Anxiety is a normal part of life; all of us worry from time to time. It can even be helpful, motivating us to solve a problem or successfully rise to a new challenge. However, uncontrolled worry—the kind that keeps us up at night—can leave us nervous, edgy, preoccupied or sleep-deprived. And that takes a toll on both our emotional and physical well-being. Learning to manage worry is the key to keeping a healthy, balanced perspective on those things that cause us angst.
Recognizing that Wiltonians are not exempt from anxiety, the Wilton Congregational Church is presenting Talk Back to Worry with Dr. Susan Bauerfeld, a licensed clinical psychologist, on Thursday, May 7 from 7-8:30 p.m. at the church. The presentation is free and open to the public.
“Everybody worries. We live in a society that has escalated the number of things we worry about, which is quite stressful and adversely impacts not only our bodies, but our connections with other people,” Bauerfeld notes. The key, she says, is to managing worry is to understand how the brain experiences and responds to it. “The good news is that managing anxiety is very straightforward and relatively easy to do. You talk back to worry, and don’t let it run the train.”
Bauerfeld will discuss the neurophysiology of what goes on in the brain in the presence of a threat that causes us to worry. “Our more primitive fight, flight or freeze threat responder doesn’t distinguish between a saber tooth tiger attack and average modern-day stressors,” she explains. And that’s a problem. When our brains overreact to an event, they shut down access to the thinking brain that helps us learn, problem-solve, and connect to others.
Genevieve Eason, who helped organize the event, is a self-proclaimed worrier. “When I have something on my mind, I wake up during the night and am distracted during the day. I’m prone to ruminating on my problems. Learning skills to tamp down my stress has been invaluable. Now that I understand how fear and anxiety affect my thoughts, and have some tools to manage them, I cope better with life’s ups and downs.”
Join Eason and others on May 7 to learn the physiology behind anxiety and simple, highly effective skills to keep it at bay at Talk Back to Worry. Dr. Bauerfeld will answer questions following the presentation.
The Wilton Congregational Church is located at 70 Ridgefield Rd. For more information, email Genevieve Eason.
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Dr. Susan Bauerfeld is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Parenting Coach, ADHD coach and the mother of three boys. She has a private practice in Wilton and is a frequent speaker in the Fairfield county area on topics related to parenting, anxiety and ADHD. An ardent proponent of facilitating change through education, skill development and practice, she has incorporated a coaching model into her practice. Dr. Bauerfeld received her MA and PhD degrees with distinction from Fairleigh Dickinson University and her undergraduate degree with honors from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
