What if your anxiety isn’t something you have to live with, but something you can unlearn? How much of what you feel is coming from your thoughts, rather than your reality? What would change if you started speaking to yourself with more positive objectivity and less criticism?
In this podcast episode, Jennifer Froemel speaks about stopping anxiety with Dr. Jodi Aman.
Meet Dr. Jodi Aman
Dr. Jodi Aman is a psychotherapist, author, and speaker specializing in anxiety and emotional wellness. With a background in social work, she has spent decades helping individuals understand and overcome fear by changing their relationship to their thoughts. Jodi is the author of You 1, Anxiety 0 and Anxiety… I’m So Done with You, and now focuses on making practical, empowering mental health tools accessible to a wider audience through her writing, courses, and online content.
Visit Dr. Jodi’s website and connect on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
In This Podcast:
- How Jodi came to this work
- Learn how to notice your thoughts
- Advice for listeners
- Anxiety is leftover fear
How Jodi came to this work
Intially, Dr. Jodi wanted to become an architect, but through her volunteer work in high school, her path changed.
In high school, I was part of a social justice team and we did a lot for the community. I volunteered a lot in high school, helping other people. I think that was part of my own family chaos! I was looking for a channel or a purpose, somewhere to tether myself or somewhere to understand, and in that group I found belonging, but I also found healing in helping others.
Dr. Jodi Aman
From this passion, into adulthood, Dr. Jodi discovered that one could make a career out of helping others, and that is what brought her into the profession.
She completed four years of undergrad and two years of grad school right off the bat, and since then she’s been spending the majority of her career as a social worker before pivoting more into helping the general public with anxiety.
Learn how to notice your thoughts
The way we think about stuff can create anxiety or not create anxiety … I saw it with my clients, I used it on myself, and [I realized], “This works.”
Dr. Jodi Aman
It is possible for you to develop the potent skill of learning how to observe and see your thoughts as separate from yourself. They are, at their core, a mix of emotion and unactivated potential.
What you choose to act on, what you choose to decide, is what comes to fruition. At the thought-level is where you can learn to distill what type of action you want to take, based on the thoughts you observe and the ones you decide to act upon.
Advice for listeners
Dr. Jodi wants you to be mindful of how you speak about yourself, even in your thoughts. The words that you use to explain to yourself what you are going through creates your inner world, and if you aren’t careful, only talking about the negatives means that you leave out so much of the positive that should be acknowledged.
People are unbelievably amazing, consider what they’re going through. Considering the context of their life, they are rockstars! It doesn’t feel like it, they are in pain, and I don’t want them to stay their in pain, but when they say, “I’m a mess, I’m a mess …” but they’re really doing amazing things … so bringing that into perspective … helps them feel [more secure].
Dr. Jodi Aman
So, when you are going through challenging times, look at what is going well. Look at what you are continuing to do despite the strain you may be under.
Let those facts help boost you to keep going, to know that you do have the ability to overcome and prosper.
Anxiety is leftover fear
I think anxiety is the leftover fear response when you’re not in danger. I want to define it in a way that [shows] we don’t need it.
Dr. Jodi Aman
Dr. Jodi is clear to explain that while we need a fear response, such as adrenaline, we do not need anxiety. We explains that, in her opinion, anxiety is leftover fear from that fear response, and it serve no clear purpose.
While we want and need the sympathetic nervous system response to propel us into life, we don’t need the anxiety, because it is essentially extended suffering.
RESOURCES MENTIONED AND USEFUL LINKS
BOOK | Dr. Jodi Aman – You 1 Anxiety 0: Win Your Life Back from Fear and Panic
BOOK | Dr. Jodi Aman – Anxiety . . . I’m So Done with You: A Teen’s Guide to Ditching Toxic Stress and Hardwiring Your Brain for Happiness
Visit Dr. Jodi’s website and connect on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
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ABOUT THE FEAR OF CHANGE PODCAST
Change can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. The Fear of Change podcast is all about helping you embrace change and live a more fulfilling life. Hosted by Jennifer Froemel, LCPC, a therapist with nearly 30 years of experience, we cover topics like mental wellness, holistic health, and improving relationships.
Jennifer’s down-to-earth approach makes it easy to understand why we fear change and how to move past those fears. Whether you’re dealing with anxiety, relationship issues, or just feeling stuck, there’s something here for you.
