Fear and anxiety are emotions designed to protect us from harm. Someone veers into your lane on the highway, and your heart pounds and your stomach drops. These physical reactions are the result of the brain’s stress response system and enable you to quickly swerve.

The term “schema” means an outline or framework. We use schemas all the time in our daily lives as we cluster groups of similar information together and behave in certain ways based on our defined groups. For example, we may behave the same way around all doctors based on what we know about doctors as a group.

Phobias are categorized as an intense fear of an object or situation, which is disproportionate to the actual threat. Specific phobia disorder is thought to be the most common anxiety disorder in the DSM-5. However, many individuals who are suffering from a specific phobia don’t seek treatment.

Boundaries exist in every relationship. We may not explicitly or intentionally set them, but our emotions tell us when our boundaries have been violated. We feel overwhelmed and taken advantage of when employers violate boundaries around pay, work hours, or availability for contact outside of work.