Practical tools for the symptoms, and a real look at what's underneath them.
Anxiety and depression are the two most common reasons people start therapy, and they're often the most accurate description of the day-to-day experience. They're also, frequently, the surface of something with a longer history.
That doesn't mean symptom relief is beside the point. Sleeping again, getting through a workday, being able to leave the house — those matter, and they usually have to come first. It means that if the same pattern keeps returning after every round of coping strategies, the more useful question stops being how do I manage this and becomes what is this responding to.
Not a diagnostic checklist, only an evaluation can do that. But these are the things people describe most often when what they're dealing with turns out to be anxiety or depression.
A large share of the people I see are doing fine on paper. The job is intact, the relationships are intact, nobody around them would guess. That's not evidence that it isn't serious; it's usually evidence that they've gotten very good at absorbing it. It also tends to mean they waited a long time before making the call.
Anxiety and depression are hard to live with. Racing thoughts, overwhelm, negative beliefs about yourself, a sense of helplessness. However it shows up, not feeling comfortable in your own skin wears on you.
We'll start with tools and strategies to manage the symptoms so you can feel more in control of your life again. Then we'll get to whatever is underneath. Maybe that's trauma, maybe grief, maybe a distorted story you carry about yourself. Whatever it turns out to be, treating the symptoms alone won't hold if there's something below them that needs attention.
What people often notice first is a bit more control over the symptoms. Being able to interrupt a spiral, or get through the day with slightly more ease, before the deeper story has shifted at all.
In our first few sessions I'll ask questions so I can actually understand you, not just the symptoms that brought you in. We'll talk about why you reached out, what happened along the way in your life that contributed to how you got here, and other parts of your world so I can see the full picture.
We'll also talk about how therapy works with me, and I'll answer any questions you have. Then we'll start discussing goals. If you don't have clear goals yet, that's completely fine. We'll figure that out together.
Yes, and for a lot of people the combination works better than either alone. I'm not a prescriber, so medication stays between you and whoever manages it, but I'm glad to coordinate with them if that's useful.
Here's the good part: you don't have to. That's my job. What matters is that it doesn't feel good and you want help figuring out how to feel better. I'll ask about your symptoms, your history, and what else is going on in your life, and if there's more than anxiety in the picture we'll talk about what comes next.
That depends on a lot of things, and a cookie-cutter answer would be a disservice to you. What I can do is talk through what you're experiencing and tell you honestly whether it's something I can help with. In the first few sessions we'll name the issue, set your goals, and decide what we're actually going to do about it. That gives us a road map built around your situation, not a generic one.
Partly. CBT and ACT show up throughout the work in smaller, consistent ways — noticing patterns in how you think, building tolerance for discomfort, getting clearer on what you want your life to look like. But I don't run a fixed protocol, and for a lot of people the more useful question is what the anxiety is responding to. More on that on the how I work page.
Often, yes. Anxiety that's been there as long as you can remember tends to behave differently than anxiety that started after something specific. The lifelong version is more likely to be woven into how you learned to stay safe, which changes what actually helps.
Yes — ten plans, including Kaiser, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. See the insurance and fees page.
A free 15-minute call, no pressure, and no need to have the words for it yet.
Book a free consultation