Anxiety Therapy at Lori Kimmerly Therapy, Renton WA and online across Washington

Quiet the Worry and Feel Like Yourself Again

Anxiety can look like racing thoughts at 2am, a body that will not settle, avoidance that keeps shrinking your life, or a constant low hum of dread. Therapy helps you understand what is driving it and gives you practical ways to work with it rather than around it.

In person in Renton, WA · Online throughout Washington · Most insurance accepted

In Short

In person in Renton, WA
Online throughout Washington
Most insurance accepted
Self-pay $40–$150

Insurance

Premera, Cigna, Aetna, Kaiser, Molina, Coordinated Care, Community Health Plan, WellPoint, TriCare, United.

Availability

Now accepting new clients — in person and online.
Schedule Your Consultation ›

From Our Blog

What Is IFS Therapy?
Read the Article ›

What Is Anxiety Therapy?

Worry feeds on itself in a loop. Therapy helps you find the way out of the spiral.

Anxiety therapy is structured support for the worry, fear, and physical tension that will not switch off on their own. Rather than only managing symptoms, our therapists work with what is driving the anxiety underneath — the pattern, the protective habits, and the way your body holds it — so the relief lasts beyond the session.

Worry runs in the background most days and is hard to switch off
You avoid places, people, or situations to keep the anxiety down
Your body stays keyed up — tight chest, clenched jaw, restless sleep
You have panic attacks, or you fear having one
You over-prepare, over-check, or over-explain to feel safe
Anxiety is affecting your work, your relationships, or your health
You have obsessive thoughts or compulsive rituals you cannot stop

Types of Anxiety

Anxiety is not one thing, and the different shapes it takes respond to different kinds of work. These are the patterns we see most often — alongside health anxiety and the high-functioning kind that hides behind getting everything done.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is worry that moves from one thing to the next and rarely switches off — work, health, money, the people you love. It often travels with restlessness, trouble concentrating, and sleep that will not settle.

A panic attack is a surge of intense fear that peaks within minutes — racing heart, tight chest, shortness of breath, the sense that something is badly wrong. Panic disorder is when the attacks keep coming and life starts getting arranged around avoiding the next one.

Social anxiety disorder is the fear of being judged or found lacking in front of other people — speaking up in a meeting, making a phone call, eating in front of others, or simply being looked at.

A specific phobia is intense fear attached to a particular thing or situation — flying, needles, driving, heights, enclosed spaces — strong enough that you organise your life to avoid it. Avoiding brings relief in the moment, which is the part that keeps the fear intact.

This is not a checklist to sort yourself into. Plenty of people arrive with anxiety that does not sit neatly in one of these, or with more than one at once. If what you are carrying is not described here, it is still worth a conversation.

Anxiety and OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is closely related to anxiety, and the two often show up together.

What OCD Actually Looks Like

OCD involves obsessions — unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that cause real distress — and compulsions, the rituals or mental acts people use to make that distress go down. Checking, counting, washing, re-reading, seeking reassurance, and silently reviewing are all common compulsions. The relief they bring is real, but temporary, which is what keeps the cycle going.

Not all compulsions are visible. Many people have primarily mental rituals — sometimes called “pure O” — where the checking, reviewing, and reassurance-seeking all happen silently in the mind. It is just as much OCD, and just as treatable.

How We Work With OCD

Our therapists work with the anxiety, shame, avoidance, and self-criticism that come with OCD — using Internal Family Systems (IFS), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), and somatic approaches to change your relationship to intrusive thoughts rather than fighting them. We have therapists who work with OCD specifically.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the most extensively researched OCD-specific treatment. If ERP is the right fit for what you are dealing with, we will talk that through openly with you at your consultation and help you find appropriate care.

Common OCD Themes

OCD attaches to what matters most to a person, so it shows up in themes. All of them are recognized forms of OCD, and none of them mean anything about who you are:

Contamination and washing
Checking and fear of causing harm
“Just right” symmetry and ordering
Taboo intrusive thoughts — thoughts are not intentions
Relationship OCD — constant doubt about your partner or feelings
Scrupulosity — moral or religious obsessions
Health and body-focused obsessions
Reassurance-seeking that never quite lands

Quick Self-Check: Anxiety or OCD?

Check anything that sounds familiar. This is not a diagnosis — just a starting point for a conversation.

General Anxiety Signs

Racing or looping thoughts you can’t switch offPhysical tension — tight chest, clenched jaw, restless legsAvoiding things because you’re dreading how you’ll feelTrouble falling or staying asleep because your mind won’t quiet

OCD-Specific Signs

Intrusive thoughts that feel stuck on repeat, even when you know they don’t make senseRituals or mental routines you feel you have to complete to feel okayChecking, counting, or repeating actions until it “feels right”

Check anything above that fits — a short note will appear here based on what you select.

This sounds more like general anxiety — the kind that responds well to therapy. Reach out for a consultation and we’ll match you with a therapist and an approach that fits.

Some of what you checked leans more toward OCD than general anxiety — worth exploring with a therapist rather than guessing. Reach out for a consultation and we’ll help you sort out what’s going on and the right next step.

This is a self-reflection tool, not a diagnostic screening. Only a licensed clinician can diagnose anxiety or OCD.

