Therapy for Anxiety & Depression
When your anxiety keeps you up at night, fills your head with non-stop negative chatter, and depression keeps you from fully enjoying your life, it’s time to get help.
You’re competent, accomplished, and intelligent. And overthinking has probably served you well in the past. It helps you remember to submit your work on time or to check in on a friend who’s going through a rough breakup. But when benign overthinking becomes a scathing internal dialogue, that’s a sign you need help.
I’ve got good news: Anxiety and depression are very treatable, and most of my clients experience symptom reduction within a few sessions. Working together, we’ll tame the critical voice in your head and help you enjoy your life again.
What’s the difference between anxiety and overthinking?
Overthinking and anxiety are actually two sides of the same coin. Overthinking is a kind of benign anxiety, in which our brains are moving fast and trying to anticipate other’s needs. It’s those questions that pop into your head when you’re brushing your teeth: “Did I follow up on that email?” “I know it’s only June, but should I start my holiday shopping now?” “I haven’t heard from my friend in a few weeks, is she okay?”
When things are going well, it’s easy to consider your overthinking as a superpower that helps you manage your hectic life.
But overthinking morphs into anxiety and depression when two things happen: the frequency of the overthinking increases and the tone of the thinking turns distinctly self-critical. Depression usually feels negative or even vicious. It’s that voice telling you, “You missed your friend’s birthday—you’re so self-involved!” “You had a sandwich for lunch; guess whose pants won’t fit next week?” “You haven’t called your mom in over a week—you’re the worst person ever!”
You don’t have to live like this.
How we’ll work together on
your anxiety & depression
I use a combination of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic therapy to treat anxiety and depression. CBT looks at the automatic thoughts and distorted perceptions that you bring to any given moment. For example, if you receive a text from a friend rescheduling an upcoming lunch date, a knee-jerk thought might be that this friend doesn’t value you.
Using CBT, we’ll look for evidence whether your friend needing to reschedule really is related to their feelings about you as a friend—or not. By investigating one interpersonal reaction, we can start to dismantle the automatic thoughts and replace them with more rational ones.
CBT is very effective at modifying irrational thoughts and helping you see your life in a more objective, accurate manner and relieve the pressure and self-doubt.
Many psychologists utilize CBT alone to treat anxiety; however, I find my insight-oriented clients generally aren’t satisfied with mere symptom reduction. They want to understand why they respond to the world in an irrational, anxious way. By also using psychodynamic therapy, we’ll uncover patterns in thoughts and feelings across your lifespan, so you get both symptomatic relief and greater understanding of who you are so you can make lasting changes to be happier and more at ease in your life.
Anxiety doesn’t have to rule your life. Let’s work together to find you more space, joy, and freedom.
