Anxiety Therapist: Overcoming Performance Anxiety with EMDR Therapy

Written by: Lauran Hann, LMHC

Does even the thought of speaking in front of your colleagues or clients fill you with dread? Do your racing heart, sweaty palms, and shaky voice drive you crazy, and yet, there’s nothing you can do to stop it? You may freeze up before every meeting, unable to perform at your best. There's your mind – going blank, making it impossible to concentrate on your presentation or prepare for an important speech. This fear of presenting might have prevented you from advancing in your career. Perhaps you're a gifted athlete who underperforms in crucial games, your muscles tensing as you take the field; or a student who panics during a critical test despite being well-prepared.

If so, you might be struggling with performance anxiety, also known as "stage fright."  

At Mindful Living Counseling, we specialize in helping people with similar challenges overcome these issues. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a powerful therapeutic approach for treating performance anxiety, helping people reprocess negative thoughts and boost their confidence.

Understanding Performance Anxiety

Performance anxiety shows up as intense discomfort, fear, and stress before or during a performance in front of an audience (even if you're only imagining it!). This fear can be overwhelming and debilitating, affecting your work, academic success, sports achievements, and social life. It can make you avoid situations and important opportunities, underperform at school or work, and stop you from reaching your goals and growing personally and professionally.

But you're not alone in feeling like this. Performance anxiety may impact everyone, including students, teachers, artists, athletes, and executives. Public speaking is one of the most prevalent social phobias. Social anxiety disorder, which involves fears such as public speaking, affects about 7% of U.S. adults each year​.

How Do I Know If I Have Performance Anxiety?

Most people experience a sense of unease before stepping into the spotlight, whether for a work conference, presentation, acting performance, or school exam. This feeling is a natural response to being the center of attention and can manifest as nervousness or anxiety. However, while a little bit of stress can motivate and improve your performance by sharpening focus and energy, excessive stress can become debilitating and prevent you from performing at your best.

How can you tell if what you're feeling is just normal nervousness or something more serious, like performance anxiety? Here are some common signs of performance anxiety to help you determine the difference.

Anxiety Therapist Explains Signs and Symptoms of Performance Anxiety

Although the symptoms of performance anxiety may vary from person to person or from one situation to another, here are the most common.

Physical Signs

As adrenaline kicks in, you might experience a range of physical symptoms, such as:

• Increased heart rate and blood pressure

• Racing heart

• Rapid breathing

• Dry mouth and throat

• Shaky hands and knees

• Trembling voice

• Upset stomach

• Nausea

• Lightheadedness

Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral Symptoms

You may be preoccupied with the fear of judgment and the possibility of failing, causing a surge of:

• Overwhelming fear of failure

• Automatic negative thoughts about outcomes. You might engage in catastrophizing or all-or-nothing thinking, anticipating the worst-case scenarios or seeing situations in extreme terms.

• Overpowering feeling of loss of control

• A sense of helplessness

• Avoidance behaviors

You might struggle to focus, feeling as if your mind has frozen. This happens because anxiety triggers the brain’s fight or flight response, activating stress hormones that can impair cognitive function. When stress levels rise, the prefrontal lobes can become overwhelmed, leading to a shutdown that makes it difficult to access memories, causing your mind to go blank and freeze.

Anxiety Therapist Explains What Causes Performance Anxiety

Performance anxiety occurs when the pressure to perform well triggers the body's stress response (fight-or-flight response), leading to a racing heart, sweating, and difficulty concentrating. However, at its core is a deep fear of being judged by others. Low self-esteem and perfectionism also play a big role. You might obsess over being perfect in everything you do, doubting your skills and knowledge. In addition, high-pressure situations or past negative experiences, such as being criticized during a performance, can contribute to stress and anxiety in a high-pressure situation.

How Performance Anxiety Manifests in Your Everyday Life

If you experience performance anxiety, you might feel easily overwhelmed in a variety of situations. For instance, you might experience it at work, feeling your heart race and hands shake before and during every presentation or meeting. It may lead you to freeze during a job interview, preventing you from landing the job you desire. Your mind might go blank during exams, making it hard to focus, even when you know the material. Entrepreneurs, musicians, athletes, and actors might experience stage fright, causing them to hesitate, second-guess their abilities, or avoid performing altogether.

You can overcome these feelings, though, with often practice, support, and professional help.

Overcoming Performance Anxiety with Anxiety Therapy Orlando: EMDR Solutions

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) aims to help you see the troubling experiences in a less upsetting way. During the EMDR sessions at Mindful Living Counseling, you will discuss your challenges with a therapist. They will guide you through a process of desensitization. You will be encouraged to focus on upsetting thoughts and emotions the stressful experience provokes while the therapist exposes you to bilateral stimulation.

Through this bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or tapping, they will help reduce your stress response, making those anxious feelings less consuming and allowing you to face performance situations without overwhelming anxiety or stress. Finally, you will learn effective techniques to manage your disturbing emotions.

If you're dealing with performance anxiety, everyday situations can be challenging. We understand how it can feel isolating and exhausting to face these struggles alone, but it doesn't have to be this way. There is guidance and support available.

At Mindful Living Counseling, we can help you overcome these challenges with EMDR therapy. Our experienced therapists will work with you to reprocess negative thoughts and boost your self-confidence, helping you easily tackle any performance situation.

Interested in How Anxiety Therapy Orlando Can Help?

If performance anxiety has been holding you back from reaching your full potential, it's time to take action. Reach out to us today to schedule a session and start your journey towards greater resilience and well-being. 

1. Fill out our New Client Consultation Form

2. Schedule a consultation call with one of our anxiety therapists.

3. Begin your healing journey!

Not Quite Ready for Anxiety Therapy?

At Mindful Living Counseling, we have a dedicated team of anxiety therapists who are ready to help you overcome performance anxiety. The team understands that you may not be ready to start your therapeutic journey, and that's perfectly okay. If you're interested in learning more about anxiety, we suggest checking out the articles provided below in the meantime.

Additional Anxiety Therapy Orlando Resources

Understanding the Window of Tolerance

How EMDR Therapy Can Heal Emotional and Somatic Flashbacks

Orlando Therapist Explains How EMDR Therapy Works

Orlando Therapist: Debunking 5 Myths About Therapy

Orlando Therapist: Understanding Therapy Jargon

Other Therapy Services Offered at Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando

Dealing with performance anxiety can be very challenging. However, at Mindful Living Counseling, we want to let you know that we are dedicated to assisting you in overcoming any challenges you may face. We offer a variety of therapy services, including Trauma Therapy, EMDR Therapy, Teen Therapy, and Guided Meditations.

About Anxiety Therapist: Lauran Hahn

Lauran Hahn, LMHC, practices as a therapist in the Orlando area, specializing in helping individuals cope with trauma and healing from detrimental relationships. As a Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist, a Certified EMDR Therapist, and an EMDRIA Approved Consultant offering EMDR intensives, Lauran is dedicated to assisting her clients in finding peace in their bodies, clarity in their thoughts, and positive connections in their relationships.