Therapy for Anxiety

Anxiety can appear out of nowhere and completely disrupt your daily life. Anxiety tends to overwhelm your senses and ability to function appropriately for the setting. While you may not even be able to fully describe your symptoms, therapy can help you determine what they are and get on the way to resolving them. 

Anxiety is one of the most common concerns my clients have reported when seeking therapy in Bucks County. With over 28 years of experience working with teens and adults as a therapist, I understand the ways anxiety manifests in different people. Effective treatment begins with addressing your unique experience with anxiety. I work with teenagers, young adults, and adults from my office in Yardley, PA. I offer both in-person and telehealth appointments for residents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

My approach is client-centered and collaborative, applying evidence-based therapeutic modalities including EMDR, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Gestalt Therapy to help you develop tools for managing anxiety and reclaiming a sense of calm and control in your life.

Anxiety doesn't present the same way in everyone. This can make it hard for people to recognize their feelings for what they are, and it can make it especially hard for loved ones to understand what is happening. Although the following are generalizations, they tend to be the most commonly occurring symptoms of anxiety in women vs. men.

Women who experience anxiety usually go into overdrive. From the outside, it looks like successfully spinning every plate. But the internal feelings include fear, constant worry, over-analysis, self-criticism, and emotional dysregulation. Women with anxiety may be prone to crying, sleeplessness, and an out of control nervous system. They may be overly talkative, constantly turning situations every which way and second guessing their decisions.

Although the thought component of anxiety is constant, it is often paired with such intense emotions that women feel as though their feelings rule over their lives.

For women in their twenties through forties, anxiety shows up with the multiple demands of career advancement, relationships, family responsibilities, and societal expectations. The pressure to excel in every area simultaneously creates a perfect storm for anxiety to take hold and become all-consuming.

Men experience anxiety differently than women. In fact, the symptoms can be almost completely opposite. While women with anxiety are driven to high functioning and emotionality, men will shut down. They are withdrawn, apathetic, and distracted. Men may immerse themselves in work, video games, or sports to avoid processing what they are feeling. If anxiety becomes more than they can manage, they might withdraw completely, showing signs that look much like depression. 

Differentiating anxiety from depression can be a challenge for male clients. The shutdown response, reduced communication, preference for sleep, and self-sabotage share a lot of overlap with depression. In truth, a man might be dealing with both anxiety and depression. It is important to explore the symptoms to identify effective strategies for relief.

For men in their twenties through forties, anxiety frequently manifests around career pressures, financial concerns, and the weight of expectations about success and providing for others. Rather than expressing these worries, men tend to let anxiety sit inside them, unprocessed and unspoken, where it impacts their ability to function in the very areas causing them stress.

Teenagers face unique pressures in today's world, and anxiety has become increasingly common among adolescents navigating the complex landscape of school, social relationships, identity formation, and an ever-present digital environment. As a teenager therapist, I work with both teenage girls and teenage boys who are struggling with anxiety that impacts their wellbeing and daily functioning.

Teenage girls experiencing anxiety display similar patterns to adult women, though the intensity can feel even more acute during the already turbulent years of adolescence. Young women tend to talk excessively about their worries, struggle with sleep, and find themselves caught in cycles of overthinking every social interaction and decision.

Conflict with friends and parents might happen more often as anxiety makes emotional regulation difficult. Teenage girls with anxiety can be highly self-critical, never feeling like they measure up and constantly comparing themselves to peers. The pressure to achieve academically, maintain friendships, navigate social hierarchies, and plan for the future creates overwhelming stress.

What may look like sadness or moodiness in teenage girls is frequently anxiety presenting as emotional overwhelm. They cry more often, feel controlled by their moods, and struggle to find satisfaction or contentment in anything they do. The insecurity that accompanies anxiety makes it difficult to trust friends or believe that they truly belong anywhere.

Teenage boys with anxiety tend to internalize their struggles in ways that make the anxiety less visible. Rather than expressing worry or seeking support, boys often shut down, appearing lazy or unmotivated when they're actually experiencing significant internal distress.

Anxiety in teenage boys frequently shows up as functional problems. They may struggle with schoolwork and academics because anxiety disrupts their focus and motivation. They might be routinely late or absent, lose themselves in video games or other distractions, develop habits like nail-biting or overeating, or begin neglecting self-care.

The difficulty for teenage boys is that they often don't recognize the connection between their behaviors and the anxiety they're experiencing. They don't realize that trouble with school, work, and relationships are symptoms of what's really going on internally. Without understanding this connection, they can't take steps to address the root cause, and anxiety continues to wreak havoc over their lives.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) has proven to be remarkably effective for treating anxiety in people of all ages. This evidence-based therapeutic approach helps process the experiences and thought patterns that contribute to anxiety, reducing the emotional intensity and creating space for new, healthier responses to develop. Working with the brain’s natural processing systems, EMDR is used to develop new neural pathways that do not automatically trigger anxious responses.

I have seen consistent success with EMDR for anxiety treatment. Clients who engage in EMDR therapy typically begin experiencing relief within three to four months. EMDR can be integrated with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and other therapy modalities that help clients address their symptoms of anxiety and develop coping strategies. EMDR offers a path toward relief that goes beyond symptom management for any manifestation of anxiety:

• Generalized anxiety
• Social anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Anxiety related to trauma and PTSD

Therapy helps clients move from a state of constant vigilance and worry to a place of greater calm, confidence, and control over their emotional responses.

For teenagers and adults alike, EMDR can provide relief from anxiety that has been impacting quality of life, relationships, work performance, and overall wellbeing. The transformation that occurs through EMDR therapy allows people to reclaim their lives from anxiety and move forward with greater ease and resilience.

Living with anxiety doesn't have to be your permanent reality. Whether you've been struggling with anxiety for years or it's a more recent challenge, therapy can provide the support and tools you need to achieve lasting change. My approach to anxiety therapy is to collaborate with you to understand your unique experience of anxiety, identify your goals, and develop strategies that support meaningful progress.

Therapy for anxiety is not about eliminating all worry or stress from your life. These are a natural part of the human experience. Instead, therapy helps you develop a different relationship with anxiety, one where you feel more in control and less overwhelmed by anxious thoughts and feelings. You learn to recognize patterns, interrupt cycles that aren't serving you, and respond to challenges from a place of greater calm and clarity. If you have recognized that anxiety and anxious thoughts are making your life feel harder than it should, therapy offers a path toward relief and sustainable change.

If you're a parent concerned about a teenager struggling with anxiety, reaching out for professional support is an important step. Teenage anxiety can impact academic performance, friendships, family relationships, and the development of healthy coping skills. Early intervention through therapy provides teenagers with tools they can use throughout their lives.

I offer anxiety therapy through both in-person sessions at my Yardley, PA office and telehealth appointments for residents throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. My office is comfortable and private, easily accessible from communities throughout Bucks County including Newtown, Doylestown, Langhorne, Washington Crossing, Levittown, Morrisville, and Warrington, as well as New Jersey locations near Yardley.

The first step is an initial consultation where we can discuss what you're experiencing and how therapy might support your goals. From there, we'll develop a personalized treatment plan that addresses your specific needs and circumstances. You remain in control throughout the process. Therapy is a collaborative journey, and the changes you make are always yours to determine.

Please call or text 917.605.1006 or email lynne@lynnemoser.com to schedule your consultation and learn more about anxiety therapy.