Stop finding yourself in the same spiral of anxiety and self-doubt - without waiting 2+ years to get there

Welcome to the Anxiety Lab

for Recovering People-Pleasers

Experience significant anxiety relief in 5 focused, transformative sessions

You might know the most about what you don’t want. That’s great! No more…

Exhaustion from 2nd (and also 3rd, 4th, 5th) guessing yourself

On repeat, about everything.

Anxiety making too many of the decisions.

TOO MANY!

Olympic-level people-pleasing

(You have enough medals in that)

Playing the worst game of hide-and-seek ever

with the past :/

Burnout.

Or its cousin - pushing yourself hard to get it done, but not admitting to yourself that you are burnt out.

Wondering, “Is it me -

was that thing (that SOMEONE ELSE DID) my fault?”

Maybe (probably) you’re in therapy, or have been. And you can see the improvement, inch-by-inch, but you want something bigger to happen, sooner.

At this rate, it might be a million years before you actually feel different and know how the f to stop finding yourself in the same spiral of anxiety and self-doubt.

Some part of you knows - you are NOT totally “fine”

  • You were the helpful child, the easiest child – definitely not the biggest issue or problem in your childhood home 

  • You've been (or are now) that “therapist” friend – you could basically bill for those conversations if the insurance companies weren’t so narrow-minded  

  • You try not to be a bother – no trouble, no hassle. You’re polite – so polite, in fact, that you apologize before you can catch yourself when someone bumps into you and it’s totally their fault 

  • What is with these relationships where you give more than you receive, doing lots of things for lots of people? It seems you’re not asking for much, so then why do you keep ending up last, hurt, or disappointed?

  • If you look back, you see that there wasn’t time, space, energy, or attention for you to make it to the top of the list. But now things are different but you find that you still happen to be at the bottom of the list – or accidentally do things that put you there 

(Aaaaaand this is how you really feel on the inside)

I’m Julia :)

I am a proud social worker and therapist who helps young adults find themselves and their freedom.

AND…I used to actively compete in the people-pleasing Olympics. And it just so happens that when we are (accidentally) going for the people-pleasing gold, we end up ignoring, denying, and just plain not noticing a lot of things - like our body’s signals, our needs, and our anger. Because of all that, I was often a ball of anxiety. My own moment of clarity came when I realized that I just didn’t know what the f to DO with anger…or any of its cousins, like frustration, annoyance, and resentment.

I knew what I didn’t want to do – keep ignoring the feelings no one taught me how to deal with, feel frustrated, and have rip-roaring arguments with people in my head. I knew there was a huge amount of middle ground between people-pleasing silence and exploding, but that just felt like a grand-canyon-sized question mark. So I began a journey to figure it out, and now I can take you through that process in a handful of sessions instead of more than a decade. 

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath/

Scared to rock the boat and make a mess/

So I sat quietly, agreed politely/

Wait wait, is that that Katy Perry song?!? Oh yes. Yes it is because it is SO APPLICABLE!! And it continues…

I guess that I forgot I had a choice/

All this anxiety has basically gotten you a PhD in overthinking. In fact, you’ve done several dissertations-worth of overthinking in your head.

  • You’ve said or thought this: “I am not a perfectionist, I just…”

  • You dismiss or gloss over your struggle (you know this is you if you got an immediate sense of, “yes, I DO do that!” and then another part jumping up saying, “nuh-uuuuh!”)

  • That dismissing might sound like: “why am I struggling, it’s not like I had so many horrible things happen to me. So many other people have had it so much worse! I’m fine, I should be able to get my shit together.”

  • You have a sneaking suspicion that you’re too hard on yourself, while another part of you might argue: hears that, snorts, and says, “you KNOW you can do better.” (rude!)

Let’s alleviate your ANXIETY in unique ways, like accessing your anger - ON PURPOSE!!

We are not taught about our feelings - often not explicitly, and what we do learn by watching others - eh, that is not great.

What are we supposed to do when we’re taught nothing about feelings and then we begin to realize that where that’s gotten us is a whole lot of anxiety, and endless striving without feeling a sense of calm, confidence – like it’s finally “enough” and we can rest?  

Maybe we pick up some things from social media, like YouTube videos about anxious attachment, a million posts about self-care, or learning about the idea of boundaries. But it’s a HUGE job to actually put that all into practice!

Even for me, as a good, caring, therapist-person, with all my extra training - I still got stuck with anxiety, I still couldn’t seem to figure out how to process the most uncomfortable feelings (like anger) in a healthy way. 

