Starting in January, the Salem Health Community Health Education Center is launching a five-week series to dive into anxiety — recognizing it and learning how to combat it.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker Wayne Halle said the better people understand anxiety, the easier it is to manage.

“The more you understand something, the more you can feel like a participant in your care rather than a victim,” Halle said.

What to expect

The first class is an introduction. The second meeting looks at how anxiety affects people physically. The third session focuses on mental impacts. Halle plans to wrap up all the knowledge from the first three sessions during the last two classes.

During this time, the social worker said he wants people to share their experiences. The goal is normalizing anxiety and building strategies across participants.

“To feel like they’re not alone in the journey they’re going through,” Halle said.

Part of that process looks at why and how anxiety pops up.

“Understanding the mechanisms in the brain that foster anxiety, how we came as human beings to experience anxiety,” Halle said.

Managing anxiety

From there, Halle plans to highlight the good, the bad and the ugly tactics used to combat anxiety.

“I plan to illustrate unhelpful coping mechanisms, like avoidance, and look at why other tools may work better,” he said.

While working with patients as a social worker, Halle said he saw an increased need for this kind of class, highlighted by concerns that emerged from the pandemic and political climate.

“People are so much angrier with each other and feel like they have permission to act on that anger,” he said. “That makes people feel off balance and threatened.”

Previously, Halle worked with cancer patients. During that time, the social worker said he learned that people are more successful when proactive about health.

“The more a person can see themselves as working toward healing themselves . . . it’s much better than doing what they’re told,” he said.

The social worker said the series will be in a low-key, comfortable environment. It’s open to anyone interested in managing their own anxiety or helping a family member. He plans to create interactive lessons with references to practical tools, and said attendees shouldn’t expect a lecture.

How to sign up

This free series will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays, starting Jan. 16, at the Community Health Education Center, in the Salem Hospital Building D Classroom 2.

Interested in learning more? Register here to attend this series.