Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Arden Arcade, CA.

Anxiety can feel like a constant hum in the background of your life, or a tidal wave that crashes in without warning. Whether it shows up as overthinking, avoidance, panic, or difficulty sleeping, I help clients uncover the root of their anxiety and develop tools to feel more grounded and in control. Together we work to create space between you and the overwhelm, so that you can move through your day with more ease, confidence, and calm. You don’t have to manage anxiety on your own; relief is possible, and I’m here to help.

Anxiety is one of the most common problems I see in my practice and it can often lead clients to feel discouraged because of the way it can limit activities and interests and goals. There are many kinds of anxiety including panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, worrying, and phobias or fears. I often describe anxiety as a faulty alarm system that gets triggered in the face of threats or perceived threats. I will help you explore the factors that cause and maintain anxiety, and together we will develop a plan to reduce reactivity to anxiety triggers so that your life is not restricted.

I begin by understanding how you experience anxiety/stress because how you experience them is unique for you. Then we begin to increase your tolerance for how you experience anxious/stressful thoughts, feelings, memories, and/or situations. This is necessary so the anxiety/stress stops being an overwhelming experience that interferes and gets in the way of your life. It's crucial to be able to become more comfortable when you experience anxiety/stress because they're a part life. The problem is the distressing and limiting to debilitating effect they have on you. As you learn to be able to do this, you will begin to experience more peacefulness, calm, hope, self-confidence and self-esteem.

Everyone experiences anxiety at some point, but for some the anxiety is so frequent or intense that it interferes with their lives or even triggers panic attacks. I use Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help my clients get a sense of control over their own anxiety. We collaborate to learn skills to reduce the frequency or intensity of the anxious feelings, to tolerate the anxiety when it does occur so they can still function through it, and to practice habits that reduce stress and improve general mental health.

I assist my clients to work through stress and anxiety by providing the following: relaxation techniques, EMDR, hypnotherapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy techniques that are helpful. We also look at times in my client's life when he/she was stressed or anxious and got through it successfully, and what were the coping skills that helped at that time.