Anxiety Therapy

If you have ever felt like anxiety is taking over your life, you might wonder if you have an anxiety disorder. Here are a few questions to ask yourself.

• Do racing “what if” thoughts keep you up at night?
• Do ordinary situations—like work, driving, or social events—suddenly feel overwhelming?
• Do you notice physical symptoms like a pounding heart, tense muscles, or stomach upset?
• Do you avoid things you care about because of fear or worry?

If so, you’re not alone—and therapy can help you break free and feel calmer, more confident, and back in control.

Anxiety is more than everyday stress—it’s when your body’s alarm system gets stuck on high alert. Instead of warning you about real danger, it goes off at the wrong times. You might notice racing “what if” thoughts, worst-case scenarios, or constant second-guessing. Physically, it can show up as a pounding heart, tense muscles, stomach upset, or restless sleep.

When anxiety takes over, ordinary situations—meeting new people, driving, speaking up at work, or even trying to relax—can suddenly feel overwhelming. It may cause you to avoid what matters most, doubt yourself, or feel disconnected from daily life.

The good news is that anxiety is highly treatable. With the right tools and support, you can quiet your mind, steady your body, and rebuild confidence in how you move through the world.

Anxiety doesn’t look the same for everyone. Each type has its own triggers and challenges, which means therapy needs to be tailored. While strategies like reframing anxious thoughts and practicing exposure are helpful across the board, how we use them differs. For example, with social anxiety, gradually facing feared situations is key, while with panic disorder, learning to face and tolerate body sensations is most effective.

Here are some of the common forms of anxiety I treat:

I use cognitive behavior therapy and schema therapy for anxiety and OCD as well as the personality patterns that can keep you stuck. Both are based on scientific research showing they are highly effective for these disorders.

CBT is the gold standard for treating anxiety. It shows you how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors feed into the cycle of fear—and how to break that cycle. A big part of CBT is learning to spot and challenge thinking traps. Some common ones with anxiety are:

• Catastrophizing – jumping to the worst-case scenario
• Fortune telling – assuming you know something bad will happen
• Black-and-white thinking – seeing things as all-or-nothing

In therapy, you’ll learn to reframe unhelpful thoughts, face avoided situations step by step, and build coping skills like relaxation, problem-solving, and self-compassion. Over time, these strategies retrain your brain and body to respond more calmly, so anxiety doesn’t control your life.

Schema Therapy goes deeper than symptom relief to address the life traps that keep anxiety stuck. Life traps are long-standing patterns, often rooted in childhood, that shape how you see yourself and others. Unlike short-term thinking traps, life traps are bigger themes that replay across situations and relationships.

Common anxiety-related life traps include:

• Vulnerability to Harm – always bracing for disaster

• Failure – believing you’ll never measure up

• Unrelenting Standards – giving yourself pressure to be perfect and not make mistakes

• Social Isolation – feeling different and like you don’t fit in

• Defectiveness – worrying there’s something inherently wrong with you

In Schema Therapy, we identify these patterns, use techniques like imagery rescripting to heal painful memories, chair work to talk between your parts, and practice healthier coping responses so old patterns no longer take over.

What sets me apart is my dual expertise in treating anxiety with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)—the gold standard for anxiety—and Schema Therapy, which targets the deeper patterns that keep it stuck. This combination helps you find quick relief and lasting change. As the author of Social Anxiety For Dummies, I offer practical strategies that work across all types of anxiety. If you’re ready to move beyond the constant “what ifs” and feel more calm and confident, I’d be honored to help.