In a follow up to Anxiety: Friend or Foe? Signal or Symptom? this open session will serve to complete the objectives not covered in the first Open Session on the topic and expand on intervention strategies when anxiety is a feature of a client’s clinical presentation. The introduction to the first Open Session is included here for those who may not have attended the first one. There will be a brief summarization of the key points to begin the Session followed by the new material.
Anxiety: Friend or Foe? Signal or Symptom?
The term “anxiety” seems to automatically suggest it is a problem. The dictionary definition focuses on the unpleasant qualities of the experience. However, everyone can relate to the anxious feeling of anticipating positive events in life: when as a child, if it was expected to be pleasant, trying to go to sleep Christmas Eve with the anticipation of the morrow and even as adults, the excited anxiety of a long anticipated vacation or the return of a loved one after a period of absence. The one common feature of either kind of anxiety is its viscerally activating effect.
If one follows the general idea of the DSM, it would appear that our primary job is to decrease the level of anxiety. However, can this at times be a misstep if indeed it is a friendly signal intended to inform us of our lives not sitting quite right, that there is a schism between our internal selves and our lives we are leading in the world or that there is a gap between the person we are and the person we aspire to be, perhaps becoming a solid and respected clinician? If so, it can be a valuable asset to our understanding of ourselves and our client’s experiences. In this Session, we will explore assessment of client anxiety features as well as ideas about interventions strategies paced with the stage of treatment. We hope to see you there!
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the potential valences of anxiety in client presentation.
2. Identify the ways the DSM may impede the assessment of client anxiety.
3. Differentiate between anxiety as a signal vs a symptom.
4. Describe the potentially constructive energy anxiety offers.
5. State how the relationship with the therapist can be effective for working with anxiety.
The session will be conducted by Charles S Pohl LCSW who has been a clinical social worker for the past 45 years. He has supervised many MSW interns and LMSWs and teaches the fundamentals of psychotherapy to psychiatry residents. He is also a Certified Group Psychotherapist (CGP) for the past 30 years and is a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association. You can see Charlie's CV here: CSP Curriculum Vita 4_6_2026.
TWO clinical CEU hours will be awarded to all who participate in the entire session.