Anxiety therapy for the mind that won't slow down.
Online anxiety therapy in California for adults in their 20s and 30s — for the overthinking, the night dread, and the performance anxiety hiding inside ambition.
Maybe what you've been calling stress has the shape of anxiety. The mind that won't slow down at night. The conversations you replay long after they ended. The low hum of dread that arrives when the day finally goes quiet.
What anxiety actually is.
Anxiety is your body's threat-detection system firing when there's no immediate threat in the room. In small doses it's adaptive — it's what makes you prepare, plan, and care. It becomes a problem when it stops switching off: when the alarm stays on long after the moment that triggered it has passed.
It tends to show up in two layers. The physical — shallow breath, jaw tension, a stomach that won't settle, the inability to fall asleep. And the cognitive — the loops, the what-ifs, the rehearsing of conversations that already happened or haven't happened yet. We work with both, because treating only one tends to leave the other running.
How it shows up.
Anxiety rarely announces itself as “anxiety.” More often it arrives disguised as something more acceptable — productivity, perfectionism, being responsible. Some of the ways it shows up:
- The 12 a.m. spiral — lying awake with a mind that won't let you sleep
- The night dread that arrives once the day finally slows down
- Replaying conversations for hours, certain you said the wrong thing
- Performance anxiety that hides inside ambition and looks like drive
- The physical signs — tension, shallow breath, a stomach that won't settle
- Avoiding things you used to do easily, without quite knowing why
The forms it takes.
Anxiety isn't one thing. The version you're carrying shapes the work we do:
- Generalized anxiety — a low, constant hum of worry that attaches to whatever's nearby
- Performance and high-achiever anxiety — the fear of not being enough, dressed up as standards
- Social anxiety — the after-image of every interaction, the certainty you were judged
- Health anxiety — the inability to trust your body's ordinary signals
- Sleep anxiety — the dread of the night, the spiral that waits for the lights to go off
How therapy helps.
The goal of anxiety therapy isn't to make you stop feeling anxious — anxiety is part of being a person who cares about things. The goal is to change your relationship to it, so it stops running the show.
We start with the tools that bring relief early: CBT to interrupt the cognitive loops, somatic work to settle the nervous system, mindfulness to create a pause between the trigger and the spiral. Then we go deeper — into where the anxiety learned to live and what it's been protecting you from. For the neuroscience of why the brain's alarm fires too often, and how therapy recalibrates it, see Why Therapy Works.
Our approach at Align.
We treat anxiety with an integrative approach, matched to what you actually need rather than a one-size protocol. CBT and ACT for the thinking patterns. Somatic and mindfulness work for the body's anxiety vocabulary. Attachment-based therapy for the deeper roots — because anxiety is often an old strategy for staying safe that's outlived its usefulness.
Sessions are weekly, 50 minutes, held entirely online on a HIPAA-compliant platform with a California-licensed therapist who's yours alone. $200 per session.
Who we work with.
Adults in their 20s and 30s — the in-between years, when the questions stop being abstract and start being yours. High-achievers whose anxiety hides inside their ambition. People who've read all the books, done the journaling, and still can't quiet the 12 a.m. spiral. People who look fine on the outside and haven't felt fine in a while.
Anxiety therapy — common questions.
How do I know if I have anxiety or just stress?
Stress tends to be tied to a specific situation and resolves when the situation does. Anxiety persists, generalizes, and often shows up physically — racing thoughts, sleep difficulty, tension — even when there's no immediate trigger. If the worry has outlived its cause, it's worth a conversation.
Can anxiety be treated with online therapy?
Yes. Research consistently finds online therapy as effective as in-person for anxiety. CBT, ACT, and somatic approaches all translate well to a video format, and many clients find it easier to do the work from their own space.
How long does anxiety therapy take?
Most clients notice meaningful change in 8–12 sessions. The cognitive and somatic tools tend to land early; the deeper attachment work that keeps anxiety from returning takes longer, usually a few months of consistent work.
Do I need medication for anxiety?
Not necessarily. Many people manage anxiety through therapy alone. For some, medication alongside therapy is the most effective combination. We don't prescribe, but we coordinate with psychiatrists when medication is part of your care.
What kind of anxiety do you work with?
Generalized anxiety, performance and high-achiever anxiety, social anxiety, health anxiety, sleep anxiety, and the overthinking that doesn't fit neatly into a category. If anxiety is running more of your life than you'd like, that's enough.