Calm your mind. Loosen the grip. Come back to yourself.

You look like you’re holding it together. But under the surface, your thoughts are racing, your stomach’s tight, and it feels like there’s always something to worry about. Even when things are “fine,” you can’t relax.

Anxiety isn’t always panic attacks. Sometimes it’s the constant hum of unease that never turns off.

What Anxiety Might Look Like for You

• Overanalyzing conversations or decisions long after they’re over

• Difficulty sleeping because your mind won’t slow down

• Feeling on edge or wired most of the time

• Fear of disappointing others or making mistakes

• A persistent sense that something is “wrong”— even when you can’t name it

You’re Not Broken — You’re Wired for Survival

Anxiety is a natural, human response to overwhelm, uncertainty, or experiences where staying hyper-aware felt necessary. It’s your nervous system doing its best to protect you. But when that alarm system never turns off, it becomes exhausting. You don’t have to live in constant fight-or-flight.

Main Types of Anxiety

Anxiety comes in many forms, each with its own symptoms and triggers.

1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

* Persistent and excessive worry about everyday life (work, health, relationships, etc.).
* Symptoms: Restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, sleep problems.

2. Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)

* Intense fear of social situations or being judged by others.
* Symptoms: Sweating, blushing, nausea, avoiding social settings.

3. Panic Disorder

* Sudden and intense episodes of fear (panic attacks) that seem to come out of nowhere.
* Symptoms: Rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, dizziness, feeling of losing control.

4. Specific Phobias

* Intense fear of a specific object or situation (heights, spiders, flying, etc.).
* Symptoms: Extreme anxiety, avoidance behavior, physical distress.

5. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

* Experiencing distressing, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and engagement in compulsive behaviors for the purpose of reducing distress and anxiety. However, engagement in compulsions brings temporary relief - and makes OCD worse.
* Observable compulsions: Checking (locks, stove), excessive washing, ordering, arranging or symmetry and counting.
* Mental compulsions: Reviewing experiences to find certainty, reassurance seeking, mining for information, rumination.

6. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

*Anxiety connected to past trauma. This can include “Big T” trauma such as accidents, assault, medical events, or violence — and also “little t” trauma, like chronic stress, bullying, high-conflict relationships, or growing up in environments where you had to stay constantly on guard.
* Symptoms: Flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, emotional numbness.

7. Health Anxiety (Hypochondria)

* Excessive worry about having a serious illness despite medical reassurance.
* Symptoms: Frequent doctor visits, Googling symptoms, body scanning.

You don’t need to get rid of anxiety entirely — you just need to stop letting it run the show.

Anxiety tells you to do more, be more, control more.

Therapy helps you practice doing less.

Overcoming Anxiety Through Therapy

In our work together, you’ll learn how to:

• Understand and calm your anxious thought loops

• Regulate your nervous system through grounding and body-based tools

• Set boundaries that reduce overwhelm

• Quiet the inner critic that keeps you in fear mode

• Build trust in yourself — and in the present moment

Psychotherapy for Anxiety: evidence-based modalities

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Helps you identify and challenge anxious thought patterns that keep you stuck in worry or overcontrol. By reframing unhelpful thoughts and practicing new behaviors, CBT teaches you to respond more calmly to uncertainty and reduce the physical and mental grip of anxiety.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Gently supports you in facing feared thoughts, sensations, or situations rather than avoiding them. Through gradual exposure and learning to resist safety behaviors, ERP helps retrain your brain to understand that anxiety naturally rises and falls — and that you can tolerate and move through it safely.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Encourages you to make space for uncomfortable emotions while staying connected to what truly matters. ACT helps shift the goal from “getting rid of anxiety” to “living meaningfully with it,” using mindfulness, self-compassion, and value-driven action to reduce anxiety’s control over your life.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Addresses anxiety that stems from past experiences or stored emotional memories. EMDR helps reprocess distressing events or beliefs that continue to trigger fear or hypervigilance, allowing your body and mind to feel safer in the present moment.

Get Help Overcoming anxiety in the San Francisco Bay Area

Caterina Sanfilippo Lee, LCSW is an anxiety therapist in the San Francisco Bay Area.

She also provides online therapy across California and New York.