfulness practice and relaxation technique that helps us tune into different parts of our body to relax and feel more grounded.
To do a body scan, find a comfy spot to sit or lie down. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Start by focusing on your toes, and slowly move your attention up through your legs, torso, arms, and head. Pay attention to any feelings, sensations, or tension you notice, and observe them without judgment. If your mind starts to wander, gently bring your focus back to your body and how it feels right now. Try this body scan, which has been shown to promote stress reduction.
Lastly, let’s focus on tools for managing anxious behaviors…
Tools For Your Behavior
13. Behavior Activation
Engaging in activities that bring joy and a sense of accomplishment can help improve our mood and motivation. Behavioral activation involves making a conscious effort to participate in activities that enhance our well-being.
Make a list of pleasurable activities and schedule time for them regularly. This could be anything from spending time with family or friends, pursuing interests or hobbies, or working towards a goal. These behaviors may contribute to anxiety reduction.
14. Behavioral Experiments
Sometimes, it can be helpful to challenge our negative thoughts or predictions about a situation by experimenting with different or new behaviors.
Identify a negative belief that is holding you back and design an activity to test that belief. Make a specific plan, and then enact it. Afterwards, reflect on if what your prediction came true or if there are perhaps new beliefs you can adopt with this new evidence. If you find confronting situations that make you anxious feels too challenging, working with a cognitive-behavioral therapist might be helpful.
15. Connect With Others
Social support is important for managing anxiety and stress relief. Reach out to loved ones, participate in group activities, volunteer, find online communities, or join mental health or anxiety support groups where you can share experiences and receive encouragement and understanding.
Tools To Manage Anxiety Call To Action
By tending to our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, we can develop effective strategies for managing anxiety and improving our overall well being. Each therapy technique offers unique benefits, and incorporating a combination of these techniques into our daily lives can lead to lasting positive changes.
Remember, everyone’s journey with anxiety is different, so be patient and compassionate with yourself as you explore what works best for you.
Take the first step towards managing your anxiety by implementing one or more of these tools today. If you find taking action on some of what you learned here is helpful we’d love to know!
Want More Support?
If you find that anxiety persists or becomes overwhelming and want to learn more, consider talking to a therapist.
At the Reeds Center, we specialize in assessing and treating anxiety and related disorders, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and traumatic disorders. We are here to compassionately support our clients using the most effective evidence-based best-practices.
If you find you need further help, please feel free to reach out to us for a consultation or to make an appointment. We hope these tools to manage anxiety help!