Anxiety Therapy in Los Angeles

When Anxiety Starts Running Your Life

Anxiety can pull your attention toward everything that might go wrong. You may find yourself planning, checking, avoiding, or seeking reassurance to feel safer. These strategies can bring brief relief, but they can also make your world feel smaller over time.

Anxiety can show up as:

• Generalized anxiety: frequent worry about work, health, relationships, money, or what might happen next
• Panic attacks: sudden surges of fear or distress, sometimes with a racing heart, shaking, dizziness, shortness of breath, dissociation, depersonalization/derealization or nausea/vomiting
• Panic disorder: ongoing worry about having another panic attack, or changes in your routine to try to prevent one
• Agoraphobia: fear or avoidance of situations where leaving or getting help might feel difficult, such as crowds, public transportation, or being away from home
• Social anxiety: fear of being judged, embarrassed, rejected, or closely evaluated by other people
• Health anxiety (hypochondriasis): persistent worry about illness or what physical sensations might mean
• Perfectionism: feeling that mistakes are unacceptable or that you must get things exactly right
• Overthinking: replaying conversations, analyzing decisions, or trying to anticipate every outcome
• Avoidance: putting off situations that bring up anxiety, even when they matter to you
• Physical anxiety symptoms: muscle tension, restlessness, a racing heart, stomach discomfort, sweating, or difficulty concentrating
• Fear of uncertainty: feeling unable to move forward without knowing for sure that things will be okay
• Trouble relaxing (hypervigilance): staying on alert even when there’s no immediate problem to solve
• Emetophobia: fear of vomiting resulting in avoidance of certain places and foods
• Freeway phobia (driving anxiety): an intense fear or nervousness related to driving or being a passenger in a vehicle

These experiences can overlap, and a list can’t determine whether you have an anxiety disorder. Therapy can help you understand your own patterns and what kind of support may fit. If your anxiety comes with intrusive thoughts and repeated checking or reassurance seeking, OCD therapy may also be relevant.

Why Avoidance Makes Anxiety Stronger

Avoiding something that feels frightening can make sense in the moment. You might cancel plans, leave early, keep an exit nearby, or ask someone to come with you. Sometimes those choices bring immediate relief.

But when anxiety repeatedly leads you away from situations you care about, it can become harder to trust that you can handle them. In therapy, we can look at what you’ve been avoiding and plan manageable steps toward doing more of what matters to you.

Panic Attacks

A panic attack can feel frightening and overwhelming. It may involve a sudden surge of fear along with physical sensations such as:

• Racing or pounding heart
• Shortness of breath or tightness in the chest
• Shaking, sweating, or chills
• Dizziness or feeling unsteady
• Nausea or stomach discomfort
• Tingling or numbness
• A sense of losing control or impending danger

After an attack, you may start monitoring your body closely or worrying about when the next one will happen. You might avoid exercise, driving, stores, public transportation, or being far from home.

Therapy can help you understand the panic cycle, respond differently to body sensations, and gradually practice situations you’ve been avoiding. Any exposure work is planned collaboratively and tailored to your needs.

Agoraphobia and Fear of Being Trapped

Agoraphobia can involve anxiety about places or situations where getting out, getting help, or managing symptoms might feel difficult. It may affect:

• Public transportation
• Crowds or lines
• Open or enclosed spaces
• Being outside the home alone
• Driving or traveling far from home
• Places where you’ve experienced panic before

You don’t have to begin with the hardest situation. We can work together to identify steps that feel realistic and build from there to improve confidence.

Social Anxiety

Social anxiety can make it hard to be present when you’re worried about being judged. You may overprepare, stay quiet, avoid eye contact, rehearse what to say, or replay the interaction afterward.

It can affect situations such as:

• Meeting new people
• Speaking in a group or in public
• Dating or making friends
• Asking for help
• Eating or drinking around other people
• Interviews, auditions, or work meetings
• Talking with someone in a position of authority

Therapy can help you notice the habits that keep social anxiety going and practice showing up more freely, even when you can’t control exactly how others respond.

Perfectionism and Overthinking

Anxiety often promises that if you think long enough, prepare enough, or avoid every mistake, you’ll finally feel certain. Instead, you may end up:

• Replaying conversations to check how you came across
• Putting off tasks until you feel fully ready
• Spending too long on decisions
• Seeking reassurance that you did something correctly
• Setting standards that are difficult to meet
• Feeling responsible for preventing every possible problem

Therapy can help you step out of the endless problem-solving loop and make choices based on what matters to you, even when some uncertainty remains.

How Anxiety Therapy Works

My approach draws from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), exposure, and emotional regulation skills. We’ll decide together what to focus on and how to make the work practical for your life.

• CBT: Understand how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact, and practice new responses.
• ACT: Make room for difficult thoughts and feelings while taking steps toward what matters to you.
• Exposure (ERP): Gradually practice approaching situations or sensations you’ve been avoiding, at a pace we plan together.
• Emotional regulation (DBT): Build skills for responding to intense emotions without letting anxiety make every decision.

Therapy isn’t about never feeling anxious. It’s about having more choice in how you respond when anxiety shows up.

Common Questions About Anxiety

Can therapy help with panic disorder?

Therapy can help you understand the panic cycle, respond differently to feared sensations, and gradually approach situations you've been avoiding. The plan depends on your symptoms, goals, and circumstances.

What's the difference between a panic attack and panic disorder?

A panic attack is an episode of intense fear or distress with physical or emotional symptoms. Some people have a panic attack without developing panic disorder. Panic disorder involves repeated, often unexpected attacks along with ongoing worry about future attacks or changes in behavior because of that worry.

What is agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia involves intense fear or anxiety about certain situations where escape or help might feel difficult if distressing symptoms occur. People may avoid situations such as crowds, public transportation, or being outside the home alone.

Can anxiety therapy help with social anxiety?

Therapy can help you understand what triggers social anxiety, notice patterns like avoidance or overpreparing, and practice taking part in situations that matter to you. Treatment is tailored to your needs and goals.

Why do I avoid things even when I know they're safe?

Avoidance can bring short-term relief from anxiety. Over time, though, avoiding more situations may make it harder to learn that you can handle discomfort or uncertainty. Therapy can help you approach change gradually.