Therapy for Anxiety

Nurture your resilience

Therapy for Women and HSPs in Wisconsin, Massachusetts & Washington, DC

Anxiety feels like

On edge

Worried. Second guessing. Overplanning. So much so that you don’t even notice it most of the time, it just feels like your baseline, the norm, like breathing.

Unsettled

Overthinking. Being irritated (sometimes for no apparent reason). Overthinking. Overanalyzing. Distracted. (Did I mention overthinking?)

Tight

Your stomach is in knots (not butterflies). Your shoulders have to be pried from your ears multiple times a day. Your jaw seems to be in a state of permanent clench.

Anxiety makes things feel out of control 

Monarch butterfly on purple flowers representing the calm that you long for when you feel anxious. Counseling for anxiety in Madison WI can help bring calm. | 53719 | 53711 | 53593

You try to make everything perfect.

Yet it feels like everything you do is wrong. You are certain that there is only one right answer (and it feels impossible to find it). 

Decision-making is excruciating.

The overthinking we talked about earlier? Yes, that. All the time. What if it’s the wrong decision? What if I find out later it wasn’t the right thing to do? What if they get mad at me? What if I end up hurting someone? What if I regret it later?

(All of which feels a lot like anxiety’s close cousin, self-doubt and depression.)

You follow all the rules, meticulously.

If you don’t, it feels like the world will fall apart. (Even if there aren’t any actual rules.) Asking permission? You’re a pro at it. You need to, otherwise you will find yourself in the terrible position of having made the wrong decision.

The checklist is never done.

And nothing ever feels like enough.

You know the coping skills for anxiety  

You know how to research.

It’s not that you’re not resourceful. You’ve got anxiety coping skills covered! You’ve tried apps, internet searches. Belly breathing, deep breathing, box breathing.

You’ve learned to put your hand on your belly, feel it rising and falling. You can bring your attention to your breath, and get yourself back in the present. (It does help, really. But not as much as you want it to.)

You have lots of tools for anxiety.

Some you do in secret and feel ashamed afterwards (online shopping). Some are socially acceptable but leave you dissatisfied (scrolling instagram). When you’re really on your game you can pull out all the skills.

Exercise, counting backwards from 100. Noticing how you are supported by your chair, the ground. Being outside and watching the blue sky, hearing the birds sing, feeling the sun on your face. Noticing the edge of your water bottle and how it is smooth, and cool.

You’ve read all the books.

They tell you to talk back to your anxiety. (And you do!) They tell you to write about your anxiety. Journaling has long been your friend, but at times it leaves you feeling more alone and angry.

Some of the books tell you the anxiety will always be with you. This is partly true. To be human is to experience anxiety.

But your anxiety doesn’t always have to be as intense as you feel now.

You’ve tried long-term coping strategies for anxiety

Deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, yoga

You know the long term anxiety strategies. You might do them when you can. (It’s hard to be consistent, no shame!)

Sunrise behind silhouette of mountains and a tree representing the calm that therapy for anxiety can bring. Working with an anxiety therapist in Milwaukee WI can help you find calm.

Your anxiety flares up in the silence

You’ve tried the body awareness of tension and softening. You know the research that says over time, Progressive Muscle Relaxation can help you sleep. But when you actually take time to try it, the worries come out in droves.

It’s so hard to tolerate that you find yourself going back to doing something “productive” like doing the laundry. (But you don’t feel that much better anyway.)

Moving your body can feel grounding

Yoga especially, as long as it’s not activating your inner critic. Focusing on the way a stretch feels, or how to stay balanced, is its own distraction and grounding. Morning yoga for energizing, evening yoga for calming.

Yet again, you find your mind chastising you for taking time away from something “productive.” After feeling bad about yourself, you look to instagram for comfort. (But it doesn’t last.)

Silhouette of woman jumping in front of mountains in the sunset representing the freedom you can feel when anxiety doesn’t rule your life. Working with an anxiety therapist in Madison WI helps make it possible to respond differently to anxiety.

Counseling for anxiety helps the anxiety let up

Will your anxiety ever go away? A lot of it, yes! All of it? Not quite - to be human means you will experience some anxiety. Dealing with anxiety is a long term process.

Anxiety does not have to rule your life

The goal is not to eliminate anxiety. The level at which you experience it, and the way you respond and recover from anxiety - these are things that can improve.

There is always something underneath the anxiety  

You may have gotten great coping skills for anxiety and long term coping strategies for anxiety from previous therapists, or books, and these are so important! You use them all the time. And, you find yourself frustrated that you’re not getting to the root of your anxiety. 

Therapy gives your brain the space to unpack the anxiety

This is how to get to what’s underneath the anxiety. That probably feels scary and threatening! How do you know what you’ll find?

Like unraveling a ball of yarn, we look at every string together, and see how it might be connected to other pieces of string, or might have gotten all knotted up or caught on something.

Working with an anxiety therapist is a way to connect with your power

Our time together will unearth the pieces of strength and control that feel buried.

Together we will nurture your fierce resilience

The wind doesn't have to knock you over every time a storm comes.

White lighthouse on a cliff of green grass overlooking blue water representing a sense of control that counseling for anxiety can provide. Therapy for anxiety in Boston MA can increase your sense of control.

As an Anxiety Therapist, I want you to feel more resilient.

If you’re struggling with anxiety, it’s hard to imagine taking any steps to start therapy. Talking with someone new is scary. You don’t want to be judged. You just want to feel better. A part of you knows that therapy is hard work, that you’ll have to face some pain you’d rather leave buried.

In spite of all this, there is also a part of you that really wants some

support, flexibility, and calm.

Woman with black hair reading and lying forward on grass in the shade next to lake and trees representing the relief that therapy for anxiety can bring. Therapy for anxiety in Western Mass helps you feel more relief.

I opened my psychotherapy practice in Madison, WI so I could work with women. In addition to counseling for anxiety, I provide therapy for women feeling depressed and I specialize in therapy for Highly Sensitive People.

Want some support in making space for the part of you that wants more resilience and calm? Reach out today to start anxiety therapy.