Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in St Helena, CA.

Would you like to feel calmer -- while experiencing more satisfaction in your life, and have closer connections with your loved ones, friends and co-workers? Psychotherapy can be your gateway to a life with more happiness and balance. I am experienced at helping you understand and utilize your strengths as a foundation to help create the life you desire. This isn’t a magical cure - walking this path may take some time, energy and focus. Yet the rewards can be great. For some, the goals are more about resolving old hurts and trauma - for others, improving relationship skills, and communication skills. In all cases, my aim is to increase your ability to create the life you want.

Anxiety and stress are so prevalent in today's society. I can help you gather the tools you need to successfully handle those moments when you feel overwhelmed - even if those moments seem like they are all the time. I utilize psychodynamic and/or a cognitive behavioral approach to treating anxiety and stress. I also treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder using Exposure and Response Prevention.

If you're struggling with anxious thoughts, you may find it hard to focus. The fight or flight alarm is going off in your brain, constantly sending you messages starting with "what if...." If worrying is keeping you trapped in a hamster wheel, tired, but unable to rest, you may find yourself turning to addictive substances or behaviours to cope. As an addiction counsellor, I help clients cope with the anxious thoughts keeping them trapped in addictive behaviours. By uncovering these underlying thoughts, I help you develop coping skills so you can gain a sense of focus, clarity, confidence, and freedom from constantly overthinking. Send me a message and I'll guide you through the next steps.

I am a psychoanalytic therapist with a focus on anxiety and stress. Through my practice, I strive to create an empathetic, non-judgmental space where you can express your thoughts and feelings. I take a unique approach to therapy, exploring the underlying causes of your concerns and developing personalized solutions to help you move forward. My goal is to help my patients gain insight into their struggles and find inner peace.

Anxiety can affect your whole life. Like physical pain, anxiety is a symptom that something is wrong, and like pain, it can be treated. Often, understanding the source of your anxiety is enough to lessen or eliminate it completely. We can help you identify what triggers a sense of apprehension and stress in your life. As we come to understand the underlying causes, we will develop tools and strategies to help you cope with your anxiety.

Everyone feels anxiety at some point in their lives but when it starts to interfere with your life, counseling can help. Although anxiety can feel debilitating, it is treatable. People with anxiety don’t always share the same symptoms, they vary from person to person. Therapy will help you to reclaim your life and function in a chronically stressful world.

I work with clients using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness, Narrative Therapy, Expressive Arts, and psychoeducation to address anxiety and stress. Many folks are experiencing extreme stress as a result of all we have experienced in the last year. I'm able to work with clients experiencing burnout, increased anxiety, and higher stress relying on neuroscience as the guide.

Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, anxiety disorders and ongoing chronic stress can appear as repeated episodes of worry & fear, or develop into sudden feelings of intense anxiety with physical sensations, known as panic attacks. Your anxiety may feel related to an event or thought, and other times appear to occur randomly and without cause. Anxiety can develop at any age, when left untreated it may develop into depression. In therapy we will explore how anxiety is affecting your life. You will learn how your physical, emotional and mental health are connected and together create an effective treatment plan specific to your goals to improve your well-being.

Anxiety and stress are two words that often go hand in hand. They can creep into our waking hours and haunt the evenings when we need to go to sleep. Together, you and I will come up with a plan for both waking hours and for nighttime if needed. We will develop coping skills you can use in the real world and some for when you have more time on your hands. Anxiety doesn't need to consume you and doesn't need to rob you of the good things in life such as being with people or saying yes to activities.

Free 30 minute zoom call - Anxiety can arise from several places - one is the mind - people can think & imagine scenarios in their minds that create anxiety, when their thoughts and imagination may not even be true. Anxiety is also common in people who did not have a safe & secure experience with caregivers as they were growing up. The brain ends up being wired in a way that reproduces anxiety. Fortunately, due to new research in the field of neuropsychology & neuroplasticity, this can be changed!

Stress is an inevitable part of modern life. Anxiety seems to be part of this same package, but does it have to be? Anxiety is the uncomfortable and often intolerable gap between where we are and where we want to be. It can run everything and ruin everything. The where-we-are that anxiety so painfully stretches away from is usually our difficult-to-be-with internal emotional reality involving hurt, shame, anger or fear. Learning to be with ourselves and find release usually requires the help of someone who is intuitive, warm, sensitive and familiar with the terrain of emotions. This is what I do. This is my everyday work. Let me help you.

Anxiety and fear are primal emotions that under ideal circumstances help prepare you to face danger trhough fleeing or fighting if trapped. However, when anxiety is triggerred too easily the protective function is lost and you are at risk for developing anxiety disorders like social anxiety, panic, phobias, chronic worry, and PTSD. Once an anxiety disorder has developed it is maintained in a vicious cycle of fear and avoidance. I help people break this cycle by learning to deescalate their anxiety response and gradually confront, rather then avoid, their fears. People who have experience trauma growing up may also have anxiety in the form of PTSD. I have special training to help you.

I create a transformative experience that emphasizes your personal growth and well-being. My approach to anxiety recovery prioritizes the unique needs and goals of each client, fostering a safe and supportive environment where you can explore and overcome anxiety-related challenges. By focusing on practical strategies and personalized interventions, clients will gain the tools and insights needed to manage anxiety and stress more effectively. This tailored approach of somatic, emotion-focused, and attachment-focused therapeutic techniques will empower you to build resilience, enhance quality of life, and achieve a more balanced and fulfilling existence free from painful anxiety.