About
Living in fear and anxiety is a trap.
When we live in fear, we let our stories dictate our decisions and emotions.
What do you mean by “our stories” dictating our emotions?
We mean that our thoughts, every minute of every day, are just thoughts – words that come in the form of sentences. We can believe the thoughts and give them a lot of energy, or we can notice the thought and let it pass. It’s our choice!
However, when we choose to give an unhelpful thought a lot of energy, we can find ourselves ruminating about it, trying to control the outcome, and overall feeling quite anxious about it.
Okay, great, but why am I so anxious and afraid if it’s that simple?
Great question! From birth, our parents introduce us to the world, our environment, and our experiences.
All the knowledge and learning we gather along the way contribute to helping us to form our perspective of the world and our response to it. These responses become automatic and well-worn paths that we don’t even consider.
Learning how to recognize what triggers these unhelpful patterns and our responses to them is key to learning new ways of working through our problems.
What do well-worn paths have to do with anxiety and fear?
If how we make decisions and take in the world is generally from learned and repeated behaviors, then once we start becoming more aware of our thoughts and how caught up we are in them, then we can become more aware of choosing a different path, one that isn’t so well worn.
When this new path (i.e., a new way of relating to our thoughts) becomes well established, we find ourselves, little by little, with a fresh perspective – not so mired by fear and anxiety but with hope and making valued decisions.
Oh, I see! So, I must notice what I’m thinking and change it.
Not exactly. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that is why we are here to guide you toward this discovery of thinking and moving through your days.
We have the tools you’ll need along the way and are here for you every step. Before long, you’ll notice that you aren’t so caught up in your thinking and that doing essential things isn’t as difficult.
And mostly, you notice that you have become much more flexible with yourself. Your world begins to open again, and new trails emerge everywhere you go.
Healing is like mountain climbing.
Therapy might feel like the prospect of summiting a mountain. Healing might feel extremely distant, and learning to live again might seem insurmountable. However, nobody climbs a mountain all at once. Everyone starts with setting a goal, laying out some action items, getting a training plan together, and charting a few routes.
Therapy is like mountain climbing; we look at what keeps you stuck and set distant and short-term goals. We talk about the various paths we may take to get there, and I’m confident we will have some switchbacks – it will not be a linear climb but one that we take steadily, addressing obstacles that come along the way.
We will equip you with tools for our work together, and when ready, you will receive training to work on between sessions. We may do some Virtual Reality to augment our work and hands-on exercises to further our understanding of our new ways of thinking.
In short, we will be your guide as we walk along various paths – some difficult, I’m sure, others more accessible. We will celebrate together as you reach your summits and work with you during times of defeat. We’ve got your back; let us know how we can help guide you to the life you’ve been missing.
About Therapy Outfitters
Therapy Outfitters was founded by Stacy Bednar, an avid outdoors woman who deeply believes in the power of nature, movement, and powerful self-driven goals, to heal. She envisioned a practice that was approached differently than many others – where clients can choose if they would like an active/movement session through walk-and-talk, if they would like to sit outdoors or meet at a park, or settle into a comfortable office environment. She envisions helping clients move from a place of struggle to movement towards what matters most.
Therapy Outfitters is a group of therapists and coaches who believe in the power of helping others grow and heal through hands-on experiential learning, process-based therapy, and goal-based coaching. We believe healing and growth happens when we take a holistic look at the areas you feel stuck and try and determine any underlying factors that could also be contributing to your anxiety and stress (we often find deficiencies in vital nutrients or gut-related concerns), and suggest natural, integrated ways of working through your anxiety.
We believe in the inherent nature of healing through time in the outdoors, slowing our minds and bodies down to notice our own role in maintaining maladaptive behaviors and becoming aware that how we respond to our own thinking greatly impacts our feelings and behaviors.
We are guides on this journey—supplying you with the tools needed for a successful journey back to you.
We will be offering experiential coaching retreats for professionals as well as therapy clients. Stay tuned for opportunities to stretch your skills and get active coaching while challenging yourself to do something that perhaps once seemed out of reach.
Register your interest here!