Is your nervous system constantly in overdrive?

Anxiety happens when your brain is reacting strongly to a perceived threat. This is helpful when you’re entering a forest full of bears, and less so when you’re trying to get through the day at work or put your kids to bed. Therapy can help bring your reactions back in proportion to your context, and learn to cope with overthinking, physiological activation, and other symptoms of anxiety.

Treatment approach

The most effective treatment for anxiety is exposure, or taking steps to approach rather than avoid anxiety-provoking situations. In practice, this involves exploring specific aspects of a situation that trigger anxiety and developing a manageable plan to work up to a feared situation. For example, you might practice a speaking in the mirror, in front of a pet, for a trusted friend, and for a few colleagues before giving an important presentation at work. Along the way, we’ll debrief exposure practices to see how anxiety reduces and address unhelpful thoughts that come up. The specific exposures that are helpful will vary based on each individual person’s experience, so we’ll work together to come up with an individualized plan for you. Additionally, practices such as mindfulness can keep you in the present moment instead of feeling pulled to worry about future events.