Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in Sammamish, WA.

Sometimes life can feel really overwhelming. The increasing daily stresses can grow to be a heavy weight pressing down on you. Sometimes you can't get your thoughts and worries to just shut off when you try to relax or go to sleep. For some, panic strikes with a racing heart, making it hard to even breath... Our counselors at Mill Creek Family Services specialize in helping you find the relief you're seeking. With proven strategies that dismantle the power of stress and fears, we help you create a life of increased peace and confidence you're hoping for.

The treatment of anxiety and stress first begins with the management of the symptoms bringing you in for treatment. Without having these symptoms under control, it is difficult for individuals to begin to examine the reasons behind the anxiety without provoking more anxiety. Once these symptoms are addressed, we will start to examine the life situations you are in and the relationships, stories, family roles and events that may be the roots of the stress and subsequent anxiety. With some time, consistency, openness and commitment to the process, individuals will find anxiety more manageable and the enjoyment of every day returned.

Anxiety is rough- you likely know this. You might think "why is this happening to me? Why does this phase me like it does? This isn't anything big." You also may be under intense stress and perhaps even intensely traumatic situations and just now starting to feel the impact. I offer helpful practical tools to deal with anxiety in how you think and how you breath. But I don't stop there as those things are often un-effective, as you may have already found, if not partnered with a deep understanding of how to work with, on an emotional level, messy feelings.

Lower anxiety and stress with helpful tools for you individually, in relationships, or at work. Sometimes anxiety rises because of specific circumstances and for others it has always been there. Our culture adds to our anxiety levels and learning how to avoid excess stress can make a huge difference. Anxiety can also be a reaction to something that happened in our past. Let me help you lower your reactions to stress.

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.

It is an uneasy feeling when anxiousness is overflowing, especially when it starts to affect the normal life style of yours or your child’s. I provide professional training and practical relaxation skills to help you feel relief and ease again. The most important thing is that we will together build a beneficial system for you to live with stress in a healthy way instead of being controlled by anxiety.

Traumatic pasts, expectations of a scary future, extreme sensitivity to the world around us, and the shoulds we impose on ourselves that breed shame wield seemingly insurmountable power when we are in the grip of anxiety and stress. I work with you on establishing healthy boundaries, building skills that drop the nervous system out of stress response, and emotional intelligence and regulation. From the safe enough place of being grounded in the Now, we dip into and unravel what maintains the power of your fears and shame. We work to compassionately release all that blocks your authentic self, your sense of purpose and to normalize and encourage the growth of your beautiful and buried truth.

You do not need to live with anxiety. You know what I mean, the clenching in your stomach or the butterflies, the all too familiar headaches, the tightness in your shoulders or chest, the difficulty sleeping, the constant worrying. These symptoms and others are the result of anxiety. I offer a confidential, safe, and supportive place to talk about what you are experiencing and what you need to live with less fear more joy. There is a way to greater health and well-being. I can teach you relaxation skills, work with your negative thoughts that contribute to anxiety, help you resolve chronic stress that you may be carrying from your childhood, and teach you compassion and self-acceptance.

Anxiety can pull us away from the person we are or want to be and stop us from enjoying the people and things that make life worth living. Whether you suffer from general anxiety, postpartum anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, or phobias, I can help. My approach is mindfulness based. We will learn how the interaction among your thoughts, feelings, and behavior impact your well-being. With help, you can learn to have a different relationship with your painful thoughts and feelings, one that lets you step back into your life and experience it fully as it takes place.

Anxiety and stress are a natural part of life but how do you manage it? Stress is a result of trying to deal with the pressures and changes of life. I provide clear-cut solutions to give you the relief you need from trying situations. I am a strong proponent of dialectic behavioral therapy and mindfulness which incorporates breathing, relaxation, and other physiological exercises to help reduce the anxiety from within.

Does worry interfere with your responsibilities or daily life, disrupting normal activities, causing you to miss social events? Does it seem like you can’t stop your mind from racing as you worry about all kinds of things and often expect the worst? If you answered yes, you may be suffering from generalized anxiety. It may seem like your worries are coming from the outside, people and events that are causing you stress. In fact, your worrying may actually be self-generated from your own internal dialog running in the background. I will help you calm down and learn to override the negative thoughts while teaching you valuable self-soothing techniques, bringing peace back to your life.

Anxiety can run your life, but it doesn't have to. Together, we'll work on ways to tap into the security and strength of your body. We'll understand the anxious stories and find ways to bring supportive, soothing energy to calm those parts down. We'll listen to your body for any signs of unresolved trauma or relational wounding and work gently with the body to heal.

You feel anxious and overwhelmed, consumed by thoughts of your body and food. You are tired and exhausted and never feel that you are able to keep up. Consuming thoughts get in the way of you being able to focus on your friendships, family, and work. You feel something has to change, but you're not sure what. You want to be able to feel less overwhelmed and enjoy your relationships more. I get how easy it is to be overwhelmed by all the responsibilities you feel and I know what it is to find a way to let go of the anxiety. Contact me now.