Exclusive Excerpt from Hello Anxiety, My Old Friend

Exclusive Excerpt from Hello Anxiety, My Old Friend

Natalie Kohlhaas has become known as the therapist that helps people when “talk therapy” has failed. Using a multitude of modalities, she supports each individual shift the emotional residues that may hold them back.

Natalie is the Founder and Clinical Supervisor of Serenity Tree Counseling and Wellness. 

Natalie did her undergraduate work at Oxford College of Emory and The University of Georgia. Her Master’s degree is in Counseling Psychology from the Georgia School of Professional Psychology. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Hypnosis Certified Trainer, a Specialist in Brainspotting, a Certified Supervisor for Professional Counselors, and a Nationally Board Certified Counselor.

For over 20 years she has kept up to date with the newest studies and information and training in the field, as Natalie’s priority is to provide each client the best treatment possible allowing wholeness to happen.

Natalie is a breast cancer survivor; and while in care she suffered almost fatal complications. She was pronounced dead for 9 minutes and came back with more of a purpose – this is when she decided to write her book. Hello Anxiety My Old Friend: Harness your Invisible Superpower is intermingled with stories of her eight miracles, as well as her professional research on anxiety and fear. In it she delves into how you can embrace your anxiety as your guide rather than your enemy. The book is out now, and here is an exclusive peek inside.

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Loss of control is always the source of fear, it is also, however, always the source of change. ~ James Frey

LOSS OF CONTROL

I was in the process of signing a lease for a new 3,000 square foot building when we got the “C” word. In two weeks, it would have been ours. It was finally coming together, with nine offices and a large training room awaiting people and a renewed purpose. I would have set up my own center, my own institute with like-minded practitioners, and a training facility. It was something I had been working towards for quite a while. Finally, it seemed like it was going to happen. I had gathered an acupuncturist, two massage therapists, a reiki healer, two psychotherapists, and a nutritional therapist. The building was perfect, large and expansive, soft carpet underfoot, and it had a built-in sound system. There were windows allowing light to stream in, illuminating the space that opened to offices and restrooms. 

Then comes the loss of control, loss of decisions, loss of vision of who I am… Friggin’ cancer?! I was so pissed! 

There is nothing more difficult for someone who struggles with Anxiety than feeling a loss of control. Control is everything; Control over your own body is imperative. Without this control, the struggle takes over.

Suddenly everyone was telling me what to do when to do it, and how to do it. Everything that goes entirely against my sense of free will and sense of self, I had to put a stop to it! I sat down with a trusted girlfriend and went through the business piece with her. She wisely told me to back off and let go of the business. I did have an opportunity to move forward with another team member’s help, but she decided to move forward without me. It was decided, I needed to walk away and focus once again on myself.

I had decided on how I wanted to address cancer, but no one would give me the space to move in this direction. Instead, I felt like the answer I kept receiving was, “No, you’re not allowed, no control, no decisions.”

This is where I rebelled. I began to interview my doctors. I needed to have some control and some ability to make my own decisions.

I remember being asked if it were up to me, would I go through chemotherapy? The honest answer, hummm….maybe not. But I had a family and a husband, and if I chose not to go through chemotherapy, they would have been so stressed, worried, and devastated with my decision. I would never have been able to focus on myself. So, I had to figure out how to put my methods and the doctors’ methods together. 

This is where my conversation with my girlfriend began, on how to meld these two worlds. I explained that I refused to fight with myself. This seemed so crazy to me. If I was fighting with myself, that meant I would have to lose. I would win, and I would lose. This makes no sense to me. As a therapist, we know fighting does not bring about results. It only shuts out others and causes division. I needed to bring about connection and fusion.

As I discussed my concerns with my girlfriend, I explained that I saw it as a need to resolve an issue. 

RESOLVE was and would be my word, not FIGHT. I envisioned everyone sitting at a table, two sides with opposing views. What did they both need? What was wanted? What could I give to appease their concern? Like two warring sides, they needed a mediator. My girlfriend told me to view the chemotherapy as the mediator, the aspect that would allow both sides to come to the table. This would bring me and cancer together to express what was needed, what was wanted, and what would help. Now, this was something I could wrap my head around!

As I interviewed my future doctors, I let them know I would be meditating, using acupuncture, reiki and hypnotherapy. They needed to be on board and supportive of me and these therapies. The doctors I chose agreed. I asked if they would give me six weeks. I would have the lump gone within six weeks. Sadly, they said NO—too aggressive, too much risk.

I prescribe to and have listened to and the teachings of Dr. Joe Dispenza for many years. Dr. Dispenza is a Doctor of Chiropractic with postgraduate training in the fields of neuroscience and neuroplasticity, quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) measurements, and epigenetics. He purports that we are in control of our own body’s blueprint. When we go through life based on the past, we are conditioning ourselves for the past, past fears, and the “what if” self-induced problems. We spoke the same language, and I had enough on my plate. I certainly was not going to add any more problems: no thought distortions, self-induced problems, and no fights with myself.

It was once again time for me to focus on me. It was time for me to put all of my training into place and revisit my sense of knowing. Do the work. I had to find my creativity and ability to grow through this process—time to remind myself of what I had learned and what I did know. I was not wrong. I had gone through life’s challenges and knew what worked for me. My perception of life, my insight, they were here with me. It was time for me to assure myself and my family that I was listening, staying on course, and not dropping into panic filled with assumptions —reaching for my truth, my love, and my capabilities.  

No fear, no war, only love and resolve.

For more information, please visit: https://www.helloanxiety.net/

Hello Anxiety, My Old Friend: Harness Your Invisible Superpower

Natalie Kohlhaas knows anxiety. Not only has she experienced it her whole life but she is also a licensed therapist

and counselor, working with clients who struggle with anxiety, depression, and more. Surviving cancer, cardiac arrest, and an embolism, Kohlhaas has learned that anxiety is so misunderstood, yet so faithful. In fact, it is Fear that is the real culprit that holds us back from the amazing things that life can offer. Intermingled with stories of her eight miracles, as well as her professional research on anxiety and fear, Hello Anxiety, My Old Friend delves into how you can embrace your anxiety as your guide rather than your enemy. As you read, you will learn to harness your ability within to keep reaching for new adventures, to open up to vulnerability and growth, and to experience the miraculous life anxiety can help you work toward.

Most importantly, Hello Anxiety, My Old Friend teaches that, no matter what, you are not alone

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