Anxiety +
Panic Disorders
Finding Calm When Anxiety Feels Overwhelming
Anxiety can show up quietly — a steady background worry, a racing mind at night, a feeling that something could go wrong at any moment. Over time, these patterns become exhausting, affecting your sleep, relationships, mood, body, and sense of control. Whatever form your anxiety takes, you don't have to live in distress or navigate it alone.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GAD often feels like persistent worry you simply can't turn off. You might jump to worst-case scenarios, overanalyze conversations, or feel constantly on edge — even when things are objectively going okay. Your mind keeps scanning for potential danger, and the mental tension that creates can show up in your body too: muscle tightness, fatigue, restlessness, digestive issues, or a sense of constant alertness that never quite lets up.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder brings sudden, intense waves of fear that can feel terrifying and completely unpredictable. During a panic attack, your heart may race, your breath can tighten, and you might feel dizzy, shaky, or detached from your surroundings. Many people are convinced they are dying, going crazy, or losing control entirely. And the fear of experiencing another panic attack can create a cycle that feels very hard to break.
Phobias, OCD + Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
Anxiety can also show up as specific phobias — social anxiety, fear of flying, fear of leaving your home — or as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, where distressing and sticky obsessive thoughts are coupled with mental or behavioral rituals. Body-focused repetitive behaviors like trichotillomania (hair pulling) and excoriation (skin picking) can also be cyclical, compulsive, and cause significant distress.
All of these disorders are treatable with appropriate, evidence-based care. You don't have to live in distress or navigate this alone.
How We Work Together
With support, practice, and compassion, your mind and body can learn to feel safe again
Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), we'll gently challenge the thought patterns that fuel worry, catastrophizing, or panic. For phobias, OCD, and BFRBs, we'll draw on exposure-based approaches — working gradually and collaboratively to reduce avoidance and build tolerance. Together, we'll develop more accurate, grounded ways of seeing yourself and the world so you can respond with clarity and steadiness rather than fear.
Alongside this work, we'll build emotional regulation tools to help calm your nervous system. This may include breathwork, grounding practices, mindfulness, and body-based techniques that teach your system how to shift out of alarm mode. Over time, these skills help reduce physical symptoms, quiet racing thoughts, and rebuild a sense of trust in your body.
You deserve a life that feels peaceful, steady, and grounded — not ruled by anxiety or fear.
Anxiety becomes more manageable when you have real tools to rely on. In our work together, we build a personalized set of strategies you can use during moments of worry, tension, or rising panic.
Nervous System Regulation Tools
When anxiety spikes, your body often reacts before your mind can catch up. These tools help bring your system out of alarm mode and back into a sense of safety.
Breathing Exercises
Slow, intentional breathing helps steady your heart rate, ease physical tension, and send calming signals to the brain. Techniques like diaphragmatic breathing, box breathing, or 4-7-8 breath can quickly reduce panic and overwhelm.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
Tension often hides in the body when you're anxious. PMR gently guides you to tighten and release muscle groups in sequence, helping you notice where you're holding stress and find your way back to relaxation. As I often say, it's hard for the mind to stay anxious when the body is sending strong signals that you are safe.
Cognitive + Emotional Tools
Anxiety often lives in the thoughts and stories the mind creates. These CBT-based tools help you respond to those thoughts with clarity instead of fear.
Cognitive Restructuring
Together, we explore the anxious thoughts that lead to spirals of worry or panic. You'll learn to identify the thinking patterns that trigger anxiety, put your thoughts on trial, gather counter-evidence, and replace unhelpful beliefs with more grounded ones — taking the power out of the thoughts that have been running the show.
Coping Cards
These small, personalized reminders offer real support when anxiety feels loud. Coping cards might include calming statements, grounding truths, or quick steps to help you shift out of panic in the moment.
Distress Tolerance Tools
Drawn from DBT, these tools help you calm down quickly during particularly intense moments. Using cold temperature, brief intense movement, PMR, or paced breathing to turn off your fight-or-flight response fast.
Behavioral Tools
Avoidance strengthens anxiety. These techniques help you gently face the things that feel frightening, at a pace that always feels safe.
Exposure Exercises
Exposure is never about forcing yourself into overwhelming fear. Instead, we move gradually toward what you're afraid of, so your mind and body can learn that feared situations or sensations aren't actually dangerous. Over time, confidence grows and fear loosens its hold. This approach is especially effective for phobias and OCD.
Schedule a free consultation
Reach out today to build your anxiety toolkit.
Schedule a free consultation
Reach out today to build your anxiety toolkit.