Anxiety can make ordinary parts of life feel much harder than they appear from the outside. Your mind may constantly anticipate what could go wrong, your body may stay tense or on alert, or sudden waves of panic may leave you afraid of when the next one will happen.
Raising Consciousness provides individualized online therapy for anxiety and panic to adults throughout California.
Anxiety doesn't always respond to logic.
You may know that the situation you're worried about is unlikely. You may recognize that you're overthinking. You might even be able to tell yourself exactly what a therapist would say—and still feel anxious.
For some people, anxiety is constant background noise. For others, it appears in particular situations, relationships, decisions, or periods of uncertainty. And sometimes it arrives suddenly as intense physical panic.
Therapy can help you understand what's maintaining that cycle and develop new ways of responding to it.
Anxiety can look different from person to person. It may involve:
Constant worrying or overthinking
Feeling restless or unable to relax
Replaying conversations or decisions
Expecting something to go wrong
Difficulty tolerating uncertainty
Avoiding situations that trigger anxiety
Physical tension or feeling constantly “on edge”
Difficulty sleeping because your mind won't quiet down
Irritability or becoming overwhelmed easily
Seeking reassurance and still not feeling reassured
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling disconnected or shutting down when overwhelmed
Sometimes anxiety has an obvious trigger. Sometimes it doesn't.
Either way, therapy can help us become curious about what is happening rather than simply telling you to “stop worrying.”
Panic attacks can involve an intense surge of fear or physical discomfort that may seem to come out of nowhere.
People experiencing panic may notice a racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, sweating, nausea, chest discomfort, tingling, feelings of unreality, or fear that something terrible is happening.
After experiencing a panic attack, another problem can develop: fear of having another one.
You may begin monitoring your body, avoiding particular places or situations, changing plans, or organizing your life around preventing another episode.
Therapy can help address both the panic itself and the cycle of fear and avoidance that can develop around it.
Anxiety is designed to get your attention.
Avoiding something frightening can bring immediate relief. Seeking reassurance can make uncertainty feel manageable for a moment. Checking, preparing, researching, or mentally reviewing a situation can temporarily create a sense of control.
The difficulty is that strategies that reduce anxiety in the short term can sometimes help maintain it over time.
Therapy can help you identify your particular anxiety cycle and practice responding differently—without expecting you to simply force yourself to “calm down.”
There isn't a single technique that works for every anxious person.
At Raising Consciousness, treatment is individualized based on what appears to be contributing to your anxiety, how you process information, what you've already tried, and what you want to change.
Depending on your needs, therapy may incorporate approaches such as CBT and DBT-informed strategies, ACT, mindfulness-based approaches, somatic interventions, parts work, or EMDR.
The goal isn't to eliminate every uncomfortable emotion. It's to help anxiety have less control over the choices you make.
Sometimes anxiety isn't only about what might happen next.
Past experiences can influence how the nervous system responds to situations in the present. You might notice particularly strong reactions to conflict, rejection, uncertainty, certain environments, relationship dynamics, or situations that remind you of something you've experienced before.
When anxiety appears connected to unresolved experiences, trauma-focused approaches may be incorporated into treatment when appropriate.
ADHD and autism can also shape someone's experience of anxiety.
Sensory overwhelm, executive-function demands, uncertainty, social expectations, masking, repeated misunderstandings, or difficulty predicting what an environment will require can all contribute to feeling overwhelmed.
When anxiety and neurodivergence overlap, treatment should account for both rather than assuming every difficulty is simply an anxious thought that needs to be challenged.
Raising Consciousness provides psychotherapy through telehealth for adults located throughout California.
Online therapy allows you to meet with your therapist from your own private space while developing strategies for anxiety, understanding patterns, and working toward the situations or experiences that matter to you.
Insurance and private-pay options are available. Coverage depends on your individual plan and the clinician providing treatment.
Whether anxiety is always in the background or panic has started changing what you feel able to do, therapy can help you understand the pattern and begin responding differently.