What I Help With
Anxiety Therapy in Seattle
When worry lives in the future, therapy helps you come back to the present and steady yourself there.
Recognizing It
What It Can Feel Like
You may spend much of the day preparing for trouble, even when nothing is happening right now. I want to understand what worry asks of you and what it keeps you from doing.
- A mind that runs ahead to what could go wrong
- Trouble sleeping
- Tension you carry in your body
- Avoiding things that matter to you
- Constant planning that never feels like enough
- Irritability with the people you love
Understanding It
The future can fill your mind before the present has a chance.
Past experiences may have taught you to expect trouble. We look at those lessons without assuming they describe what is happening now. I help you come back to the present, where you can see your choices more clearly.
Calming Yourself Is a Skill
Learning to settle the body and mind takes practice. I do not expect you to leave a conversation and suddenly feel different. We work with practical skills in session and look at how to use them between sessions.
You can tell me about the situations where worry returns most quickly. We can slow those moments down, notice what happens, and find a response that feels usable in your daily life.
Working in the Present
How I Approach It
What Can Change
- A Clearer View
- You may become more able to recognize a worried prediction as a thought, rather than a fact. We make space to consider what you actually know.
- More Steadiness
- Calming skills can give you something practical to return to when tension rises. We notice what helps, what does not, and what needs adjustment.
- Room for What Matters
- We consider manageable ways to approach things you have been avoiding. Your own priorities guide the work, not a demand to stop feeling anxious.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
We notice the thoughts that keep worry moving and test how accurately they describe the situation. You can practice responding without treating every possibility as a certainty.
Insight Into Old Conclusions
We explore where you learned to stay on guard, or to doubt your ability to cope. Understanding that history can help us question what still belongs in the present.
Skills for Calming Yourself
I help you learn practical ways to settle your body and mind. We practice in session, then discuss how those skills fit the moments you face between sessions.
Strengths First
I listen for the capacities you already use, even when you do not give yourself credit for them. We build on those rather than reducing you to your anxiety.
Who I See for This
I see adults from their twenties into their nineties for anxiety. Individual therapy gives us room to understand your worry in the context of your life.
When anxiety is also affecting how partners relate, couples work can help you discuss needs and reactions more clearly. We decide together which format fits what you want to address.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can therapy help if I have had anxiety for years?
We can work with anxiety that has been part of your life for years. I begin by listening to how it affects you now and what you want to change.
Will you give me tools to use between sessions?
Yes. We practice skills for calming yourself and discuss how you can use them between sessions.
Is medication part of your work?
No. I am a counselor and do not prescribe. If medication might help, I can talk with you about seeing a prescriber.
Related Pages
Related Reading
When Anxiety Lives in the Future
I help people notice when worry has taken them ahead of the moment and practice returning to what they can do today.
Read the GuideMore to Explore
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Read about how David Johnson uses cognitive behavioral therapy to explore thoughts, feelings and actions in the context of your own goals.
- Calming Skills
Explore how practical calming skills can become part of therapy with David Johnson, with attention to your preferences and daily circumstances.
- Living With Uncertainty
Explore how to approach decisions and hopes when certainty is unavailable, without dismissing the concerns that matter to you.
- When Anxiety Enters a Relationship
Explore worry, reassurance and assumptions in relationships, with room for both your feelings and the other person’s perspective.