Twindom Counseling Services, LLC

12/19/2025

The holidays with GAD can feel like a pressure-cooker for millennials.
Financial stress, family expectations, disrupted routines, and the emotional weight of “being okay for everyone” can activate anxiety fast. If you’re noticing more spiraling, tension, or emotional overload, therapy can help you regulate your nervous system and create steadiness in a season that often demands too much.

Your anxiety isn’t a weakness—it’s a signal that you deserve support.

You don’t have to hold everything alone this year.

Email, Office@TWINDOM.org -or- call, (256) 660-0796 for more info.

12/17/2025

Fyi.

Community Announcements from the Newsroom:

12/17/2025

Fyi.

Gingerbread houses, cookies, and milk! Holiday fun at the library. ❤️

12/17/2025

12/14/2025

Happy Hanukkah!

12/12/2025

Millennials experience significantly higher and higher levels of workplace anxiety and burnout than previous generations due to increasing financial insecurity, job instability and loss of significant benefits offered by employers, and ever-increasing workload demands. Studies show that economic pressure and chronic workplace stress significantly increase anxiety symptoms and radically reduces overall well-being while increasing aging process and disease processes.




References
American Psychological Association. (2023). Stress in America.
Bankrate. (2025). Money and mental health survey.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. (2024). Gen Z’s mental health and economic distress.

12/12/2025

Reminders.

12/10/2025

Time for chores? Here are some transitions to help with your child.

12/08/2025

Morning meditation practice for anxiety...

Begin by sitting comfortably with your feet on the floor and your hands resting gently in your lap. Allow your eyes to soften or close. Notice the feeling of your breath without trying to change it. With each inhale, say quietly in your mind “Here.” With each exhale, say “Now.” Stay with this rhythm as your body settles.

When thoughts or worries show up, acknowledge them without judgment and guide your attention back to your breath. Imagine a warm light at the center of your chest expanding slowly with every inhale, bringing steadiness, and softening tension as you exhale. Let this light move through your shoulders, jaw, and stomach, reminding your body it is safe to begin the day.

Choose one grounding intention: “I can meet today with steadiness,” “I can show myself kindness,” or “I can move slowly and still make progress.” Take one final deep breath, gently open your eyes, and carry this calm into your morning routine.



References
American Psychological Association. (2023). Clinical practice guideline for the treatment of anxiety disorders. APA Publishing.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2016). Mindfulness for beginners: Reclaiming the present moment—and your life. Sounds True.
Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2018). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

12/05/2025

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is one of the most common anxiety disorders in teens and for the past decade it is clear that it is only increasing for this population. GAD is associated with heightened activity in brain regions involved in threat detection, such as the amygdala, along with reduced regulatory control from the prefrontal cortex. These patterns make chronic worry feel automatic and difficult to turn off, especially in environments marked by uncertainty or instability.

Contemporary research consistently shows that evidence-based psychotherapies—particularly trauma focused cognitive behavioral and acceptance-based approaches mixed with play therapy interventions produce significant and lasting reductions in GAD severity.

REMEMBER: GAD reflects dysregulation of the nervous system, not personal failure.



References:
Carpenter, J. K., Andrews, L. A., Witcraft, S. M., Powers, M. B., Smits, J. A. J., & Hofmann, S. G. (2018). Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and related disorders: A meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 79(4), 17r11522.

Hall, J., Kellett, S., Berrios, R., Bains, M. K., & Scott, S. (2016). Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety disorder in adults: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 43, 1–13.

Papola, D., Ostuzzi, G., Gastaldon, C., et al. (2024). Psychotherapies for generalized anxiety disorder in adults: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry.