Holistic & Compassionate
Anxiety Therapy for Women in Fort Collins
50 minutes | $120 per session
Anxiety is a natural response to life's challenges, but when it becomes chronic or excessive, it can significantly affect your well-being, relationships, and overall quality of life.
Whether you're dealing with acute stress, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic, OCD, or postpartum anxiety, I offer guidance and support to help you regain control of your life and finally find peace.Individual therapy offers a safe and compassionate space where you can explore these challenges, confront societal pressures, find inner peace, and gain the skills to confidently take control over your life and well-being.
You May Be Wondering
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Anxiety is a psychological and physiological response to stress characterized by feelings of apprehension, fear, and unease. It can arise in response to specific situations, such as public speaking or exams, or it may occur without a clear trigger, leading to generalized anxiety. This emotional response serves as a natural alarm system that alerts us to potential dangers or challenges.
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Symptoms of anxiety can vary widely but typically include both emotional and physical components:
Symptoms of anxiety can manifest in various ways, reflecting the complexities of the experience. Common symptoms include:
Racing thoughts or difficulty focusing
Persistent worry about future events or outcomes
Rumination and preoccupation with specific fears
Hypervigilance, leading to excessive awareness of surroundings
Irritability and heightened emotional responses
Intense feelings of dread or impending doom
Heightened fear of losing control in specific situations
Feelings of detachment or unreality
Muscle tension or physical discomfort
Increased heart rate or palpitations
Shortness of breath, choking sensations, or tightness in the chest
Sweating, shaking, or trembling
Gastrointestinal disturbances (nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain)
Sleep disturbances, including insomnia and restless nights
Avoidance of anxiety-provoking situations or triggers
Restlessness or difficulty sitting still
Compulsive behaviors or rituals, especially in OCD
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Anxiety happens as a result of intricate interactions between biological, psychological, and environmental factors. Biologically, the amygdala in the brain plays a critical role in processing fear and triggering the fight-or-flight response, an evolutionary mechanism designed to keep us safe from danger. When this response becomes overactive, it can lead to heightened sensitivity to stressors and excessive worry.
Psychologically, past experiences, personality traits, and cognitive patterns influence how individuals perceive and respond to stress. Traumatic events or chronic stress can create a predisposition to anxiety. Environmental factors, such as high-pressure situations, relationship conflicts, or societal expectations, also contribute to anxiety.
Importantly, anxiety is not a personal failing; rather, it is an adaptive response that can sometimes become maladaptive. While it serves a protective purpose, helping us navigate potential threats, it can also lead to problems when it becomes chronic. Understanding anxiety through a compassionate lens helps us recognize its legitimacy and encourages effective coping strategies and support for those who experience it.
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Many clients often ask me if their anxiety will ever truly go away, and it's completely natural to wonder, especially when anxiety feels overwhelming and affects your ability to connect, focus, and be present in your life. The first step toward managing anxiety is recognizing its essential purpose. Anxiety is a natural survival mechanism that alerts you to potential threats and helps prepare you to face challenges. While you may hope for it to vanish completely, this isn’t biologically possible—and, in truth, you wouldn’t want it to. Our ancestors relied on this response to remain vigilant and survive.
The frustration often arises not from anxiety itself but from feeling trapped in a constant state of hyperarousal. This prolonged state can lead to burnout and depression, which many people with anxiety experience. Instead of aiming to eliminate anxiety, I encourage my clients to reframe their understanding of it. By exploring the root causes of your distress and cultivating compassion for how anxiety has tried to protect you, you can learn to identify when it’s helpful and when it’s time to shift back to a more regulated state.
HOW ANXIETY THERAPY CAN HELP
Therapy can offer real relief—not just for a moment, but in a way that reshapes how you experience and respond to life’s challenges.
Through our sessions, you can expect to:
Identify the underlying patterns and triggers of your anxiety.
Learn effective coping strategies that empower you to respond to stressors intentionally, rather than automatically.
