Understanding Anxiety: When It's Helpful and When It Needs Attention
Anxiety is a common experience that nearly everyone faces at some point. It's a natural response to stress, challenges, and uncertainty—our body's way of signaling that we need to be alert or take action. While anxiety is essential for survival, it can become problematic when it grows out of proportion, becomes persistent, or starts to interfere with your daily life.
In this post, you'll learn when anxiety is helpful, when you might need support, and the common types of anxiety I treat in therapy.
Anxiety: A Helpful Part of Life—Until It's Not
Anxiety is normal and sometimes even helpful. For example, feeling anxious before a job interview or public speaking can boost focus and motivation. This type of anxiety helps you prepare and perform at your best.
However, when anxiety becomes chronic or intense, it may begin to interfere with your daily life. Persistent anxiety can cause ongoing fear, worry, or dread that impacts your relationships, work performance, and overall well-being.
When to Consider Professional Support
If you notice these signs, your anxiety might be crossing from helpful to harmful:
Feeling anxious constantly without an apparent reason
Experiencing frequent headaches, stomachaches, or muscle tension
Avoiding important or safe situations due to anxiety (like social events or work meetings)
Difficulty focusing, completing tasks, or sleeping because your mind races with worries or catastrophic thoughts
Recognizing these signs is the first step toward building effective strategies to manage anxiety.
Types of Anxiety I Treat in Therapy
I specialize in helping clients with various anxiety challenges, including:
High-Functioning Anxiety
People with high-functioning anxiety often appear calm and successful but feel constantly on edge inside. It can manifest as relentless worry, perfectionism, and a fear of not being "enough," taking a toll on energy, sleep, and your ability to enjoy life.
Perfectionism and Anxiety
Perfectionism can increase anxiety by creating pressure to avoid mistakes or meet impossibly high standards. Therapy explores the roots of these beliefs and fosters self-compassion and flexibility, enabling you to navigate life with greater ease.
Trauma and CPTSD-Related Anxiety
When you've been through something painful, anxiety can become a way your mind and body try to protect you—even if the threat is long gone. Therapy supports clients in understanding how trauma impacts their present and helps build safety, calm, and trust in themselves and others.
How Therapy Can Help You Manage Anxiety
Through therapy, you can:
Identify anxiety triggers by exploring thoughts, behaviors, and situations that increase anxiety
Develop coping strategies such as grounding, mindfulness, and reframing anxious thoughts
Challenge unhelpful thinking patterns, including catastrophic or self-critical thoughts
Build emotional resilience to manage anxiety and respond from your values, not fear
Final Thoughts
Anxiety is a natural part of life, but when it overwhelms you, it can reduce your quality of life. In therapy, I offer you a safe space to explore anxiety, develop healthy responses, and reclaim calm and clarity. You don't have to face anxiety alone—I'm here to help when you're ready to take the next step toward relief.
