Anxiety Therapy in Walnut Creek
Cari Browning, RN, LCSW
When worry, overthinking, and self-doubt take over, even everyday life can feel exhausting.
Therapy can help you learn practical, science-backed ways to ease anxiety, build confidence, and feel more like yourself again.
Compassionate, Science-Backed Anxiety Therapy in Walnut Creek
Does it feel like everyone else was handed the manual for living a calm life, but yours came with missing pages? You watch other people move through their days with an ease that you can’t seem to find. Meanwhile, you’re bracing for the next thing, replaying conversations, and scanning for what might go wrong.
Anxiety can leave you feeling like you’re the only one who never got the instructions. You’re not broken, and you didn’t miss the lesson.
Many of the people I work with have been following a manual written for survival, not for ease. Therapy can help you write the missing pages.
How Anxiety Therapy Can Help
You don’t have to keep figuring this out alone. Together, we’ll combine practical tools with personalized support so you can:
Ease the endless cycle of stress, overwhelm, and worry that’s been wearing you down
Learn tools to calm your nervous system when anxiety hits, whether it shows up as panic, social anxiety, or phobias
Stop letting fear make your decisions and move toward what matters to you in work, school, and relationships
Sleep better and get your energy back
Understand where your anxiety comes from, heal the past experiences that still fuel it, and move forward with more confidence
Here’s What We’ll Do Together
Therapy with me is collaborative, practical, and paced to fit you. Here’s what that can look like:
Research-Based Therapies: I draw from DBT, ACT, and compassion-based approaches, adapting each session to where you are right now.
Stress Management Strategies: Practical tools to change how you respond to stress and balance a demanding schedule, so you can function at your best.
Mindfulness Practices: Simple, doable skills that help you focus, settle stress, and feel more at ease.
Lifestyle Factors Assessment: We’ll also explore how sleep, nutrition, movement, relationships, and ongoing pain can all shape anxiety. This will help us identify what might be playing a role and how best to support your overall well-being.
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR): A powerful way to process past experiences that are still fueling fear and anxiety today.
As a nurse and therapist, I offer a whole-person, mind-body approach. I’ll help you ease anxiety symptoms, shift how you relate to worried thoughts, and build resilience through self-compassion. You’ll learn how to work with your anxiety instead of against it, so it stops getting in the way of what matters most to you.
Together, we’ll create a path forward that helps you feel more confident and in control.
The Change You Wish to See Is Possible
Anxiety may feel like it’s always been part of how you move through the world, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Anxiety is highly treatable, and therapy can help you find relief and create lasting change.
If you’re wondering whether therapy could help, let’s talk. A free consultation is a chance to ask questions and see if we feel like a good fit. There’s no pressure and nothing you need to have figured out beforehand.
I offer in-person sessions in downtown Walnut Creek, along with virtual therapy throughout California.
Questions?
FAQs
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Anxiety is a normal emotional response that helps us cope with threats and challenges in our environment. It can include feelings of worry, restlessness, or unease about what may happen in the future. Anxiety is a natural part of life and can be helpful in motivating us to take action in stressful situations.
Anxiety is also one of the most common mental health concerns in the United States, so you’re far from alone.
Anxiety can show up as:
Excessive worry
A racing heart, shaking, or shortness of breath
Trouble sleeping
Difficulty concentrating
Restlessness
Muscle tension
Avoiding situations that trigger anxiety or panic
Headaches
Digestive issues
If these symptoms are affecting your daily life, therapy can help.
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Stress and anxiety share many of the same symptoms, so it can be hard to tell them apart.
Stress is a response to an outside demand, like a tight deadline, financial strain, or conflict with someone you care about. It’s usually tied to a specific situation and eases when the situation passes.
Anxiety can begin as a response to stress, but it can sometimes linger after the stressor is gone, showing up as ongoing worry, unease, or fear that’s hard to switch off. You might notice trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, tension, headaches, or avoiding situations that stir up anxiety.
Both are a normal part of life, and they often show up when we’re dealing with something we care deeply about. The good news is that therapy can help with both, so they don’t take over your life.
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I’m trained as both a nurse and a therapist, which gives me a deep understanding of health, neuroscience, and psychology, and how they influence each other.
Together, we’ll look at the whole picture, including whether sleep, social connection, rest, nutrition, or movement might be contributing to your anxiety. My approach is integrated, considering both your physical and mental health, and focused on changes that last.
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Anxiety is highly treatable. While some anxiety is a normal part of life, therapy can help reduce persistent worry, fear, and avoidance so they no longer run your life. The goal is to feel better and more confident handling anxiety when it does arise.
