SERVING LOS ANGELES AND BEYOND

Online Therapy in California for High Functioning Anxiety

As a high achiever, you are accustomed to pushing your limits and striving for excellence.

But this comes with its own set of challenges: the pressure to keep an upward trajectory of excelling, the fear of failure, overthinking everything and a striking absence of work-life balance. 

If you’re also struggling with anxiety and trusting your gut when it comes to making decisions, you might often ask yourself, “Is it my intuition or is it anxiety?”

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference, because anxiety can do an excellent job of taking a perceived threat and making it appear real. The same internal alarm bell that helps keep you safe (intuition) also gets rung when you start to worry or experience stress (anxiety). The good news is that you can teach your brain to know the difference between intuitive thinking and anxious thinking, and start activating healthy responses to those pesky, anxious thoughts and feelings. 

But what does being a high achiever have to do with anxiety– or, more specifically, high functioning anxiety?

If you are coping “well” outwardly with anxiety, it’s probably thanks in part to being a high achiever. 

High Achiever + Anxiety = High Functioning Anxiety

On the outside, no one would even guess that you’re struggling. After all, to them you are the model of success!

But on the inside, you might be facing problems like:

  • Perfectionism: An unrelenting drive to meet your own, high standards

  • Overthinking: Racing thoughts and persistent worry 

  • Restlessness: Difficulty relaxing or sitting still

  • Fear of Failure: Intense fear of making mistakes, “wrong” decisions and/or disappointing others

  • Approval Seeking: Constantly seeking validation from others to confirm your value

I can help you address each of the challenges that underscore your high functioning anxiety, allowing you to grow beyond their limitations and reclaim the title of High Achiever from a place of strength and intention.

Take a few seconds right now and imagine how life will look for you when:

  • You have a more peaceful existence with your high achiever status, not because it has disappeared but because you have created a healthier relationship to your expectations 

  • You investigate and challenge your anxious thoughts rather than simply believing them as truth

  • You tap into mindful awareness and find your inner calm amidst the inevitable stress and chaos of living that can (and will) happen

  • You trust your instincts and respond to situations or decisions in ways that you’re proud of, even if others don’t agree with you

  • Your sense of your own value is enhanced, rather than defined, by others’ validation

My approach to our work is rooted in strengths-based and solution-oriented ideas about how change happens. I believe that when we focus on what is working well right now (trust me, we will find what IS working amidst the problems you’re facing), and what has worked well in the past, we can better chart our course of action for where you would like to go from here and how you will know the change that you're hoping for is working.