Therapy For Anxiety
you can stop coping, and start experiencing freedom from anxiety
It’s a buzz, an unpleasant vibration, it’s that familiar pressure in your chest.
The constant tension of anxiety is always close by.
You've tried to manage you anxiety: breathing techniques, telling yourself to calm down, pushing through because you don't have a choice. Sometimes that works, for a little while. But the anxiety always finds its way back. Underneath it is a quieter, harder question — why can't I just relax, even when I know nothing is actually wrong right now? A lot of people carrying anxiety like this eventually start to wonder if something is fundamentally broken in them, if everyone else got a calmer nervous system and they just have to work harder to fake being okay.
A Little About Me
I help people heal the patterns that have kept them stuck for decades.
You are probably exhausted from all the work you are doing to manage your symptoms, your emotions, and your life. You are ready to go deeper, to heal in a lasting way. I’m ready to go there with you.
My approach is to guide you inwards to work with all the different parts of you that need healing. I know the terrain because I have also struggled with anxiety. IFS has helped me get freedom from anxiety and I want to help you experience that too.
signs you might be living with more than “just stress”
Rest doesn't actually feel restful — you lie down exhausted, but your mind won't stop running through tomorrow's to-do list, old conversations, or things that might go wrong.
You've built a whole set of workarounds just to get through the day — avoiding certain calls, over-preparing for things that don't need it, needing constant reassurance before you can move forward.
Other people tell you to "just relax," and it makes you want to scream — because you've already tried. Willpower alone hasn't worked, and you're tired of being told it should.
Your focus disappears when you need it most — sitting down to work or be present with someone, only to find your mind has quietly slipped into worst-case scenarios again.
Your body holds tension you can't seem to release — clenched jaw, tight shoulders, shallow breathing that's become so constant you almost forgot it's not normal.
You feel like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop, even during genuinely good moments — like calm itself feels unsafe or temporary.
You've started shrinking your life to avoid triggering it — turning down things you'd actually enjoy, because the anxiety of showing up feels like more than it's worth.
You know, logically, that you're safe — and it changes nothing — the anxiety doesn't respond to logic, which is exactly what makes it so exhausting and confusing to live with.
You had to learn to manage anxiety,
now you can learn to heal it.
How I Help
These may be some of the components of our work together:
developing your capacity to stay with your anxiety in session
understanding how your anxiety is trying to help you
practicing getting space and accessing calm
healing the deeper wounds underneath your anxiety
installing new approaches to triggering situations that do not activate the old anxiety
FAQs
Why do I feel anxious even when nothing is actually wrong?
Anxiety often comes from a protective part of you that developed to keep you safe during a difficult time, and it can keep reacting to potential danger even when your current life is objectively safe.
Can therapy actually help with anxiety, or just teach me to manage it?
Therapy using Internal Family Systems aims to address what's driving the anxiety rather than only managing its symptoms, which can lead to more lasting change than coping techniques alone.
Is Internal Family Systems effective for anxiety specifically?
Yes. IFS is an evidence-based approach, and treating anxious parts with curiosity rather than suppression is a core part of how it addresses anxiety at its root.
Why don't breathing exercises and coping skills fully get rid of my anxiety?
Coping skills can offer temporary relief, but they don't address the underlying concern the anxious part is protecting you from, which is often why the anxiety returns.
Is my anxiety a sign that something is wrong with me?
No. Anxiety is generally understood as a protective response that developed for a real reason, not evidence of something broken in you.
How is IFS different from typical anxiety treatment like CBT?
Rather than focusing primarily on changing anxious thoughts, IFS works to understand and build a relationship with the part of you experiencing anxiety, addressing what it's protecting you from.
How long does anxiety therapy typically take?
This varies by person, since it depends on what the anxious part is protecting and how much space that underlying concern needs to be addressed.
Is anxiety therapy available via telehealth in Vermont?
Yes. Sessions are available via secure telehealth to adults anywhere in Vermont, as well as in-person in Montpelier.
Can anxiety therapy help with work-related or performance anxiety specifically?
Yes. IFS can work with anxiety connected to any area of life, including work, performance, and relationships, by addressing the part of you carrying that specific concern.
What if I've already tried therapy for anxiety before and it didn't help?
It's common for previous therapy to help with managing symptoms without addressing the root cause; IFS specifically aims to get to what's driving the anxiety rather than only its surface presentation.
Can anxiety be connected to childhood experiences even if I don't remember much about my childhood?
Yes. Protective parts can form in response to experiences that aren't consciously remembered in detail, and IFS doesn't require a full narrative memory to do effective work with them.