The 3 S's of Anxiety - Therapist Explains Anxiety's Rules

Añadido: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]If you're looking for therapy for anxiety, you really need to find an approach that completely understands how anxiety works. And the way that I explain anxiety to my clients is in the three S's of anxiety. Its goal is to keep you small, safe, and separate.

[00:00:14]Small, so that you don't take any risks.

[00:00:16]Safe, so that you don't get hurt. And separate, so that you don't get exposed or rejected. And the way that it does this is through a set of mental constructs that alter our thought processes. I envision them like being an invisible set of 10 rules that we follow without knowing. This is where most therapists miss the mark, because we're not just dealing with anxiety as a feeling. We're not just dealing with an aversion to uncertainty or an intolerance of fear. We're also dealing with a mental game. And it's a game that is rigged, so that you always end up feeling more anxious. My approach to anxiety treatment identifies which of the 10 rules you are most likely to be following. And then, we teach you how to break them.