Anxiety

I treat anxiety by delving into the unconscious processes and unresolved conflicts that may be contributing to your symptoms. Through techniques such as free association, dream analysis, and the examination of transference and countertransference, we can uncover hidden emotions and past experiences that fuel your anxiety. By bringing these unconscious elements into conscious awareness, you can gain insight, work through repressed feelings, and ultimately reduce your anxiety.

As a therapist specializing in women's mental health, I have encountered anxiety in many forms. My experience working with women has given me insight into how anxiety can be influenced by various life transitions, societal pressures, and personal expectations. Many of my clients face anxiety stemming from balancing roles such as career, family, and self-care, while others experience it in connection to trauma, hormonal changes, or mental health conditions like depression and Bipolar Disorder.

"Just do it" or "Stop thinking so much" the advice most people probably give when you're feeling anxious or stressed. What you're really looking for is for some support, guidance, and tools that will help you regain control over your feelings. When someone is mentally and emotionally balanced, they think clearly and make better decisions, which leads to less stress and anxiety. It can be done if you're willing to change behavior, question your thoughts and reflect on your emotional wellness.

As a psychologist, I specialize in providing compassionate and effective support for individuals struggling with anxiety. My approach to treating anxiety is grounded in evidence-based practices, with a particular focus on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is highly effective in helping individuals identify and challenge negative thought patterns and behaviors that contribute to anxiety, leading to lasting change and symptom relief.

Anxiety can show up in many ways. You may have noticed racing thoughts, uncomfortable physical sensations, irritability, or trouble sleeping. You may be struggling with intrusive thoughts, excessive worry, phobias, or panic attacks. Stressful experiences can lead to mood swings, feelings of guilt and shame, hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, physical symptoms, and many other symptoms. If anxiety, stress, or trauma are affecting your ability to function at home or work, therapy can help.

Anxiety can stop us in our tracks from living the lives that we want to live. I aim to help you find effective coping strategies that you can use whenever you need them, but I also aim to combat unproductive thought patterns. The combination of in-the-moment skills with analyzing your thought patterns and lived experiences helps create lasting change that you will be able to apply long after our formal time in therapy has ended.

Part of anxiety's function is to keep us safe. Let’s honor the adaptiveness and good intentions of your inner protectors, build a tolerance for nonjudgmentally noticing your anxiety sources and patterns, and practice ways of signaling safety to your body. We'll respond compassionately, patiently, and creatively using combination of bodily, behavioral, and cognitive practices.

Anxiety can be treated with Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing therapy (EMDR), Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and mindfulness. We will explore the reason behind the anxiety and process it as needed. We will also work on breathing, being present, and using the body to ground the anxious mind. The exact approach depends on your needs.

Anxiety can be overwhelming. I use a compassionate and holistic approach to addressing anxiety because often the anxiety can be a reflection of other larger challenges. Rather than thinking of anxiety as completely irrational, I find it can be a teacher with it's own wisdom.

The most common issue that I see is anxiety. And it is becoming more common. The world we live in today is stressful, scary and often quite sad. People are worried and fearful, often overwhelmed and burnt out. When I work with people who suffer from anxiety, I utilize cognitive therapy to help them become aware of cognitive distortions, counter their negative thoughts without judgement, process their emotions, improve their functioning, and embrace the unknown with optimism.

I have both lived and professional experience with anxiety. Many of us struggle with anxiety silently, and if we don't find ways to manage and address it, it can often feel very powerful and overwhelming, and can make our world feel really small. I support you in learning to manage your anxiety by developing self-awareness and understanding of the anxiety and what triggers it, while also helping you find solid coping skills that help regulate your nervous system and alleviate symptoms.

We live in anxious times. Whether it's a classic case of FOMO (fear of missing out) or a well-intentioned "doom-scroll" through all the bad news the internet has to offer, it's not easy to unplug. If you'd like to work on re-calibrating your body's threat detection system, or finding a better balance between awareness and hypervigilance, cognitive behavioral therapy skills can help.

We start where you are, here and now. We begin looking to our relationships, beliefs, feelings, dreams, as well as other, sometimes unknown parts of our psyche to better understand where our anxiety is coming from. Processing in this way can help us find ways to reduce the negative effects anxiety has on our lives.

Stephanie has experience with Anxiety in practice.

In addition to lived experience, I have worked with this population throughout my 11 year career. I utilize DBT and CBT to aid in raising awareness of intrusive thoughts. I also increase my competency by purchasing specific training manuals and books on this topic.

Every person experiences different levels of anxiety, if you feel like your anxiety is tough to handle we can work collaboratively to address underlying causes and current stressors that lead to unmanageable anxiety

I am a Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional and enjoy working with struggles that include components of anxiety. I use a combination of ACT, CBT, DBT, and ERP to assist within working through these struggles.

I have experienced anxiety in my relationships and professional life. I treat anxiety using a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based strategies. CBT helps you recognize and challenge negative thought patterns, reducing their impact on emotions and behaviors. I also integrate my own materials to treat intrusive thoughts and sleep disruption. Additionally, I encourage clients to build coping skills like I did that fit their needs and abilities.