Common Concerns I Help Clients Navigate
People seek therapy for many different reasons. You don’t need a specific diagnosis to benefit from therapy. Many people start therapy when they feel that something in life isn’t working as well as you’d like. Here are some of the concerns I commonly help clients navigate:
Anxiety & Chronic Worry
Anxiety often shows up as constant worry, overthinking, or a sense of being on edge even when things seem “fine” on the surface. Many people with anxiety are highly capable and responsible, but feel exhausted by their own minds. Therapy helps you notice and change unproductive thoughts, build tools to calm your nervous system, and respond to anxiety with more clarity and flexibility.
I regularly work with people experiencing panic attacks, chronic worry, obsessive or intrusive thoughts, compulsive behaviors, and specific fears or phobias. Using evidence-based approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, we focus on understanding the patterns that keep anxiety going and developing ways to respond with more flexibility and confidence. Over time, this work can help anxiety take up less space in your life.
Depression & Low Mood
Depression can feel like heaviness, numbness, or a loss of motivation and interest in things that once mattered. It’s common to blame yourself or assume this is just “how things are,” especially if these feelings have been around for a while. Therapy can help you understand patterns that keep depression going, rebuild momentum, and reconnect with meaning and energy in your life.
This work includes treatment for recurrent depression and long-standing low mood. Therapy focuses on changing unhelpful thinking patterns—particularly repetitive, ruminative thought loops—as well as supporting behavioral shifts that increase engagement, structure, and meaning. The goal is not just symptom relief, but building skills that support resilience and reduce vulnerability to future depressive episodes.
Trauma & Chronic Stress
After overwhelming or stressful experiences, your body and mind may stay in survival mode long after the danger has passed. These responses are understandable adaptations, not signs of weakness or failure. Therapy offers a structured, supportive way to reduce avoidance, process difficult experiences, and build a greater sense of safety, agency, and emotional steadiness.
I work with trauma- and stress-related concerns using evidence-based approaches, including Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). CPT focuses on how traumatic experiences can shape beliefs about safety, trust, responsibility, and control, and how these patterns may continue to affect thoughts, emotions, and behavior long after the event has passed. Treatment is collaborative and paced with care, with an emphasis on reducing avoidance, building emotional regulation skills, and helping you regain a sense of stability, agency, and confidence in your daily life.
Life Transitions & Identity Questions
Life transitions—such as career changes, shifts in relationships, becoming a parent, health changes, or questioning long-held roles or beliefs—can bring uncertainty, grief, and self-doubt. Even changes that are chosen or positive can disrupt a sense of stability or identity. In therapy, we work to make sense of these transitions, clarify your values, and identify what feels meaningful and sustainable moving forward. I use evidence-based, insight-oriented and skills-based approaches to help clients navigate uncertainty, build confidence in decision-making, and move through change with greater clarity, flexibility, and self-trust.
Perfectionism & Burnout
Perfectionism is often driven by anxiety—a way of managing fear of failure, criticism, or letting others down. It can look like high standards and strong achievement on the outside, while internally creating chronic pressure, self-criticism, and difficulty resting or feeling satisfied. Over time, these patterns can contribute to anxiety, burnout, strained relationships, and a sense of disconnection from yourself.
In therapy, we work to understand the role perfectionism plays in managing anxiety, and to develop more flexible, sustainable ways of responding to stress and expectations. Using evidence-based cognitive and mindfulness-informed approaches, therapy helps clients reduce unhelpful thinking patterns, build self-compassion, and create ways of working and living that support both effectiveness and well-being—without relying on constant self-pressure.
Emotional Regulation & Mood Swings
Difficulty managing your emotions can involve intense emotional reactions, rapid mood shifts, or feeling overwhelmed by emotions that feel hard to manage or recover from. You may notice emotions escalate quickly, linger longer than you’d like, or lead to behaviors you later regret—especially in the context of close relationships. These patterns are often deeply ingrained and can be exhausting to live with, but they are not a personal failing.
In therapy, we focus on understanding emotional patterns, increasing awareness of triggers, and developing practical skills to help you respond more thoughtfully rather than react impulsively. Drawing from evidence-based, skills-focused and mindfulness-informed approaches, therapy supports greater emotional stability, improved distress tolerance, and stronger emotion regulation over time—helping you build a more steady and satisfying relationship with yourself and others.
Relationship Concerns
Relationship struggles often involve feeling misunderstood, stuck in the same arguments, or emotionally distant from someone you care about. Even strong relationships can be strained by stress, transitions, or unmet needs. Therapy helps you better understand relationship patterns, communicate more effectively, and build stronger, more connected ways of relating.
In couples therapy, we focus on understanding relational patterns, improving communication, and rebuilding trust, compassion, and emotional connection. Drawing from the Gottman Method and evidence-based, communication-focused approaches, therapy is collaborative, with an emphasis on strengthening understanding, empathy, and resilience within the relationship.
If you don’t see your specific concern listed here, that doesn’t mean therapy wouldn’t be helpful. Feel free to reach out to discuss what you’re experiencing.