Anxiety & OCD
it gets better
If you’re here, you might be feeling overwhelmed by racing thoughts, constant worry, or intrusive fears that won’t let up.
These experiences can be exhausting, even isolating if they’ve been dismissed or misunderstood in the past. We understand how anxiety and OCD can show up in complex, deeply felt ways, and we specialize in helping you navigate anxiety and OCD with proven, compassionate, and individualized therapy that supports both understanding and change.
Stress and anxiety can take many forms
and boy are we feeling it these days!
Anxiety and OCD are labels for big groups of thoughts, behaviors, and sensations that are painful to experience in the body and make life difficult to manage. Fortunately, with various expertise and training, our therapists have solid skills to help you manage your experience and feel more control over how you live your life.
Are you experiencing:
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Restless and On Edge
Restlessness can manifest as a constant need to move, a feeling of being unable to relax, or a difficulty in settling down. A feeling of being ‘on edge’ is a result of the increasing impact of restless and watchfulness that can overwhelm the nervous system.
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Racing Thoughts
Racing thoughts occur when the mind becomes flooded with a rapid stream of ideas, worries, or concerns. This can make it difficult to focus, relax, or process emotions in a meaningful way. Sometimes, racing thoughts can lead to panic attacks.
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Difficulty with Sleep
The racing thoughts, restlessness, or watchfulness can catch up to us at night, leaving us feeling over-stimulated, preventing ease in going to sleep. Our nervous believes it’s under attack and on alert, making deep, restful sleep a challenge both to achieve and restore.
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Avoidance or Numbing
Avoidance and numbing are coping strategies used to manage overwhelming emotions. Avoidance looks like steering clear of people, places, or feelings that bring up discomfort or fear. Numbing is emotional disconnection, often through alcohol or drugs, food, or excessive work.
This is Anxiety.
we get it
Why does anxiety show up?
Result of Trauma
Traumatic events, such as abuse, loss, or significant life changes, can bring on or worsen anxiety, leading to persistent worry or fear. Unresolved experiences—especially from childhood or relational trauma—can keep the nervous system in a heightened state of alert.
Chronic Work Stress
Chronic stress from work, relationships, or financial pressure can create a constant state of tension, making it harder for the mind and body to maintain a state of well-being.
Social/Cultural Pressures
Social factors, like pressure to meet societal expectations or comparison through social media, can also contribute to feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. The pressure to stay up-to-date and informed, along with exposure to distressing news, can heighten worry and fear.
Perfectionism
The constant need to make choices can overwhelm the mind, leading to anxiety about making the "right" decisions or fear of missing out on better opportunities. High self-expectations and a harsh inner critic often fuel worry, overthinking, and difficulty tolerating uncertainty.
Relational Patterns
Individuals with an anxious attachment style may experience intense fear that their partner or loved ones will leave them, which can lead to constant reassurance-seeking, jealousy, or over dependence.
How We Work with Anxiety
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Attachment-Based Therapy
Attachment-based therapy focuses on exploring the root causes of attachment patterns, often stemming from early childhood experiences. This approach helps you understand how your attachment style, how it was formed, how it affects your present-day relationships, and how to improve secure attachment behaviors.
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Cognitive Behavior Therapy
CBT focuses on how your thoughts and behaviors influence your emotional well-being and relationships. In the context of attachment issues, CBT helps individuals recognize and challenge negative beliefs about themselves and others that may be driving attachment-related struggles.
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Trauma-Informed Therapy
Trauma-informed therapy focuses on creating a safety for healing, emphasizing self-compassion and emotional regulation. Individuals can then recognize how past traumas affect present relationships and embody healthy relational behaviors. By regulating the nervous system, clients can reclaim authentic connection.
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Internal Family Systems
IFS is a therapeutic approach that helps individuals recognize and heal the different "parts" of themselves. By healing these parts and encouraging collaboration, IFS helps individuals create healthier, more balanced emotional responses in relationships. The goal is to develop understanding and integration.
Are you experiencing:
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Obsessions
Fear of contamination, losing control, forgetting. Unwanted thoughts about harming yourself or others, sex, and religion. The thoughts may also center around a need for order or excessive responsibility for a lack of harm to others. The key to obsessive thoughts are that they are unwanted, intrusive and cause significant distress.
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Compulsions
Examples are: excessive hand washing, checking on things like doors or appliances, arranging/ordering items, seeking reassurance, repeating words or phrases internally, or conducting rituals like touching or tapping in repeat patterns. These activities are repetitive, disruptive and unwanted, but meant to ease the distress that the obsessions cause.
