Experience peace.
Therapy for Anxiety & Emotional Overwhelm in Burke, VA
Sound like you?
You’re getting through everything you need to do, but you don’t feel settled. Your mind is always running, you’re thinking three steps ahead, replaying conversations, or worrying about what might go wrong. Maybe you feel overwhelmed by emotions that seem bigger than the situation, have trouble slowing down, or find yourself exhausted from being “on” all the time.
You don’t have to feel this way forever.
these patterns can change.
Anxiety and overwhelm often make sense when you look at what your mind and body have learned to expect. You may have gotten very good at anticipating problems, staying busy, keeping everyone happy, or pushing through uncomfortable feelings. Those strategies can help you function, but they can also leave you feeling like you never really get to exhale.
In therapy, we can slow things down enough to understand what’s happening underneath the anxiety and learn new ways of responding when your mind or body goes into overdrive.
How I can help
What would it feel like…
To quiet the mental noise without having to solve every possible problem first?
To experience difficult emotions without immediately getting overwhelmed by them?
To handle uncertainty without spending hours trying to figure out what might happen next?
To notice what you need and respond to yourself with more confidence and compassion?
You can learn how to move through anxiety and difficult emotions without letting them dictate your choices. You can feel more grounded, present, and able to handle what life brings without constantly feeling like you’re bracing for the next thing.
Here’s what we’ll do together
We’ll work with both your mind and your body.
Rather than focusing only on anxious thoughts, we’ll look at the bigger picture of what’s keeping you overwhelmed. That might include your thought patterns, emotional responses, nervous system, relationships, boundaries, past experiences, and the expectations you place on yourself.
My approach is collaborative and integrative. Depending on what you need, I may draw from CBT, DBT, somatic approaches, IFS-informed therapy, attachment-based work, or EMDR. We’ll focus on helping you understand what’s happening, build skills for managing difficult emotions, and create changes that actually carry into your everyday life.
Questions? I’ve got answers.
Frequently asked questions —
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Everyone experiences stress and worry. Anxiety can become a problem when the worry feels difficult to control, sticks around even when things are going well, or starts affecting your sleep, relationships, work, or ability to enjoy your life. You don’t have to wait until it feels unmanageable to get support.
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Sometimes your mind and body can stay on alert even when there isn’t an obvious problem to solve. You may find yourself anticipating what could go wrong, scanning for problems, or feeling uneasy when things are actually okay. Therapy can help you understand what’s keeping that alarm system activated and learn ways to respond differently.
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Overthinking can be a way of trying to feel more certain or in control. You might replay conversations, analyze your decisions, imagine every possible outcome, or keep looking for the “right” answer. We can work on understanding what your overthinking is trying to accomplish and develop ways to step out of those loops without needing to figure everything out first.
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OCD and anxiety can overlap, and it isn’t always obvious where one ends and the other begins. OCD involves unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges, along with compulsions or mental rituals you may use to reduce anxiety or get a sense of certainty. These can include checking, reassurance-seeking, mentally reviewing things, or trying to push certain thoughts away. If you’re experiencing these patterns, we can explore what’s happening and work together to understand and treat the OCD and anxiety that may be keeping you stuck.
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It can, depending on what’s contributing to your anxiety. EMDR can be helpful when anxiety is connected to past experiences, trauma, or patterns that continue to trigger a strong emotional or physical response in the present. We’ll first look at what’s happening and what you want to change, then decide together whether EMDR or another approach makes the most sense.