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Therapy for Anxiety in South Pasadena, CA

You may feel like your mind stays busy anticipating what could go wrong, replaying conversations, or bracing for what might happen next. Your body can stay tense or restless, making it hard to fully relax. Sometimes there is a clear source for the anxiety, such as a difficult transition, relationship stress, professional pressure, or uncertainty about the future. Other times, it can stay with you even when there is no obvious reason why. Living with that level of vigilance can be exhausting.

I work with clients who want to understand what is driving their anxiety, not just find ways to manage it. I take a holistic approach that considers your thoughts, emotions, body, relationships, environment, and past experiences, while also developing practical strategies for periods of heightened anxiety.

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How Anxiety Can Show Up

Anxiety can influence the way you think, make decisions, relate to others, and move through your daily life. You might notice:

  • Chronic worry or overthinking

  • Perfectionism and fear of making mistakes

  • Self-doubt and second-guessing

  • Indecision or fear of making the wrong choice

  • Trouble relaxing or being present

  • Physical tension or feeling constantly on edge

  • Avoiding situations that feel unpredictable or uncomfortable

  • Closely monitoring the emotions and needs of others

These experiences can become so familiar that they begin to feel like part of who you are. Noticing how anxiety affects your life can be an important starting point.

Types of Anxiety I Work With

Anxiety can take many forms, and it does not look the same for everyone. I work with:

  • Generalized anxiety and persistent worry

  • Social anxiety

  • Perfectionism and performance anxiety

  • Relationship anxiety

  • Anxiety during life transitions

  • Health anxiety

  • Panic and acute anxiety

  • Pregnancy and postpartum anxiety

  • Anxiety connected to creative work, career, and burnout

Anxiety can also appear as procrastination, irritability, trouble sleeping, or feeling like you are constantly “on.”

Anxiety and High Sensitivity

For highly sensitive people, anxiety can feel particularly intense. Being deeply attuned to other people, easily affected by your surroundings, or taking in more than you have the capacity to process can contribute to feeling overwhelmed and emotionally drained.

Understanding What’s Beneath the Anxiety

We can also focus on the patterns that can reinforce anxiety. We can look at people-pleasing, self-criticism, avoidance, a need for control, or perfectionistic standards, as well as earlier experiences, including trauma, that shaped what you came to expect from yourself and others. Making these connections can help you recognize these reactions as they arise and have more choice in what comes next.

My psychodynamic approach helps us explore how these patterns developed, while mindfulness brings attention to your present experience. I also incorporate tools for nervous system regulation when anxiety shows up physically.

Working With Your Nervous System

Anxiety can be experienced in the body as well as through your thoughts, including muscle tightness, difficulty sleeping, a racing heart, or feeling physically keyed up.

This can involve noticing these sensations and learning when your nervous system is activated. Mindfulness, breathing, grounding, and other somatic practices can help you stay connected to your body and better understand what you need in those moments.

The aim is not to force yourself to calm down, but to make sense of your reactions and have more options when they arise.

Developing a Different Relationship With Anxiety

We can also focus on becoming more comfortable with uncertainty, softening self-critical patterns, setting boundaries, and noticing when perfectionism or avoidance begins to guide your behavior. My role is to bring curiosity and support while helping you apply what we uncover in your everyday life.

Over time, anxiety can take up less space and no longer have to make so many of your decisions for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • My approach is integrative and considers both mind and body. I draw from psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness, along with cognitive and somatic techniques when useful. We may look at current stressors as well as deeper emotional patterns, with the goal of building greater awareness, self-trust, and choice.

  • You do not need to wait until anxiety feels unmanageable. You might notice that worry, overthinking, self-doubt, or avoidance are taking up more space than you would like or affecting your relationships, work, sleep, or ability to be present. Therapy can give you space to look more closely at what is driving the anxiety and how it is affecting your day-to-day life.

  • Overthinking can be an attempt to find certainty, prevent mistakes, or feel more in control. Knowing that a thought pattern is unhelpful does not always make it easy to step out of it. We can look at what keeps the cycle going and develop more flexibility in how you relate to uncertainty and difficult thoughts.

Ready to Connect?

In-person therapy in South Pasadena and online therapy throughout California.

I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation to hear a little about what you’re looking for, answer any questions you have, and see if we might be a good fit.

Please fill out your contact information and I’ll be in touch shortly. If you’d like to move forward after the consultation, we can find a time for your first session.