Anxiety Therapy

Are You Constantly On Edge And Unable To Relax?

• Do you worry about things outside of your control? 
• Do you have an endless to-do list, leaving you feeling overwhelmed?
• Does a growing sense of dread make it difficult for you to concentrate and leave you feeling mentally and physically burned out? 
• Do you find yourself worrying about the future or replaying the past, to the point that you never feel truly present at work or at home?
  
  
• Do you feel like your career, relationships, or goals are slipping through your fingers despite your personal and professional successes?

Perhaps you’re feeling the need to make some big changes to counteract the overall lack of enjoyment in your life and find relief from anxiety, but you aren’t sure what you can do to regain a sense of control. And with every decision you make, you find yourself inundated by “what-if” thinking (“What if something bad happens” or “What if I had chosen a different path”), which leaves you overwhelmed by a constant feeling of dread or regret. You may associate your stress with a certain aspect of your life—a strained relationship or a stressful job—and think, “If I weren’t in this relationship (or job), I wouldn’t worry so much.” 

You might recognize that you need help coping with your anxiety, but you may not be comfortable sharing your concerns with family and friends, especially if they see you as someone who “has it all together.” Or maybe they respond to your concerns by telling you to “stop worrying” or “think positively.” While this advice is well-intentioned, it isn’t helpful (and may even increase feelings of guilt or self-blame). Trying to understand and work through your fear and doubt on your own has left you completely exhausted due to over-analyzing and over-thinking. 

You wish you could stop the onslaught of racing thoughts long enough to hear yourself think. You want to live a life free of anxiety—being at your best, feeling calm and engaged, being able to relax your mind and enjoy living in the present.

Anxiety Disorders Are Common (And Some Anxiety Can Be A Good Thing)

Stress is part of modern life, and anxiety is inevitably linked to it. Worries about your health, family, finances, relationships, and jobs can easily create or contribute to anxiety. And through on-the-spot connections—news reports, social media, email, phone and video calls—we’re constantly exposed to new and often distressing information. And the inability to disconnect from sources of stress can perpetuate negative or anxious thoughts. It’s no wonder that anxiety is considered to be the most common mental health issue worldwide, affecting 40 million adults in the US alone according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).* 

Anxiety exists on a spectrum—not everybody suffers from an anxiety disorder, but we’re all dealing with anxiety to some degree in our lives. On the mild end of the spectrum, we may experience daily worries or concerns that we interpret as caring. On the more extreme end lies panic disorder, which can completely interrupt daily functioning. And in between, many of us operate with some level of anxiety that causes a range of disruptive symptoms.

Of course, anxiety is not all bad. Some anxiety can help drive us to make changes that are essential to achieving our goals (or avoiding problems). It can push us to stay motivated at work and complete projects on time or help us stay on our side of the road when driving. But when anxiety becomes so extreme that we can’t stop thinking about our worries, it can become a paralyzing force that keeps us from living our best lives.

Since we can’t always control sources of stress and anxiety, we need to figure out how to respond in a healthy and productive way. Fortunately, anxiety therapy can help you proactively manage the stressors in your life, rather than get buried by them.

An Anxiety Therapist Can Help You Develop The Confidence And Skills To Take Control Of Your Life

Anxiety may have you stuck in a feedback loop, misinterpreting self-blame, anger, and other harmful self-beliefs as something normal or even beneficial. And it can be hard to see your situation from another perspective, especially if you can’t recall a time when you didn’t feel anxious. Wherever you find yourself on the spectrum of anxiety, therapy can help. Therapy for anxiety will give you the space to get all your thoughts and worries out of your mind in a confidential and non-judgmental environment with someone who not only understands but who also has the expertise to help you see things differently. 

My approach as an anxiety therapist is focused on short-term gains and long-term strategies. I try to balance addressing your immediate needs with methods for prevention and long-term goals. My overall goal is to help you be your own therapist, to teach you how to develop the confidence and skills you need to quiet your anxious thoughts, take control of your own life, experience enjoyment and peace of mind, and respond to stress in a healthy way.

Evidence-Based Anxiety Treatment That Works

I operate in an interactive and collaborative way—listening, understanding, and providing actionable plans to get you out of the cycle of worries and manage your anxiety with confidence. Every session will be tailored to your unique needs and goals, so you can learn to embrace new strategies and ways of thinking, perceiving, and seeing yourself and the world. With my help, you can adopt a more positive and hopeful outlook for the future.

To help you overturn unhealthy patterns and create healthy ones, I utilize research-based modalities. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), for example, is a therapeutic method that teaches you to recognize negative thoughts and emotions so you can challenge them instead of accepting harmful self-beliefs as true. If you view yourself or situations negatively (“This is impossible” or “I’m not good enough”), your emotions will follow suit (anxiety, dread, worry or frustration, for example). And these harmful self-beliefs can lead to angry, aggressive, or self-defeating behavior. By utilizing CBT for anxiety treatment, I’ll teach you to challenge negative thinking so you can respond with greater calm and confidence.  In addition, I have specialized training in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), another research-based modality, which is widely considered the gold standard for treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  

I also make use of positive psychology, which aims to help you focus on your personal strengths instead of the problems you’re experiencing. We’ll focus on building resilience, promoting hope, and nurturing your potential. In time, you’ll learn to use your personality, talents, gifts, and character strengths to your advantage to deal with whatever challenges come your way in the future.

Anxiety is universal, but it doesn’t have to define you. I’ve been an anxiety therapist since 2003, and in this time, I have seen that with a tailored approach, healing is possible. Many of my clients overcome anxiety and go on to live a life that’s more aligned with their values and goals, fully engaged in the present.

Maybe you considered working with a therapist, but you still have questions about anxiety therapy…

How can I make time for therapy when I’m already overextended?

You’re spending so much time already worrying—if you could spend just an hour to find relief, you would actually reduce time spent on worrying and gain more time doing the things you love. Therapy is time well spent because it helps you escape the anxious cycles that are keeping you stuck worrying about the past or future instead of living in the present. It is entirely up to you to decide if it is worth it to you to make relief from anxiety a priority, so you can have a more relaxed state of mind and fully engage in life.  

I’m worried the relief from anxiety therapy won’t last, and I don’t want to become dependent on therapy to feel better.

My goal is to work myself out of a job. I want to help you help yourself so you aren’t dependent on therapy now or in the future. Working with me will allow you to acquire new tools and a renewed mindset. You’ll experience increased awareness, a new perspective, and the confidence and skills you need to maintain lasting changes.

Shouldn’t I be able to handle this on my own?

Life throws us curveballs, and we have limits for what we can handle. Sometimes we just don’t have the knowledge or experience to deal with something yet. Going to therapy doesn’t mean you are too weak to address the issues on your own. Rather, it is a way to gain new tools and strategies you can use to handle difficult issues in your life. Stress is cumulative: we don’t start each day with a clean slate. Anxiety therapy is about opening a new door for yourself to be able to handle whatever life may throw at you.

Find Relief From Anxiety And Fully Enjoy Your Life