Reid Wood, MA, LPC, SRT

10/21/2025

What if I told you your attitude towards anxiety often determines success or failure in overcoming anxiety. For lots of people their attitude towards anxiety is mostly negative because anxiety is uncomfortable. Our natural response is to fight it or do anything to get rid of it. But what if I told you that fighting your anxiety only makes it worse. Having a more paradoxical approach tends to lead to a higher success rate when deal with anxiety. A good acronym to use when leaning into your anxiety is called “AWARE.” Here is how it works.

­Accept/Acknowledge that it is natural to have anxious thoughts and feelings. Allow yourself to sit with your anxious thoughts and feelings without being frustrated or annoyed at yourself. It is ok to acknowledge them and accept that change will take time.

Watch your anxiety as though you are watching a cloud pass by. As you watch your anxiety try not to judge it as good or bad. Remember your anxious thoughts are often transient.

­Act Through your anxiety. Act as though you are in control of your anxiety. Do not let your anxiety control you. Tell yourself that avoidant behavior is not an option and face your fear.

Repeat steps one, two, and three. Remember practice makes perfect.

Expect realistic improvement. Trying to rush improvement may only make your anxiety worse. Expect that as you make improvement with your anxiety you will experience a setback or two along the way. It’s ok if your anxiety returns from time to time. You are in process and it will take time to truly overcome your anxiety.

So, there you have it. The AWARE acronym. Take some time now to see how you might put this into practice this week.

Written By:
Reid Wood, MA, LPC, SRT

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10/03/2025

This is what happens when you are given over to s*xual immorality.

02/18/2025

Believe that po*******hy has no impact on your brain? Reconsider. This 3D image comparison reveals a normal brain, a he**in addict's brain, and a po*******hy addict's brain, with the latter two exhibiting striking similarities in deformation. Po*******hy not only damages relationships but also has physical consequences.

02/11/2025

The road to recovery is covered with many roadblocks for the addict. Here are just a few of those roadblocks they face.

https://reidwoodtherapy.com/roadblocks-to-recovery/ *xaddiction

Roadblocks to Recovery: Lack of commitment/time to work all aspects of the recovery program. The addict decides to work recovery for his partner to not lose his or her relationship. Lack of full disclosure by the addict to his therapist. Lack of full disclosure by the addict to his partner. The part...

11/19/2022

The holiday season can be tough and I hope this blog helps you!

With the holidays here it can be an exciting time. However, for many people it can be quite the opposite. It can be hard to have an attitude of gratitude in the midst of pain during the holiday season. Maybe it is a loss of a loved one, a lost job, or an inability to […]

03/19/2022

A bottle of water at Costco is $0.25.

The same bottle in the supermarket is worth about $0.50.

At a local bar it probably costs $2.

In a good restaurant or hotel it can be worth up to $3.

At an airport or on the plane, you might be charged $5.

The bottle and the brand is the same, the only thing that changes is the place. Each place gives a different value to the same product.

When you feel like you aren’t worth anything and the people around you belittle you, change places, do not stay there.

Have the courage to change environments and go to a place where you’re given the value you deserve. Surround yourself with people who really appreciate your worth. 💙

03/03/2022

10/04/2021

"Become today who you intend to be tomorrow. The bridge between who you are and who you want to become is simply courage. At some point you've just got to wake up and make a decision to get over the pile of excuses you've built up in your head for not being the person you really want to be."