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Avoidance
Often, with OCD, there is a desire to avoid situations or stimuli that could trigger anxious reactions, hoping to manage the distress, though this often results in a worsening of symptoms. OCD obsessions are convincing in that they make us believe constant vigilance is the only way to reduce threat and restore peace, leaving clients isolated in their distress.
This is OCD.
getting it right
Living with OCD
Living with OCD often feels like being caught in a cycle of fear and relief. Intrusive thoughts can show up unexpectedly and feel so real and alarming that they take over a person’s attention.
These thoughts are usually unwanted and upsetting, but they come with a strong sense of urgency—like if the person doesn’t do something (a compulsion), something bad will happen. This fear activates the body’s fight-or-flight response, increasing the urge to act. Compulsions may bring brief relief initially, but the anxiety usually returns, keeping the cycle going. Even when it’s not obvious to others, OCD can feel overwhelming and exhausting on the inside.
OCD is often misdiagnosed as ADHD or anxiety. Additionally, OCD has been popularized in our culture to represent a type of perfectionist. We know that those who manage OCD on a daily basis experience significant suffering and we want to get it right.
How We Work with OCD
Our approach blends somatic therapy, CBT, and trauma-informed care to support you in understanding your patterns, reconnecting with your body, and finding practical ways to feel more grounded and in control.
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Exposure and Response Prevention
ERP helps people build tolerance for discomfort by gradually exposing individuals to feared thoughts or situations, while practicing new ways of responding instead of turning to compulsions. Over time, this helps break the cycle and reduce the power of the fear. It’s a structured, evidence-based approach that empowers people to face what they fear with increasing confidence and self-trust.
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Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
I-CBT is based on the central idea that obsessions are abnormal doubts about what “could be”, or “might be”. With this approach, obsessional doubts do not come out of the blue, but arise as the result mistrust of the senses and an over-reliance on the imagination. I-CBT aims to encourage clients to trust their senses, leaving no room for obsessional doubts.
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Trauma-Informed Counseling
Trauma-informed counseling is an approach that acknowledges the widespread impact of trauma and prioritizes safety, trust, and respect in the healing process. A trauma-informed therapist will not push the survivor to talk about their trauma until they’re ready, and will focus on creating a safe, nonjudgmental environment where healing can take place.
Meet Your Specialists
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Meet Your Specialists ⚘
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Lauren Boland, LCSW
My heart-centered approach cultivates healing through attunement, nurture and collaboration. Working with me, your voice will be heard, your emotions validated, and your growth supported. I enjoy working with adults of all ages and genders and older teens and excel with trauma, anxiety, and neurodivergence.
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Alicia Boone, PCLC
I have a deep passion for supporting young women navigate life, pregnancy, miscarriage, and motherhood. Helping women understand and manage the unique challenges of ADHD is also a specialty, and I provide tools to improve emotional regulation, focus, and self-esteem
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Becky Johnston, LCSW
As a down-to-earth therapist, I have enough life experience to know that things don’t always go as planned. My warm and collaborative style is like a friend who asks all the good questions - but doesn’t steal your fries. I specialize in anxiety and depression for ages 16 through adulthood.
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Ellie Jorgensen, LCPC
My passion is helping individuals and families navigate life’s twists, turns, and roller coaster moments. I specialize in working with children, perinatal women, and family systems, focusing on challenges like childhood behavioral concerns, attachment, big life transitions, trauma, anxiety, and OCD.
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Tori Kenyon, LCSW
I try to bring a strong sense of professionalism, but also know that I have a naturally playful approach to connection. My varied clinical past has allowed me to develop confidence and skills working with all genders ages 16 to 35. I feel at my most skilled when I’m working with life transitions, trauma, anxiety, and depression.
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Sarah Webb, LCSW
I am passionate about burnout, anxiety, rage, postpartum, birth trauma, attachment, and healthy coping in women. With expert training in Somatic, Mindfulness, and Attachment, I get to the core quickly so therapy has big impact. Our collaboration will help you reclaim your power and vibrancy.
“someone who is truly listening…”
“I feel like I am able to share openly with someone who is truly listening. I appreciate that sometimes you offer help with situations, but sometimes it’s just an opportunity for me to say things aloud.”
— ILLUMINATE CLIENT
Ready to take the next step?
Whether you're seeking clarity, healing, or growth, our team is here to support you in finding what you need.