Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Hidden Hills, CA.

Most of us have some relationship with stress and anxiety, and it's no wonder: our society offers us daily opportunities to deepen our anxiety or increase our stress level. One or more sources of anxiety is often quite manageable, but life has a way of throwing multiple stressors at us at once. When several problems work together to conspire against us, it is often overwhelming.

The modern world we live in is full of amazing technological advancements and organizational wonders, but it is also more complex and demanding than ever before. The myriad competing demands of our lives, how busy we are, the continual pressure to do and be more creates enormous stress for all of us. This stress can escalate into anxiety and the added strain of these issues easily begins to short-circuit our ability to function at our best, to feel good, to maintain relationships and responsibilities. I can help you understand the internal and external forces creating these negative feelings, and together we can find strategies for minimizing stress and anxiety so you can feel better.

Learning to overcome stress and anxieties can be a challenge. Therapy can help you learn tools to understand the cause of your anxieties and stressors, their roles in your life and ways to reduce their impact on your life. Tools can include meditation, art therapy and various other techniques to identify the root cause while learning what works and does not work for you.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by constant anxiety and stress, unsure of how to break free from the cycle? You don’t have to face it alone. In my practice, I offer a safe, supportive space where we can work together to understand what’s driving your anxiety and develop practical strategies to manage it. Using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and more profound psychodynamic techniques, we’ll explore the patterns that keep you stuck and help you regain control over your thoughts and emotions. My approach is empathetic and collaborative to empower you to lead a calmer, more balanced life.

Anxiety and stress are nature made, preparing us to step up our efforts for the important and meaningful tasks which come up in our lives. Sometimes this system needlessly overreacts and responds to everyday stressors in the environment in a paralyzing way. When this happens, it feels distressing and uncomfortable. It is hard to stay focused, concentrate, and finish what we need to be doing. Often physical signs such as rapid heartbeat, sweaty palms, and shortness of breath can be present as well. This is the point where many clients come to therapy. I find anxiety and stress symptoms are very well treated with CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and mindfulness.

In treating anxiety, the most impotant issues is interupting the cycle of worry, obessing over worry, fearing the return of worry, and allowing worry to spread to every aspect of your life. Discriminating realistic reasons to worry from irrational reasons can help clients with excessive stress to cope. Interupting and redirecting thoughts of anxiety to more productive thoughts and activities will interupt the cycle that creates habitual anxiety. We will look at times you may over-react to triggers (be it an upcoming social situation, or a stumbling block that creates more stress and predictions of failure). We will take this path together. You are not alone.

When working with anxiety, I create a supportive space where you can safely explore your worries, fears, and physical symptoms without judgment. We’ll look at the underlying patterns that fuel your anxiety—whether rooted in past experiences, self-criticism, or daily stressors. I help you develop calming tools, self-compassion, and a deeper understanding of yourself so anxiety feels less overwhelming. Together, we’ll build resilience and confidence, allowing you to approach life with greater ease and balance.

Everyone can feel some level of anxiety once in a while. But overwhelming, recurring, or "out of nowhere" fear can deeply impact people. Sometimes anxiety can cause fatigue, irritability, difficulty focusing, sleep problems and muscle tension. When anxiety interferes like this, therapy can really help. Together, we will figure out the most troublesome issues, develop a treatment plan, and tackle the goals at a comfortable pace. I utilize cognitive-behavioral therapy, but also incorporate other modalities when helpful (i.e. exposure therapy, systematic desensitization, relaxation).

Stress at work or school, relationship stress, financial stress, health issues often are precursors for people to seek psychotherapy. Disturbances in sleep and appetite and an inability to attend and concentrate can undermine one's work performance or a student's ability to successfully master the demands of school. I have experience treating teachers, nurses, doctors and lawyers with anxiety and stress and, as well, see college and graduate and law school students form universities in the Los Angeles area, including USC, UCLA and Loyola.

Alexandra is collaborative and integrates mindfulness, somatic therapy, family systems, solution-focused, behavioral therapy, and existential techniques. Alexandra is experienced in working with clients who are neurodivergent, and supporting with sexuality and gender identity, attachments, relationships, trauma, open and consensual non-monogamy, kink, trust and self-esteem, life transitions, depression, anxiety, and stress.

My primary area of expertise is the treatment of Anxiety Disorders. There are different anxiety disorders such as Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Specific Phobia, PTSD and more. My therapeutic approach for the treatment of anxiety consists of: educating my client about their specific anxiety, teaching coping mechanisms to reduce stress/anxious mood, learning to interrupt the development of anxiety that leads to unpleasant physical manifestation and confronting behaviors and thoughts that maintain ongoing anxiety. It is imperative to work on my client's issues that perpetuates anxiety and distress.

I help clients navigate anxiety and stress by creating a grounding, supportive environment where they can slow down, explore the roots of their overwhelm, and reconnect with a sense of control. My approach combines practical tools, like nervous system regulation and mindfulness-based strategies, with deeper exploration of patterns and beliefs that may be fueling anxiety. I work collaboratively to help clients build resilience, set boundaries, and feel more empowered in their day-to-day lives. Relief is possible, and you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Understanding the Role Of Stress In Just About Everything ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2008) — Stress, to put it bluntly, is bad for you. It can kill you, in fact. A study now reveals that stress causes deterioration in everything from your gums to your heart and can make you more susceptible to everything from the common cold to cancer. Thanks to new research crossing the disciplines of psychology, medicine, neuroscience, and genetics, the mechanisms underlying the connection are rapidly becoming understood. Dr. Sobo uses mindful techniques to teach patients skills for managing stress.