NEW YORK, March 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While often we talk about stress and anxiety in a negative way, Chloe Carmichael, Ph.D. says it can be harnessed for good to live a more balanced and meaningful life. In her newly released book, “Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety” (St. Martin’s Essentials, March 23, 2021, $26.99), she outlines nine anxiety tools designed to alleviate worry, redirect focus and stay anchored in truth as a way to successfully navigate through life.
“When I started my practice, most of my clients were very high-functioning, high-achieving New Yorkers and I came to discover that a lot of these over-achievers would talk about their anxiety in a self-disparaging way, but yet they were also a little attached to it, whether it was obsessive compulsiveness or perfectionism. It occurred to me that they also knew that there was something about that anxiety within them that was also helpful,” said Carmichael. “It was that extra level of conscientiousness, attention to detail and being on point that was benefiting my clients, but on the other hand they had a propensity to overdo it, at times, to the point where it became counterproductive.”
It was these insights that led Carmichael to think about “nervous energy” in a new way and in ways that one might be able capitalize on that energy and use it for its healthy purpose, which is, to stimulate positive actions. In her book, “Nervous Energy,” she explores and provides tools for readers to harness the good aspects of their nervous energy without crossing into full-blown clinical anxiety. Along with the nine anxiety tools, the book weaves in stories from Carmichael’s clinical experiences, as well as her own.
“I found that driven people share a lot of common anxieties,” said Carmichael, “We just don’t talk about these things out of fear that it may make us look like we don’t have it all together, or that we are some sort of imposter in our quest for success.”
Some of the anxiety tools Carmichael makes actionable in “Nervous Energy” include creating mental shortlists and emotion-based to-do lists, scripting anchoring statements, preparing response prevention, and scheduling worry time.
“Writing ‘Nervous Energy’ was actually therapeutic for me,” said Carmichael, “One of the things I talk about in the book is to write things down and listen to yourself so you can hear what the anxiety within you is saying, which then allows you to address it with intention.”
Carmichael is a licensed clinical psychologist who has a master’s degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology and earned her bachelor’s degree with honors in psychology from Columbia University in New York. She entered the field of psychology after years of working as a yoga instructor to stressed-out New Yorkers who were looking for more than literal balance, but mental balance in their daily lives too. Her www.anxietytools.com site, which she developed as a doctoral student has helped people around the globe. She’s hopeful the anxiety tools in her book, “Nervous Energy” will reach an even broader audience and says the techniques, much like yoga, work when practiced frequently: www.nervousenergybook.com.
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