Do you find yourself feeling exhausted from bending over backwards, trying to meet everyone in your life’s needs except your own?  Does the idea of not being liked by everyone in your life give you intense anxiety?  Do you struggle to say “no”, and then sometimes feel resentful afterwards for agreeing to things you don’t really want for yourself?

If you are a people pleaser, you may struggle with feeling paralyzed at the idea of speaking up for yourself, no matter how much you prepare or hype yourself up ahead of time.  You worry so much about upsetting those around you that it feels genuinely unsafe to rock the boat.  Or maybe you are so deep into people pleasing that you don’t even know what you want anymore, or like to think of yourself as being the “adaptable” or “easygoing” one.  But then when you feel so exhausted, and maybe even a little annoyed at the end of a long social day, you’re confused:  I thought I was fine doing “whatever”?  Why am I feeling annoyed and on edge?

In this post, we’ll take a look at where people pleasing comes from, how to know if you’re a people pleaser, and how therapy can help you heal from people pleasing to start putting your own needs first.

Anxiety can crop up when we least expect it, and sometimes we’re so preoccupied with everything there is to do, and everyone who needs something from us that we don’t notice it lurking in the background of our lives.  And when we do notice it, it can feel inconvenient - just one more thing to deal with.  But you don’t have to deal with your anxiety alone - therapy can help.  In this post, we’ll explore some common causes of anxiety, and how therapy can help. 

Did you know that women experience anxiety at nearly twice the rate of men? When you think about all the different hats women are expected to wear, it starts to make sense - working professional, parent, childbearing partner, housekeeper, emotional support for everyone in the family - the list goes on.  Juggling all of these different roles can make us overwhelmed, cause us to overthink, and generally worry and feel more stressed.  I’m a Denver anxiety therapist, and through this blog post I’ll help you dig a bit deeper to explore how anxiety shows up in women, and how you can treat it.

Anxiety disorders are the most commonly diagnosed mental health condition in the US, affecting at least 40 million or 19.1% of adult Americans each year. And those are just the people who are seeking treatment or meet criteria for a diagnosis - many people deal with day-to-day anxiety but don’t feel that they are struggling “enough” to get professional help.  Women are also more likely to be diagnosed with an anxiety condition than men, which makes sense when you think about all the hats we wear and responsibilities we juggle.  So, how do you stop feeling so overwhelmed all the time?  Read on for ways to overcome anxiety from a Denver-based anxiety therapist.