Anxiety: Benefits and Drawbacks

Dr. Thomas Alm, Clinical Psychologist at The Family Institute at Northwestern, will discuss how our brains evolved to be primed for threat but how often our level of response doesn’t match the threat we are facing. He will talk about the benefits of anxiety as well as the drawbacks when our anxiety interferes with living a valued life across the lifespan. Dr. Alm will talk about specific approaches in working with anxiety including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). These approaches have direct implications for the stress and anxiety we may feel at holiday time.