Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal and useful part of being human. It alerts us to potential problems, helps us prepare for challenges, and gives us the energy to respond when something requires our attention. The goal of therapy is not to eliminate anxiety.

But anxiety can become excessive and difficult to control. You may find yourself preparing long past the point of being prepared—rereading an email again and again before sending it, or rehearsing a conversation when you would rather be sleeping. At other times, anxiety can lead to procrastination or avoidance when doing something begins to feel more difficult or consequential than it needs to be.

Anxiety also has a way of changing the calculation we make about uncertain situations: we can overestimate the likelihood that something will go wrong while underestimating our ability to cope if it does. Therapy can help you recognize these patterns and respond differently to uncertainty, worry, and the possibility that things may not go exactly as planned.