Stress, PTSD and Anxiety Therapists in San Francisco, CA.

Anxiety and stress are not just clinical diagnoses. They are pervasive to the human condition. If you are alive, you are feeling them. They play a role in relationships, work, eating, sleeping... everything! However, it is not enough to simply "manage" them. We need to understand what scares us, what keeps us awake at night, what it is that matters to us. Because anxiety is experienced to some degree whenever something matters, it also points us to our desire and helps us to learn about what we want. Therapy can help us make use of our anxiety to give us a better sense of what we want from our lives and how to confront the fears that are on the way.

I begin by understanding how you experience anxiety/stress because how you experience them is unique for you. Then we begin to increase your tolerance for how you experience anxious/stressful thoughts, feelings, memories, and/or situations. This is necessary so the anxiety/stress stops being an overwhelming experience that interferes and gets in the way of your life. It's crucial to be able to become more comfortable when you experience anxiety/stress because they're a part life. The problem is the distressing and limiting to debilitating effect they have on you. As you learn to be able to do this, you will begin to experience more peacefulness, calm, hope, self-confidence and self-esteem.

Anxiety and stress come in all shapes and sizes and can be thought of as acting on different levels, including the physiological, cognitive, and behavioral levels. These levels often interact with each other and can make it difficult to function in life. I can help you gain an objective understanding of your anxiety and stress and teach you skills to help you cope more effectively with future stressful events.

The Psychology Clinic at San Francisco State University offers low-fee individual, couple, family, and group psychotherapy to SF State students and members of the Bay Area community. The clinic is staffed by graduate students in clinical psychology, working under the supervision of licensed clinicians.

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Our individual session fees typically range from $10- to $50- per session however we do not turn anyone away who is unable to pay. We work with a range of individuals from the student population to the broader community. Child and family psychotherapy is available at no cost.

I create a transformative experience that emphasizes your personal growth and well-being. My approach to anxiety recovery prioritizes the unique needs and goals of each client, fostering a safe and supportive environment where you can explore and overcome anxiety-related challenges. By focusing on practical strategies and personalized interventions, clients will gain the tools and insights needed to manage anxiety and stress more effectively. This tailored approach of somatic, emotion-focused, and attachment-focused therapeutic techniques will empower you to build resilience, enhance quality of life, and achieve a more balanced and fulfilling existence free from painful anxiety.

There is an almost infinite list of causes for anxiety and stress, probably a few more if you live in a metropolitan area. Maybe your anxiety is decades old from trauma, family of origin, or chemically related. Perhaps it's situational and can be attributed to a recently suffered trauma, is work related, or relationship related. When you are stressed out or anxious, your brain doesn't function optimally. Instead, it functions in crisis mode and impairs your decision making ability and leaves you feeling too drained for the rest of your life. I will help you to regain your control by giving you concrete strategies and tools to manage them.

I assist hardworking professionals in managing anxiety and stress while upholding their commitment to excellence in both their careers and personal lives. My clients place significant value on their work, relationships, and family. Worries about disappointing others in their work and personal life contribute to exhaustion from negative thoughts while juggling various responsibilities. I believe that attaining a sense of engagement in life, striving for excellence in work, feeling loved and supported, and experiencing reduced anxiety and stress is achievable for you. I offer a complimentary 15-minute consultation for you to judge if we would be a good fit. You don't have to suffer alone.

Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, anxiety disorders and ongoing chronic stress can appear as repeated episodes of worry & fear, or develop into sudden feelings of intense anxiety with physical sensations, known as panic attacks. Your anxiety may feel related to an event or thought, and other times appear to occur randomly and without cause. Anxiety can develop at any age, when left untreated it may develop into depression. In therapy we will explore how anxiety is affecting your life. You will learn how your physical, emotional and mental health are connected and together create an effective treatment plan specific to your goals to improve your well-being.

With the current times, stress and anxiety may be heightened and affecting various aspects of your life such as: work, relationships, sleep, and every day responsibilities. Anxiety can be overwhelming but it can be treated and you will get better. I will help you learn tools to manage and decrease your anxiety by developing an awareness of your triggers.

Anxiety and stress are the symptoms I treat most often in my practice. Some people are not aware, but trauma is deep-rooted anxiety that is held within our body. We can feel anxious about work, children, relationships, or family. We can feel stressed about work or relationships and friendships. A highly effective tool for treating these symptoms is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a way that you can learn to relax the anxiety that is held within your body and your mind. I love this technique because it is not only highly effective, but it is very easy to learn. You can walk away from your first therapy session with a start to your mindfulness journey and have real tools at your disposal.

Anxiety in my experience works similarly to depression. If depression is caused by unexpressed feelings, anxiety is caused by unexpressed fear. It may be a therapist cliche to talk about creating safety and trust, but this is especially true of helping to heal anxiety. It really is about helping the client feel safe to express their fears and worries and to learn to feel safe to have the full range of our emotional expression.

While most treatment approaches for anxiety and stress are effective on the surface, they don’t treat the real problem. Mantras, deep breathing, and rational dialogues about your fear being irrational rarely work---for most people don’t believe it or you! Imagine if you can trick the brain into changing without you telling your conscious mind that you are changing it? Problem with anxiety and stress is that the brain in this state knows you want to change it and it resists. Contact Kevin@kevinfleminphd.com for the ultimate stress and anxiety solution that will literally change your brain's autonomic nervous system patterns while you sit on your butt. 877-606-6161.