Therapy for Anxiety

in Denver

Are you a high-achieving woman who experiences anxiety and overthinking?

Lately you’ve been finding yourself second-guessing every conversation you’ve had with your friends or coworkers. You’ve been laying awake at night, worrying that you’re not getting enough sleep, but finding impossible to wind down. Maybe you ruminate on not having enough saved for your retirement, even when the numbers say otherwise. You’ve been feeling overwhelmed and instead of slowing down, you keep saying “yes” and adding more to your plate. And at the end of each day you feel exhausted, burnt out and ready to stop “doing”, but your brain won’t seem to let you.

All you want is for your overactive brain to give you some peace.

But no matter what you try, nothing seems to work.

You don’t have to live with constant overthinking and self-doubt. Therapy for anxiety can help.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is an extremely common (and human!) experience that most people have from time to time in their lives.  Anxiety is actually an adaptive response that developed in humans to alert us about dangers in our environment.  In small doses, it can be really helpful for motivating us to prepare, plan and meet our responsibilities.  A mild to moderate amount of anxiety can allow us to find success in our relationships, jobs and hobbies.  However, we no longer live in a world where we are experiencing a constant barrage of threats to our survival.  Sometimes our brain can confuse everyday stressors (like being late for an appointment, misspeaking at a work event or feeling rejected by a friend) with more imminent dangers.   When this happens we can feel more intensely anxious, fearful and on edge.  When anxiety starts to feel constant, overwhelming or all-consuming, therapy for anxiety can help. 

Common signs of anxiety can look like:

  • Overthinking and second-guessing

  • Replaying conversations in your head over and over again

  • Experiencing thoughts that feel repetitive or intrusive

  • Convincing yourself of the worst-case outcome for situations

  • Laying awake at night feeling your mind racing or worrying about the future

  • Feeling like there is a clock ticking throughout your day, holding you accountable to maximum productivity at all times

  • Feeling physical tension in your body like stiffness in your neck or back

  • Frequent stomach or GI upset

  • Avoiding opening emails or messages where you anticipate feelings of stress or rejection

  • Feeling symptoms of a panic attack like heart racing, tightness in your chest, sweating, overwhelming feelings of dread

  • Feeling pressure to constantly people-please

  • Difficulty focusing

  • Noticing yourself feeling more irritable or short with others in your life

  • Difficulty allowing yourself to relax or have fun

  • Fixating on what others need or expect from you and difficulty saying “no” or letting them down

  • Putting pressure on yourself to be perfect, feeling like nothing you do is good enough or feeling constantly “behind”

  • Avoiding situations that you find stressful or anxiety-inducing

When anxiety takes hold, you may feel just like this woman. You don’t have to deal with feeling overwhelmed and stressed. Therapy for anxiety can help. Reach out to start online therapy in Denver, Boulder, Golden and all of Colorado.

Therapy for Anxiety Can Help

It is not your fault that you feel like this - society sets unrealistic expectations for women that are impossible to meet, which is probably a big part of why you feel so anxious all of the time. The good news is, healing is possible! I help clients feel less anxious and stressed, and more grounded in their lives.  In therapy, together, we will:

  • Help you learn tools to cope with how your anxiety shows up day-to-day and a self-care routine to physically calm down your nervous system

  • Help you experience less overthinking and anxiety spirals utilizing tools from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to

  • Teach you to rethink the way you respond to stressful situations through mindfulness-based strategies including learning tools to be feel more present in your life, be kinder to yourself and accept all parts of yourself

  • Teach you to better tolerate discomfort that arises from setting boundaries and saying “no” and feel more in control of how you express your emotions with skills from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

  • Help you to dig deeper and draw connections between your past experiences and the pressures and expectations that you put on yourself in the present utilzing concepts from psychodynamic psychotherapy

  • Connect you to relevant books, articles and tools that can help you to get a deeper understanding of your condition and make progress in between sessions

Through counseling for anxiety, I will help you to feel calmer and more at peace in your body.  You will learn to worry less and trust your decisions without so much second-guessing.  You will learn to hold compassion for yourself instead of judging yourself or putting yourself down.  You will begin to make decisions based on your own values rather than fear.  You will start to confront your anxieties and embrace your strengths.  

You don’t have to live with constant anxiety, overthinking and self-induced pressure.  Therapy can help you to be more present in your life, get out of your head and make time for the things that matter to you. 

Through therapy for anxiety, you can feel just as joyful as this woman. If you are a Colorado woman who struggles with anxiety, stress and overthinking, anxiety counseling can help. Reach out to start therapy in Denver, Boulder or Longmont.

 Therapy for Anxiety FAQs

  • In short, yes!  If you are reading this page, I take it that you are looking for some additional support in managing your anxiety, and the strategies that you’ve tried to implement on your own just aren’t cutting it anymore.  Taking the first step on your therapy journey can be scary, but I am here to support you through it.  And the stakes are low - if you try therapy and find it isn’t helpful to you, you can stop at any time. 

  • Research shows that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most effective treatment for anxiety.  I utilize CBT and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT - a type of CBT) heavily in my practice, which focuses on acceptance, living according to your values and incorporating mindfulness-based strategies into your daily life, in addition to changing your relationship to unhelpful thinking patterns.  Psychodynamic psychotherapy is also evidence-based for treating anxiety, and helps you get to the root cause of anxiety by reflecting on your past experiences and figuring out how they are impacting you in the present. 

  • If you are a high-achieving woman, you very well may have high functioning anxiety.  While anxiety can be totally debilitating for some people, for others it bubbles beneath the surface while pushing you to maintain a calm and collected exterior.  This can look like perfectionism or people-pleasing, both of which result in lots of positive feedback from others, even if you are struggling internally.  If this is you, you are my people!  I can help. 

  • Overthinking and anxiety can impact not only our mental state, but the way we feel physically as well.  In fact, sometimes these aches and pains are what finally push people to get treatment for their anxiety.  Anxiety can show up in the form of muscle tension (back / shoulder / neck pain are most common), headaches, digestive upset, difficulty falling or staying asleep, or sometimes even nightmares.  If you are having these physical symptoms, it is always wise to first visit your primary care doctor for a checkup.  But when there is no medical cause, anxiety is often the culprit. 

My Denver-based therapy practice specializes in treating high-achieving women dealing with anxiety, perfectionism and people-pleasing.  To start your counseling journey, follow these simple steps

Step 1

Contact Victoria

Step 2

Meet with Victoria for an intake session

Step 3

Get started on your journey towards taking anxiety out of the driver’s seat and start living your life!

Questions before getting started? Get in touch.

Through therapy for anxiety, you can experience growth just like this succulent. If you are a woman struggling with overthinking, self doubt and anxiety, counseling can help. Reach out to start therapy in Longmont, Denver, Boulder or Golden.

Therapy for anxiety isn’t the only service I provide at my Denver-based therapy practice.  Other mental health services at Root to Rise Therapy include Therapy for Perfectionism, Therapy for People-Pleasing, Cultural Identity Counseling, ADHD Therapy and Postpartum Counseling.   I see clients located in Colorado, New York and New Jersey. Contact me to learn more about how I can help you overcome anxiety and reclaim your life!