Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in San Diego, CA.

Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Acute Stress, and/or Post Traumatic Stress make it difficult to carry on your life. From relationships, to work, to the daily tasks of living, anxiety can be devastating. Family, friends, and coworkers may have difficulty understanding your situation. If fears, intrusive thoughts, worries, or stress are disrupting your life, come find the compassionate support you need. I utilize multiple treatment methods which can be tailored to your situation. Don’t let anxiety, stress, and trauma continue to have power over you. Contact me today.

Fear can be debilitating. It can prevent us from doing what we love. All fear is future based; fears about what may happen. Often times we fear the worst. Through identifying the fearful thoughts and learning to replace the scary thoughts with joyful truths, we can see that what may come may just be something worth living for. As we live with fear and anxiety, we tend to activate the sympathetic nervous system which is our fight or flight. I utilize therapeutic relaxation, meditation and mindfulness to help activate the parasympathetic nervous system to produces feelings of peace and rest.

Stress and anxiety, believe it or not, are a normal part of everyday life. However, for some people, they can become bigger issues. If stress and anxiety begin disrupting your daily life, it may indicate a more serious problem. For example, if you are avoiding situations due to unexplainable fears, constantly anxious, or deeply disturbed about a traumatic event weeks, months or years after it happened, it may be time to seek help. You do not have to suffer alone.

Anxiety and stress can be cooled and calmed down, if you know how. As a results-oriented, practical psychologist with 30 years of experience, I can help you more clearly understand the sources your stress and anxiety, know what to do about them, and gain greater control over them. My multi-faceted approach works with your mind, body, actions and relationships. It's possible to be calmer and have greater control. Let's work together to help you have greater control, comfort and calmness.

A little anxiety or stress can be good for us. It motivates us to get to our work done, to study for an exam, or to help us recognize we are overwhelmed and need to slow down. When anxiety is problematic, it creates an unhealthy sense of well-being and it interferes with daily living. Because there are different forms of anxiety, and because often anxiety can occur with depression, I work with individuals to assess what kind of anxiety they may be experiencing, and then focus holistically on not only managing the symptoms of anxiety, but also gaining a better awareness of the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of anxiety.

I specialize in helping people through anxiety and stress, whether it be related to dynamics with family, career, or related to past trauma. People often have anxiety or panic attacks and feel that it is medically related, only to arrive at the hospital ER and find out that it is emotionally related. This is common, because anxiety attacks often affect heart rate and bodily sensations. I have tools to help clients overcome severe anxiety and stress. Clients often find relief once they are able to understand the source of their anxiety and what to do about it.

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.

While mild anxiety is a normal part of our everyday lives, it can sometimes be paralyzing, and undermine your work, your relationships, and your ability to interact in the world. That's when you need help. Psychotherapy for anxiety can take a variety of forms: Psychodynamic Therapy - to vent, release, and understand the highly charged emotions that cause your suffering. Cognitive Therapy - to change irrational thoughts to calming ones. Mindful Awareness - to train you to hold calm while observing uncomfortable feelings. Physiological Interventions - to release stress by increasing serotonin levels in your body. Working together, we will choose the best approach for your situation.

I have special expertise in working with anxiety and stress. With anxiety, it is important to find ways to calm and soothe the nervous system. I offer a wide variety of tools to help train your body to relax. Finding activities to decompress, have fun and nurture yourself are important in order to cope with a stressful environment. There is usually a good reason that the anxiety, nervousness, fear, or worry is there. Anxiety can be a result of PTSD, and I use special trauma therapies such as EMDR, EFT, and AIT that process and release the negative events and associated feelings and beliefs. It is possible to be free of your anxiety and cope better with your stress.

I see anxiety conditions as unproductive responses to stress. While there are predisposing factors, the catalyst for triggering anxiety, fears, even phobias is stress. I focus on 4 basic and proven factors: 1) Psychoeducation - understanding what's happening in your mind and body that causes anxiety and stress; 2) Relaxation training - providing you with a wide range of ways to relax and de-stress, not just deep breathing, but many; 3) Cognitive (thought) changes - learning how to change unproductive thinking to productive - Stopping the What ifs and a dozen others; 4) Lifestyle/behavioral changes - balancing life is vital - sleep, nutrition (stop caffeine), exercise, and assertiveness.

Anxiety is usually a signal of danger that can be triggered by a relationship or some other type of social situation, or it can originate from internal thoughts and feelings that we are unaccustomed to coping with. In either case, anxiety can lead us to become immobilized and feel helpless to cope with ourselves and/or our social environment. First, I help my patients regain a sense of control over themselves and their lives. Second, I help them understand the roots of their distress so they will be better equipped to deal with anxiety provoking events in the future.

Anxiety is a very common and devastating condition. As a licensed clinical psychologist, I have successfully treated anxiety for over 20 years. Most people who come to my office report feeling excessive worry and that they can not stop the worry. I educate my clients so they understand their own anxiety and how to manage their stress. I teach various coping skills, using a variety of treatment modalities tailored to my client's unique needs. Feeling anxious and stressed is very difficult. My goal is to have my client's feel more calm and enjoying their life as soon as possible.

If you suffer from unmanageable stress, panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, a difficulty to relax or release your worries, you may experiencing stress and anxiety. You can live free of distress, anxiety or fear. When it comes to treating anxiety disorders or stress-management, research shows that therapy is the most effective option. Therapy can help you uncover the underlying causes of your stress, worries and fears; learn how to relax; look at situations in new, less frightening ways; and develop better coping and problem-solving skills. Therapy gives you the tools to successfully manage stress, overcome anxiety and teaches you how to use them.