Anxiety Therapy

What Anxiety Can Look Like

Anxiety isn’t one-size-fits-all. It can be loud and obvious, or quiet and constant in the background. You might notice:

• Persistent overthinking or “what-if” spirals that feel difficult to shut off

• Social anxiety (worry about being judged, rejected, embarrassed, or “too much”)

• Perfectionism and fear of making mistakes

• Difficulty concentrating or feeling mentally “foggy”

• Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, restless sleep, or waking up tired

• Specific fears or phobias (driving, medical visits, flying, etc.)

• A vague sense of dread that’s hard to explain to anyone else

• Panic attacks (sudden surges of terror, feeling unreal, choking sensations, “I’m dying” thoughts)

• Restlessness or feeling like you can’t settle

• Irritability and a short fuse when your system is overloaded

• Health anxiety (hyper-focusing on bodily sensations or worst-case medical fears)

• People-pleasing or “managing” others to prevent conflict

• Fear of abandonment or heightened sensitivity to tone, distance, or silence

• Hypervigilance (scanning for danger, threats, or signs something is “off”)

• Avoidance (procrastinating, canceling plans, numbing out, overworking, over-preparing, or staying busy to outrun the feeling)

Anxiety in the Body

Anxiety is not “just in your head,” it lives in the nervous system, and it often shows up physically, including:

• Tightness in the chest or a lump in the throat

• Racing heart / palpitations

• Shortness of breath or shallow breathing

• Sweating (palms, underarms, or generalized)

• Muscle tension (jaw clenching, fists, shoulders, stomach)

• Trembling, shakiness, jitteriness

• Dizziness or feeling unsteady

• Tunnel vision or feeling detached/unreal

• Nausea or stomach discomfort

• GI symptoms (bloating, diarrhea, constipation, IBS flares)

• Changes in appetite or difficulty noticing hunger/fullness cues

• Fatigue (anxiety is metabolically expensive)

• Feeling like you can’t be still or like your body needs to move

If you’ve been told “you’re fine” but your body says otherwise, you’re not alone with this. Your experience is very real, and you’re not crazy.

Why Do I Have Anxiety?

Anxiety is often multi-layered. For many people, it’s a mix of:

• Temperament and genetics (some nervous systems are more sensitive by nature)

• Learning and reinforcement (avoidance works short-term, which teaches the brain to rely on it)

• Chronic stress (work demands, caregiving, financial pressure, life transitions)

• Trauma and adversity (your system learned to stay alert for a reason)

• Health and physiology (sleep deprivation, hormones, chronic pain, thyroid issues, stimulant use, etc.)

• Identity stress and oppression (living in a body or identity that is judged, targeted, or misunderstood is a real nervous-system load)

• Food, body image, and eating patterns (restriction, chaos with eating, or shame around food can amplify anxiety and panic symptoms)

• Substance use (sometimes used to cope, but can also intensify anxiety over time, especially with withdrawal cycles)

There isn’t a single root cause for everyone. Therapy helps you understand your pattern: what triggers it, what maintains it, and what actually brings relief.

The Anxiety Trap: Why Avoidance Makes It Worse

Most anxious brains are trying to do something reasonable: prevent pain. Therefore, you avoid what feels threatening, or you over-prepare to feel safe. It’s just that this avoidance teaches your nervous system: “Yes, this really is dangerous.” Over time, your world can get smaller, and anxiety can get louder.

In therapy, we will work toward a different goal: your nervous system learns that discomfort is survivable, and that you can have choice again.

Therapy for Anxiety Can Help Tremendously

If you have been told to just “think positive!” or have tried forcing yourself to calm down, you likely understand that it doesn’t work. You need to build real skills to use in the moment, in crease your capacity, and improve your ability to trust yourself so that anxiety no longer runs your life.

Depending on your needs, therapy may include:

• Skills for nervous system regulation (soothing, grounding, and stabilizing your body’s alarm system)

• CBT/ACT-informed strategies to reduce spirals, unhook from intrusive thoughts, and strengthen values-based action

• Exposure-based work when avoidance is keeping life small (done collaboratively, at your pace, and never as “flooding”)

• DBT skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness

• Trauma-informed approaches when anxiety is tied to lived experiences your body still holds

• Support for co-occurring concerns, including eating concerns/body image and substance use, with a harm-reduction lens when appropriate

You won’t be pushed into a one-size-fits-all protocol. We’ll build a plan that fits your history, identity, physiology, and goals.

What You Can Expect Working With Us

Our approach is warm, direct, relational and highly individualized. We will probably laugh a lot. We’ll focus on:

• understanding your anxiety pattern (insight)

• building practical tools you can use in real time

• addressing the drivers underneath (trauma, chronic stress, food/body concerns, relationship dynamics, etc.)

• creating change that actually holds up outside sessions

You deserve support that’s both compassionate and effective.

Ready to Get Started?

If anxiety has been calling the shots, therapy can help you reclaim steadiness and choice.

Schedule a consultation to see if Lake Dillon Therapy is a fit for you. Email us at LakeDillonTherapy@gmail.com, and we’ll get back to you asap to schedule a phone consultation to thoroughly answer all of your questions.