I’m so glad you’ve found your way here. Finding the right therapy for anxiety is a powerful act of self-care. Anxiety isn’t just about feeling stressed or worried occasionally. It can deeply affect your daily life, your relationships, and your sense of well-being. Let’s explore it together.
What is Anxiety?
At its core, anxiety is your body’s way of trying to keep you safe. It’s your nervous system sensing danger, even when there’s no immediate threat. But when anxiety becomes persistent, intense, and overwhelming, it can signal an anxiety disorder. If you’re feeling stuck in worry or fear that interferes with your daily life, knowing you’re not alone and support is available is essential. Counseling for anxiety can help you learn how to hack your nervous system to regain calm, connection, and confidence.
Common Anxiety Symptoms:
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, know that it makes sense—your body and mind are doing their best to protect you:
- Constant worry or feeling unsettled
- Restlessness or feeling like you’re “on edge.”
- Trouble concentrating or a mind that won’t slow down
- Feeling drained
- Muscle tension or physical discomfort
- Feeling irritable or easily frustrated
- Trouble sleeping (difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or restless nights)
Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder can feel like your mind is stuck in “what if” mode—constantly worried, tense, or expecting the worst, even when logically you know things are okay. You might frequently feel overwhelmed about health, finances, family, or work, even without a clear reason.
Therapy for GAD begins by understanding the origins of worries to help the brain integrate and process them. We will also learn the mechanisms and tools to help your brain rewire itself toward safety. Finally, learning skills and tools to manage the sensations that tend to accompany worry is essential to stopping that anxious feeling from taking over.
Anxiety Attacks vs. Panic Attacks
It’s helpful to understand that anxiety and panic attacks, while similar, are actually distinct:
- Anxiety Attacks: These build gradually and are often triggered by specific stressors or fears. You might feel your heart racing, tightness in your chest, dizziness, or trouble breathing.
- Panic Attacks: These strike suddenly and intensely, often without any clear trigger, leaving you feeling terrified, with symptoms like rapid heartbeat, chest pain, and fears of losing control or even dying. Usually, these peak within minutes. Potential causes can range from past health scares, a serious illness experienced by yourself or someone close, to general anxiety patterns developed over time. Health anxiety can significantly impact your daily functioning, relationships, and emotional well-being, making it challenging to feel safe or calm even when reassured by professionals.
Therapy for Health Anxiety
Health anxiety involves persistent and intense worry about your health, even when medical tests and professionals assure you everything is okay. It often stems from misinterpreting normal bodily sensations as serious health threats, leading to significant distress. Common symptoms include frequent checking of your body, compulsive internet searches about health conditions, repeated medical visits, and ongoing fear about having or developing a serious illness.
Potential causes can range from past health scares, a serious illness experienced by yourself or someone close, to general anxiety patterns developed over time. Health anxiety can significantly impact your daily functioning, relationships, and emotional well-being, making it challenging to feel safe or calm even when reassured by professionals.
Therapy for health anxiety focuses on helping you compassionately understand your anxiety responses. We use strategies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness practices, and somatic approaches to gently challenge distorted beliefs and develop healthier coping mechanisms. Together, we’ll build confidence in your body’s signals and reduce unnecessary worry, empowering you to reclaim peace and control.
Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
OCD involves unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) aimed at relieving anxiety. While these behaviors offer temporary relief, they often reinforce the anxiety. Common obsessions include fears of contamination or harm, and compulsions often include excessive checking or cleaning. Interestingly, the typical thoughts themselves are the ones that occur for most of us. The challenge is that neurological differences limit the ability of the brain to process these thoughts as unlikely or irrational.
Therapy for OCD can help you regain control of your life by learning tools and techniques to manage the obsessive thoughts and reduce or stop the compulsive behaviors.
Therapy for Perfectionism
Perfectionism can be closely linked with anxiety, making it hard to accept mistakes or imperfections. You may feel intense pressure to meet extremely high standards. This leads to procrastination, indecision, and self-critical thoughts that can hinder your happiness and productivity. The paradox is that the brain’s need for perfectionism creates a shutdown of the part of the brain that is needed for focus, motivation, and flexible thinking.
Therapy for perfectionism aims to understand the origins of the desire for perfection and control so that one can process and gain true control of one’s mind and physiology.
How We’ll Work With Anxiety
My approach to counseling for anxiety blends compassionate understanding with neuroscience-backed strategies and practical tools. Specifically, we’ll:
- Use evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
- Incorporate somatic therapy, attachment therapy, and mindfulness techniques.
- Explore your unique patterns and identify anxiety triggers.
- Gently challenge old narratives to create personalized strategies.
- Empower you with emotional resilience and clarity.
I offer in-person therapy for anxiety in Pleasant Hill and online counseling for anxiety throughout California.
Remember, anxiety is something you can overcome—and you don’t have to do it alone. I’m here to support you every step of the way.
Ready to feel calmer and more in control?
Schedule your free consultation today.
Articles that might interest you:
The Perfectionism Trap: How the Pressure to Be Perfect Fuels Anxiety and Depression