Therapy for Anxiety

In-person & online in Chico ca

Anxiety can give even a small thing a big shadow.

Anxiety can be paralyzing. It keeps us frozen, stuck in unfulfilling roles and relationships. We struggle to stay focused on our work. Your thoughts spiral into catastrophic thinking and you can’t stop, leaving you feeling exhausted. Without the energy you need to get things done. Anxiety can also manifest physically.

Maybe you’re noticing:

  • You are having trouble sleeping

  • Your thoughts feel outside of your control, or you feel like you have no control over your life

  • It’s hard to feel relaxed and connected with others

  • Your work performance is down, or you feel like you can’t keep up with life’s responsibilities

  • You feel tense and tight, or have GI issues

  • Your heart beats rapidly for no obvious reason and you’re holding your breath or have shallow breathing

Therapy for Anxiety can help.

How I work with anxiety

My approach is compassionate and soul-centered: I can help you find “what is right” about your anxiety. Underneath the anxious part of you is an unmet need or desire to have something different in your life that is meaningful and fulfilling. Deepening your understanding of this need or desire is foundational.

I will teach you strategies to help you manage the negative and intrusive thought patterns inherent in the experience of anxiety. Anxiety is one thing, but the thoughts we have about it serve to exacerbate and prolong the negative experience. Working together, you will learn to exercise control over your thoughts.

Working with me, you will also learn body-centered strategies and mindfulness practices such as somatic awareness and breathwork. Self-compassion practices can also address the unpleasant physical side effects of anxiety. Anxiety and panic can be incredibly intense, but simple body-centered hacks can immediately decrease your experience of anxiousness.

What we’ll work on

The process of working with anxiety in therapy:

  • Connect with and understand what is right about the emotional forces that lie beneath your experience of anxiety

  • Use this knowledge to inform your higher self and decision-maker to chose what action to take or what goal to set your sights on

  • Employ the coping skills you’ve learned to manage any unpleasant side effects

  • Learn self-compassion practices and “reparenting” to find your center: The sense of calm and clarity needed to confront obstacles and challenges with confidence

You have incredible gifts, strengths, & potential.

I’M HERE TO HELP you DISCOVER IT.

FAQS

Common questions about therapy for anxiety

  • We live in an inherently unsafe world. Anxiety is part of being human. Many of us did not learn to face fearful things with confidence in childhood. But it’s never too late to learn.

  • Most negative and intrusive thoughts are actually not about the present but about the past. Our nervous system is wired for threat. When we feel unsafe, we constantly scan our environment for danger. But there are practices I can teach you that will allow you to find a sense of calm and protection to quiet our nervous system.

  • The process of healing can begin right away as your nervous system is calmed by the presence of a caring and understanding other. But therapy is only an hour or so a week. Engaging with these tools and practices at home will result in much faster progress.