Anxiety & Overthinking
When your mind won’t let something go.
You replay conversations. Think through every possible outcome. Question decisions you’ve already made. Prepare for things that haven’t happened yet. And even when you know you’re probably overthinking, telling yourself to “just stop worrying” doesn’t make your brain cooperate.
Anxiety isn’t always panic attacks or obvious fear. Sometimes it looks like being constantly on edge, needing reassurance, avoiding situations that make you uncomfortable, procrastinating because you’re afraid of getting something wrong, or trying to control everything around you so nothing catches you off guard.
I provide anxiety therapy in the Austin area and online throughout Texas for adults who want to understand what’s driving their anxiety—not just temporarily quiet it.
What Can Anxiety Look Like?
Anxiety can show up differently from one person to another. You might experience:
- Constant overthinking or racing thoughts
- Replaying conversations in your head
- Expecting the worst-case scenario
- Difficulty making decisions
- Needing reassurance from other people
- Avoiding situations that make you anxious
- Procrastination driven by fear or perfectionism
- Trouble relaxing even when nothing is obviously wrong
- Feeling restless, tense, or constantly “on”
- Difficulty sleeping because your mind won’t shut off
- Irritability or becoming overwhelmed easily
- Fear of disappointing other people
- People-pleasing or difficulty saying no
- Physical symptoms such as muscle tension, a racing heart, or feeling shaky
Sometimes you know exactly what you’re anxious about.
Other times, there’s just a persistent feeling that something isn’t right or something bad is about to happen.
When Anxiety Starts Driving Your Behavior
This is where anxiety connects directly to the work I specialize in.
Anxiety doesn’t only affect how you feel. It can start influencing what you do.
You avoid something because avoiding it makes the anxiety disappear temporarily.
You ask for reassurance because uncertainty feels unbearable.
You overthink because your brain believes that if it considers every possibility, you’ll be prepared.
You procrastinate because starting means risking failure.
You people-please because disappointing someone feels more threatening than ignoring your own needs.
Those responses can make sense in the moment. The problem is that short-term relief can reinforce the same cycle you’re trying to escape.
Instead of only asking “How do I make my anxiety stop?”, therapy gives us room to ask another question:
“What is my anxiety getting me to do—and is that behavior actually helping me?”
How Anxiety Therapy Can Help
My approach isn’t about telling you to “think positive” or convincing you that everything will be fine.
We’ll work on understanding your individual anxiety cycle: what triggers it, what thoughts appear, what happens emotionally and physically, and what you tend to do next.
From there, we can work toward recognizing anxious patterns sooner, tolerating uncertainty, challenging unhelpful thinking, reducing avoidance, developing healthier coping strategies, setting boundaries, and responding differently when anxiety shows up.
The goal isn’t necessarily to never feel anxious again.
It’s to reach a point where anxiety can be present without automatically deciding what you do next.
Anxiety and Overthinking in Relationships
Anxiety can follow you into relationships, too.
You might analyze someone’s tone, wonder whether they’re upset with you, need repeated reassurance, struggle with boundaries, avoid difficult conversations, or assume the worst when someone’s behavior changes.
Sometimes the anxiety creates the very relationship patterns you’re trying to prevent.
Therapy can help you recognize those cycles and learn different ways to handle uncertainty, vulnerability, communication, and conflict.
Anxiety Therapy in Austin & Online Across Texas
I’m Amanda Hanson, a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate, supervised by Bryan Moffitt, LPC-S.
I provide counseling for adults experiencing anxiety, overthinking, avoidance, people-pleasing, perfectionism, stress, and repeating behavioral or relationship patterns.
I serve the Austin area and surrounding communities, with online anxiety therapy available throughout Texas. Evening and weekend appointments are available.
Your Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Make Every Decision
You don’t need to wait until your anxiety becomes unbearable before getting help.
If you’re exhausted from thinking about everything that could happen, avoiding things because they make you uncomfortable, or letting fear make decisions you’d rather make for yourself, that’s something we can work on.
Understanding what’s driving the anxiety is where change begins.