Embrace Your Anxiety: From Avoidance to Mastery

In this episode, Dr. Twitchell discusses the important strategy of approaching anxiety instead of avoiding it. Highlighting insights from the book 'The Upside of Your Dark Side,' Dr. Twitchell explains how modern comfort has increased our sensitivity to discomfort, and how avoidance can amplify anxiety. She proposes a three-step strategy to approach anxiety: 1) Finding a long-term purpose that prioritizes enduring values over short-term comfort, 2) Articulating emotions in detail to defuse them, and 3) Gradually exposing oneself to anxiety triggers to make them familiar and reduce their impact. Dr. Twitchell emphasizes that managing anxiety effectively requires intentional approaching rather than avoidance.


[00:00:00] - Introduction and Overview
[00:00:53] - The Paradox of Comfort and Anxiety
[00:02:05] - The Importance of Approaching Anxiety
[00:05:10] - Steps to Approach Anxiety: Finding Your Why
[00:12:28] - Steps to Approach Anxiety: Describing Your Emotions
[00:18:36] - Steps to Approach Anxiety: Exposure and Familiarity
[00:23:58] - Conclusion and Summary


For full show notes, including resources mentioned, go to:
www.calmyourcaveman.com