LOS ANGELES ANXIETY THERAPIST
Specialized therapy for adults in Los Angeles with anxiety.
Therapy for individuals ready to feel better and heal from the past.
Does it feel like your anxiety has a mind of its own?
Everyone experiences the feeling of anxiety from time to time—it's a natural part of being a human. From an evolutionary perspective, anxiety exists to keep us safe. It activates our fight or flight response when we're faced with a potential threat.
However, our nervous system can sometimes be a bit too sensitive. Our brain might pick up on feelings, situations, or dynamics that aren't a physical threat, but feel like an emotional threat. This can send anxiety into overdrive.
If it feels like your anxiety has crossed the line from being helpful to hurtful, you might be living with an anxiety disorder.
While anxiety can be confusing, frustrating, and exhausting, it is also the most common mental illness—and it's highly treatable.
Working with an anxiety therapist in Los Angeles CA can help you learn how to manage your anxiety symptoms and learn new ways to cope with your emotions. With the right kind of support, you can live a more grounded life in the face of your anxiety disorder. We encourage you to reach out today to start the process.
Meet your anxiety therapist
Kaylin Zabienski Anxiety Specialist
Kaylin has had an interest in psychology since the day she learned that it existed. When she found out about therapy as a career, her 12-year old self thought “Wow, people will pay me to listen to their secrets? That’s amazing!”
Kaylin grew up with an overworked and stressed out mom, which is exactly why she loves working with high achieving and powerful women to help them lower stress levels.
When Kaylin is not working with clients, you can find her in the kitchen making some vegan meals, traveling, teaching yoga, and hanging out with her rescue dog.
What to expect from anxiety therapy
Asking for help can be incredibly overwhelming, especially if you're new to therapy. That's completely understandable. Here, we've done our best to give you a window into the therapeutic process so you can have an idea of what to expect. Keep in mind that therapy isn't a one-size-fits-all experience—your therapist will tailor your treatment to your specific needs and preferences.
Anxiety disorders that mental health professionals can help with
Anxiety therapy in Los Angeles can help with all kinds of different anxiety disorders. Don't worry if these diagnoses don't exactly match the symptoms you experience—anxiety takes on many forms. Working directly with a mental health professional is the best way to determine which anxiety disorder you're experiencing. These are just a few examples.
Generalized anxiety disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder is exactly what it sounds like: a general feeling of anxiety that's constantly present in the background of your day to day life. Everyone's experience with anxiety is different, but some common symptoms include: constant worry, trouble relaxing, and difficulty concentrating.
Beyond the intense mental and emotional symptoms, generalized anxiety disorder can have physical manifestations as well. For example, some people experience sleep problems, difficulty sitting still, stomach issues, or bowel problems.
Panic disorder
People with panic disorder experience sudden panic attacks. During panic attacks, you might feel intense fear, anxiety, and physical symptoms such as racing heart, difficulty breathing, and sweaty palms.
Panic attacks can be extremely scary and disorienting because the severe anxiety seems to come out of nowhere, with no apparent trigger. People who experience panic attacks often worry about having another one and go to extreme lengths to avoid having them, which can significantly impact a person's quality of life.
Obsessive compulsive disorder
As the name suggests, people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) experience both obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are intrusive thoughts that are disturbing to the person experiencing them, while compulsions are behaviors that a person acts out to mitigate the obsessive thought.
Each person with OCD experiences different obsessions and compulsions. Some forms of OCD center around cleanliness and contamination, while others focus on perfectionism, religion, or other topics.
Types of anxiety treatment
There are tons of different kinds of anxiety treatment. While it's important to find what works best for you, it's also okay if you're not entirely sure what you need. You and your therapist will work together to decide what type (or types) or anxiety treatment might be the best fir for your specific needs, values, and goals.
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Cognitive behavioral therapy, also known as CBT, is considered a highly effective treatment for anxiety disorders. This form of therapy focuses on the relationship between thoughts (cognitions) and actions (behaviors).
The idea behind CBT is that changing your actions can influence your thoughts, and vice-versa. Your therapist will help you identify thought patterns and actions that keep you stuck. From here, you'll explore how to make helpful changes.
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Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based practice for treating mental health problems such as anxiety disorders. The theory behind ACT is that difficult emotions are a natural part of life, and we can reduce our suffering if we accept them rather than fight against them.