Enhance your ability to observe your thoughts and feelings without judgment, allowing you to cultivate a greater sense of curiosity and self-compassion.
Clarify your core values, guiding you toward creating a life that resonates with what truly matters to you.
WHAT WE’LL DO TOGETHER
Together, we’ll explore the root causes of your anxiety and develop effective strategies to regulate your nervous system.
This journey is guided by an integrative and holistic approach designed to provide both immediate relief and lasting change. Through a blend of mindfulness techniques and therapeutic approaches—such as Somatic Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)—we’ll build a toolkit that equips you to approach anxiety with clarity, resilience, and self-compassion.
Each step in this process is carefully crafted to help you gain insight into your experiences, shift long-standing patterns, and ultimately foster greater self-trust and confidence.
HOW IT WORKS
In our work together, you’ll find a safe, supportive space to identify the roots of your anxiety and, step by step, build new responses that are more aligned with who you want to be.
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The first step in the RAIN process is recognizing when anxiety arises. This involves actively observing and naming your thoughts, feelings, and the surrounding stimuli in real-time. For example, you might notice, “My chest feels tight, and my breath is rapid and shallow. My partner is using a hurtful tone. I’m having thoughts of ____ and noticing an urge to ____.” By making the unconscious conscious, you bring hidden triggers and patterns to light, revealing the underlying dynamics that contribute to your anxiety. This initial recognition lays the groundwork for a deeper understanding of your mind and body, empowering you to choose a healthier, more intentional response rather than reacting automatically as you may have in the past. Starting with recognition is essential, as it opens up a space for growth and conscious change.
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Next, we’ll focus on nurturing skills that help you acknowledge your anxiety without judgment. Instead of labeling your feelings as good or bad, this stage encourages you to simply observe your anxiety as it arises, recognizing its presence without the immediate urge to suppress or fix it. This practice of observation can help reduce automatic responses and self-critical thoughts, creating a space where you can approach your anxiety with curiosity rather than criticism. By doing so, you'll gain valuable insights into its significance and the underlying beliefs that fuel it.
This mindful awareness lays the groundwork for the next phase, the “Investigate” stage, where you can explore the deeper causes and messages behind your anxiety. Engaging with your feelings in this compassionate way allows for a more nuanced understanding of yourself, fostering self-acceptance and resilience as you navigate your emotional landscape.
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In the “Investigate” stage, we focus on understanding the anxiety you’ve acknowledged. Instead of viewing anxiety as an enemy, we treat it as a valuable source of insight about your inner world. We’ll gently explore the triggers behind your anxiety, examining specific situations, thoughts, and beliefs that provoke these feelings.
This phase includes recognizing how your past experiences and inner critic influence your current reactions, helping you to separate your identity from your anxiety. By fostering curiosity rather than judgment, you’ll gain clarity about the sources of your anxiety, distinguishing between protective signals and feelings rooted in past experiences or unrealistic expectations.
These insights will empower you to respond more effectively to challenges and develop healthier coping strategies, ultimately leading to greater confidence and self-awareness.
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In the “Nurture” stage, we shift our focus to caring for yourself in light of the insights gained from the previous phase. This involves soothing your nervous system through grounding exercises and mindfulness practices that promote connection with your body and environment.
We’ll also explore the protective aspects of your anxiety, understanding their motivations and fears while negotiating healthier ways for them to support you.
Additionally, we’ll nurture the vulnerable parts of yourself that carry past pain, offering the comfort, validation, and companionship you may have missed.
By engaging both your mind and body, you’ll foster a compassionate relationship with yourself, empowering you to navigate life's challenges with confidence and resilience.
Transform Your Anxiety: Start Your Journey Today!
If you're ready to take the next step towards managing your anxiety and transforming your relationship with it, I invite you to reach out and schedule a consultation. Together, we can explore the best approaches for you and begin your journey towards healing and empowerment.