Wherever you are at with YOUR anger - anywhere on the spectrum from totally disconnected (anger? what? who - me?) to brimming with anger, up to there, and dying for a healthy way to channel it - we will take steps forward. Those steps will help alleviate the anxiety that comes from ignoring your anger (and therefore your boundaries) AND move you towards more freedom and confidence.

You hear my voice, you hear that sound/

like thunder gonna shake the ground/

Yup, here it is again :)

…And you’re gonna hear me ROAR

Ready to try something new?

Then I invite you to join me in the Anxiety Lab!

The magic of the Anxiety Lab is in stepping outside your day-to-day happenings and details, focusing on your anxiety with in-depth (longer than average), structured sessions. This focused work will shift things in your system, and you will notice a difference.

Then you percolate, you practice (in a manageable, non-overwhelming, personalized way), and we follow-up to really put a bow on our work and your transformation. Like learning the moves of a dance, once you go through this process, you will know that this kind of shift is possible, and how to do it again.

Learn how to speak up, sooner…even about difficult things :)

When we are done with the Anxiety Lab, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and clear progress. You will understand so much more about your anxiety. You will have done a piece of healing work with the anxiety that has been taking up too much of your mental space and energy. High-fives all around!

At 2pm on a random day, you might feel the familiar tug of that cycle of overwhelm and over-thinking, but instead of getting lost, you notice it, pause, breathe, use the tool we’ve created together for you, and reset yourself much quicker than ever before.

You will also:

  • Have clearer boundaries

  • Beat yourself up less (yes, that is possible, and you can do it WITHOUT freaking out that you’ll lose something important)

  • Have practice with taking up space

  • Feel less overwhelmed

  • And…

Learn how to better have your own back

Develop an inner touchstone or compass to turn to when you feel lost and confused, which leads to…

more confidence in your decisions

Close those tabs, let them go! Less tabs open, less often =

less spinning in your mind

Have practices and a plan to continue, in doable (not overwhelming) ways,

building upon the work we’ve done in reducing anxiety

The Anxiety Lab experience is structured in sandwich form (a delicious, healing sandwich):

Session #1 (bottom bun)

  • We’ll cover the themes of body and movement (in every session!) and intention

  • You’ll leave with an inner touchstone, so that you can come back to it and feel comfort and guidance whenever you’re struggling.

Session #2 (sauces & toppings)

  • We’ll cover decisions

  • You’ll learn the process that you can (always from now on) walk yourself through to get untangled and move forward when indecision and confusion strikes.

Session #4 (top bun)

  • We’ll cover speaking up

  • You’ll decide what old beliefs you’re ready to let go of, and leave knowing the words that you need to hear to get out of anxiety and overthinking.

Session #3 (protein)

  • We’ll cover anger + boundaries (big topics, big session!)

  • You’ll experience healing and compassion for past (anxious) you, so that you can move towards the future and life that adult you wants.

Extras (included with your sandwich)

Guided Experiments Outside the Lab (sides)

You’re going to be doing some exercises before and between sessions - all with clear, structured guidance.

Independently:

  • Listen to some recordings - follow along, try something new, continue the spirit of experimenting.

  • Build on the themes of body and movement, intention, decisions, boundaries, speaking up, and taking up space.

Session #5: Follow-Up (dessert)

Eat when you have room = follow-up ~1 month after session #4

In our follow-up, we’ll check-in, notice and celebrate all the changes that have happened, wrap up any loose ends from your journey, and tweak things as-needed.

You’ll have a clear plan and path forward for how to continue on and amplify our work, so your confidence and ease continue to grow.

The Anxiety Lab, start to finish:

  1. Begin the sign-up process by filling out the interest form. I'll get back to you via a video to say hello and with answers to any questions. If you want to set up a time to talk it through before making a decision, we can have a free 15m video chat.

  2. We’ll get you officially signed-up and schedule our sessions together!

  3. We will meet via a secure video platform for our sessions.

  4. Anxiety Lab time! We’ll have our sessions: #1 (1.5h), #2 (1.5h), and #3 (3h), and #4 (1.5h). In-between our sessions, you’ll do guided exercises that will make our work together all the more impactful.

  5. You’ll have a month to percolate and let all our powerful work settle, and then we’ll close with follow-up session #5 (45m).

  6. Walk away from our work together with less worry and more confidence - knowing you have your own back.

Scheduling

  • Wed is my favorite Anxiety Lab day (9a-6p)

  • Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri - there’s pockets of time available 

  • Sat/Sun mid-morning to early afternoon = possible

All you get to experience with Anxiety Lab:

  • 8+ hours of one-on-one time with me, actively working with your anxiety in a focused, powerful (and kind, supportive) way.