We often go to great lengths to avoid our uncomfortable feelings (such as anxiety), and in turn avoid people, places, and activities that are important to us. Working with an anxiety therapist in Los Angeles can help you learn how to embrace your anxiety without letting it overtake you.
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If you're hesitant about individual counseling, group therapy can be a great option for you. It can also be a helpful supplement to working with a therapist one-on-one. group counseling is an effective treatment for anxiety, especially for children, teens, and young adults.
Many people enjoy group work because of the connections they form with other members. Hearing about other people's experiences can be an incredibly powerful reminder that you're not alone in your struggle with anxiety.
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While highly effective, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is different from traditional talk therapy. EMDR involves recalling painful thoughts, images, and life events--not talking about them--while your therapist leads you through bilateral stimulation exercises.
These exercises are meant to stimulate both sides of your brain and body, which can help you rewire the way you react to uncomfortable feelings and memories. There are many different kinds of bilateral stimulation exercises, such as eye movements, sounds, physical tapping on either side of your body, and more.
Benefits
Benefits of working with an anxiety therapist
While each person has a different experience with counseling, there are tons of potential benefits. Here are just a few.
Reduce negative emotions
Uncomfortable feelings are part of life—therapy won't change that. However, you can learn to embrace difficult emotions and experience less suffering. In fact, studies show that therapy can reduce negative emotions in people with anxiety.
Oftentimes, we try to avoid tough feelings, even though this only makes them more intense in the long run. With the help of a Los Angeles anxiety therapist, you can learn how to turn toward these feelings with curiosity and compassion.
Learn new coping skills for managing anxiety
Anxiety can make us feel like we're totally out of control. Feeling powerless over anxiety can then make us panic even more, causing the cycle of anxiety to spiral on and on.
Working with a professional therapist can provide you with strategies to help you take back your power. When you're armed with a toolkit of coping mechanisms, anxiety can feel less scary and overwhelming.
Boost low self esteem
Many people with anxiety experience trouble with confidence and self esteem. Anxiety disrupts our sense of safety, which can make it difficult to trust yourself and to feel good about yourself.
Research shows that therapy can help you improve your self esteem. Multiple therapeutic methods, including CBT and EMDR, have been shown effective in helping people increase their self worth.
Frequently asked questions
FAQs about working with an anxiety therapist in LA
It's totally normal to have questions before starting anxiety treatment. We've done our best to answer some of the most common ones, but we encourage you to reach out to us directly if you have additional questions or concerns you'd like to address before starting therapy.
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Some people attend sessions for a few months, others a few years, and still others engage in counseling for periods throughout their life. Many people find some relief from simply starting the therapy process, especially if they've suffered in silence for a long time.
Therapy is a highly personalized process. Each person's experience with counseling is unique, so it's hard to say for sure exactly how long therapy might be. You and your therapist will work together to create a treatment plan that's tailored to your needs and preferences.
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There is no certain formula to get the most out of anxiety treatment--that would be nice, right? However, there are plenty of strategies you can use in order to help you maximize the benefits of counseling.
Attending sessions is the most important part. Though it may seem obvious, it's hard to make progress in therapy if you can't commit to regular sessions. It's also important to dedicate time to practicing the skills you learn outside of session. We'd also suggest keeping an open mind about the therapy process. Sometimes it can lead to unexpected places, but it's best to manage your expectations and just see where it leads.
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Trying to find a therapist can be daunting. Reaching out for help is incredibly vulnerable, so you want to make sure that your counselor is a good fit. Start by doing research on therapists in your area and find a few whose approaches resonate with you.
From there, you can request a consultation to address any questions you may have. Keep in mind that it can also take a few sessions to get a feel for each other and begin building a therapeutic connection. Give it a fair shot, though also recognize it's okay to try a few different therapists before finding the right one for you.
Did I not answer your question?
Get grounded with the help of an anxiety therapist in Los Angeles
Anxiety is overwhelming enough—you shouldn't have to deal with it alone. You deserve support in your healing journey. I cultivate a safe space where you share about your struggles (and strengths!) without judgment.
Therapy can help you turn down the volume on anxiety and live a more peaceful, grounded life. If you're ready to start the process, I’m ready to help you. I encourage you to reach out today to schedule your complimentary consultation. I can't wait to meet you!