  • Guided activities and exercises between each session, which will both help you make the most of your Anxiety Lab Experience, and be yours to use as resources whenever you want.

  • Messaging in-between sessions: each time you finish the between-session exercises, you can message me with your thoughts, reactions, and any questions you have, and I will respond with encouragement and answers.

  • Personalized tools and techniques! We’re going to experiment with what tools and techniques work best for YOU. I have a treasure trove of these to draw from, and all my best stuff is there, but we’ll go one step further and make it just right for you. In Session #1, we’ll begin developing a personalized practice that is unique to you, and we’ll refine it each time we meet. In the follow-up session, I’ll create an activity just for you - that I know will be what you need most to leave our work together feeling more freedom, ease, and confidence.

Price: $850

Still not sure if it’s for you?

Anxiety Lab is great for you if: 

  • You enjoy structured, active forms of support

  • You are excited about the idea of trying different things, other than all talking like most traditional therapy (including at least some of the following: structured activities, closing your eyes and being guided to imagine things, moving your body, expressing yourself by drawing in scribbles and stick figures, writing)

  • You want to be an active partner in your own growth and healing

  • You will be happy with tangible progress, but are not expecting perfection/0% anxiety

  • You are all set up with a regular therapist, coach, mentor, and/or friend(s) who provide you enough support on the day-to-day stuff that you (of course!) have to tell people about

  • You think you can develop enough trust with a fairly new person in order to open up and accept some support about the difficult stuff

Anxiety Lab is not great for you if:

  • You are brand-spanking-new to therapy

  • You will need to feel that your anxiety is 100% finished (never to be seen or heard from again) in order to feel this was worthwhile

  • The way your stuckness is presently showing up has you unable to get anything done (this deserves healing and attention, but this program is not the best fit if this is your dominant safety strategy, as this is a very active program; parts of you will dig in their heels, and so it won’t be effective)

  • Chaos, crisis, or trauma is overpowering, dominant, and cannot make space for focusing on your anxiety and people-pleasing.

  • You feel annoyed or stressed out about the idea of having to do stuff outside of session time - either because that’s not your jam or because of your current schedule/time constraints

  • You don’t have a place/physical space to do this with excellent privacy, where you feel emotionally safe

FAQs

How much time is it going to take?

The majority of the Anxiety Lab experience takes place over the course of 4 weeks. After that, there’s a follow-up meeting that happens within a month. During the 4 weeks of the program, it’s best to plan for about an hour outside/independent time, in addition to the session time, for totals like this: 

  • Week 1: 2.5h (1.5 scheduled, 1 independent)

  • Week 2: 2.5h (1.5 scheduled, 1 independent)

  • Week 3: 4h (3 scheduled, 1 independent)

  • Week 4: 2.5h (1.5 scheduled, 1 independent)

After week 4, in order to get the most out of your experience, plan for a daily practice (1-5m) for 30d.

  • Follow-up: 1.5h (45m scheduled, 45m independent)

Will I have to tell my whole story, all that’s happened that’s felt bad and (I know on some level) has made me more anxious?

Maybe it makes you sweaty because you’ve never done that before. Or maybe you’ve done it too many times; it’s exhausting, and you’re not really sure how much you get out of it when you tell it anyway.

The answer is: not…really. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. I won’t be asking you to tell me whole the story of it. I will ask you to talk with me about your anxiety, and your ideas about what causes it. If you’re not totally sure, that’s okay - you’ll learn a lot about that throughout the process.

During the Anxiety Lab, you will be expressing elements of your experience in some ways that are slightly different than traditional (vanilla) talk therapy. Think of it as a swirl cone (some vanilla/talk therapy) rather than just vanilla.

If you’re still unsure about the telling-your-story part of it, you might fill out the interest form and tell me something like, “I’m not sure about the telling my story part of it because…” and then let me know why, and we can sort this out together.

Fill out the interest form to ask questions, see if this is a fit for you, and/or connect if you want to set up a time to talk it through before making a decision.

Or, if it feels more comfortable, get in touch via email: julia(AT SIGN)4outof4mentalhealth.com

Experience The Anxiety Lab for Recovering People-Pleasers

Gain confidence in yourself without having to: wait until you’re old and wise, climb an actual mountain, or do a million affirmations that parts of you haaaaate…and that don’t stick anyway.