Approaches That Help With Anxiety

Anxiety is usually doing a job — scanning for danger, trying to keep you safe or prepared. Our therapists work with that rather than against it, combining approaches that settle the body with ones that address the underlying patterns, including CBT-informed work. Sessions are available in person in Renton and online throughout Washington.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) — IFS works with the different “parts” of you — the protector that keeps you busy, the critic, the part underneath carrying the hurt. Rather than fighting those parts, IFS helps you understand what each one is trying to do for you, so they can relax. It is one of our practice’s core approaches.Often helps with

Inner criticism and harsh self-talk
Feeling pulled in two directions at once
Old wounds that resurface in current relationships

Anxiety is often a hard-working protector part — scanning, rehearsing, bracing. IFS gets curious about what that part is protecting you from rather than fighting the worry head-on, which is why the change tends to stick. Read more about IFS →

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) — part of the modern cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) family — ACT helps you stop fighting difficult thoughts and feelings and instead build a life around what matters to you. It focuses on psychological flexibility and values-based action rather than trying to eliminate discomfort.Often helps with

Anxiety that grows the harder you fight it
Avoidance that keeps shrinking your world
Reconnecting with what actually matters to you

In practice you learn to notice anxious thoughts without obeying them, make room for uncomfortable body sensations instead of fleeing them, and take small values-guided steps back into the life anxiety has been shrinking — gradual, chosen, and with support.

Somatic & Mind-Body Approaches — Distress lives in the body as much as the mind — the tight chest, the clenched jaw, the restless nights. Somatic work brings the body into therapy, helping you notice and settle those physical patterns rather than only talking about them.Often helps with

A body that will not settle or switch off
Panic, tight chest, clenched jaw, restless sleep
Feeling disconnected from physical sensation

You learn to read your body’s early warning signals, downshift the alarm with breath and grounding before it peaks, and widen your tolerance for activation — so panic loses its launchpad and the body stops being an ambush.

EMDR — EMDR is used to help the brain reprocess distressing memories so they lose their grip. It is particularly associated with trauma and PTSD work.Often helps with

Intrusive memories and flashbacks
Distress that spikes without obvious cause
Single-incident and childhood trauma

When anxiety traces back to specific experiences — an accident, a medical scare, something from childhood — EMDR reprocesses the memories feeding it. Sessions use bilateral stimulation and need very little detailed retelling.

Attachment-Based Therapy — Attachment-based work looks at how your earliest relationships shaped what you expect from people now. Understanding those patterns makes it easier to change how you show up in current relationships.Often helps with

Fear of abandonment or of being crowded
Patterns that repeat across every relationship
Difficulty trusting or depending on others

When the anxiety centres on relationships — fear of abandonment, constant reassurance-seeking, reading every pause as rejection — attachment work addresses the template underneath instead of just the symptom on top.

More About Anxiety

The questions underneath the worry — open whichever one sounds like yours.

Anxiety or stress — where is the line?

Stress is a response to a real load, and it eases when the load does. Anxiety keeps going after the deadline passes, shows up before anything has happened, and is usually out of proportion to the trigger — or has no visible trigger at all. If your alarm system fires on quiet days, that is worth addressing, and it responds well to therapy.

Physical symptoms of anxiety: how it shows up in the body

Racing heart, tight chest, clenched jaw, churning stomach, shallow breath, exhaustion that sleep does not fix. Many people chase these symptoms through medical workups before anyone asks about anxiety — and the symptoms are completely real, because the stress response is a full-body event. Therapy that includes the body, not just the thoughts, is often what finally moves them.

Why avoidance makes anxiety grow

Avoiding the feared thing buys relief now and pays for it later: each avoided situation gets added to the map of places anxiety owns, and the world gets smaller. Therapy reverses this gently — small, supported, chosen steps back toward what matters, so your confidence rebuilds on evidence instead of reassurance.

What helps in the middle of a panic attack?

Lengthen your exhale (longer out than in), press your feet into the floor, name five things you can see — and remind yourself that panic peaks and passes within minutes, and staying put teaches your brain the alarm was false. What helps long-term is treating the pattern: therapy reduces both how often panic comes and how much fear you carry between attacks.

What to Expect: Your First Session and Beyond

1Reach out

Fill out the contact form or call the office. We’ll match you with a therapist who fits and schedule a complimentary consultation.

2First session

Your therapist gets to know you — what the anxiety looks like day to day and what you want to be different. You will not be pushed into anything that spikes it.

3Early sessions

Together you map what sets the anxiety off, what keeps it going, and start building coping skills and tools that work in real situations.

4Ongoing work

Sessions continue at a pace that works for you — usually weekly to start — with regular check-ins on what’s changing and what still needs work.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does anxiety therapy cost?

Sessions run $40–$150 depending on which therapist you see. We accept most major insurance, self-pay is welcome, and a limited number of reduced-fee spots are available.

How do I know if I have anxiety or just stress?

Stress usually eases when the situation does. Anxiety tends to stick around, show up in your body, and start shrinking what you are willing to do. You do not need a diagnosis to start therapy.

How long does it take for therapy to help anxiety?

Some people feel some relief early simply from having a plan. Lasting change usually takes consistent sessions over a few months. Your therapist will be honest with you about what to expect.

Do I need medication for anxiety, or is therapy enough?

That is a decision for you and a prescriber — our therapists do not prescribe. Many people do well with therapy alone; others find a combination works better. We can coordinate with your prescriber.

Does therapy actually work for panic attacks?

Yes. Approaches that settle the nervous system, combined with work on what is driving the panic, are well established for panic symptoms.

Does insurance cover therapy here?

We accept Premera Blue Cross, Cigna, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Molina (Medicaid), Coordinated Care, Community Health Plan, WellPoint, TriCare, and United Health Care. Coverage varies by plan, so contact us to verify yours before your first session.

Is online therapy as effective as in person?

Yes — telehealth sessions use the same approaches, and many clients find it easier to attend consistently. We offer online therapy throughout Washington.

Do you treat OCD?

Our therapists work with OCD-related anxiety, avoidance, shame, and intrusive thoughts, and we have therapists who work with OCD specifically. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the most researched OCD-specific treatment — if that is the right fit for you, we will discuss it openly at your consultation and help you find appropriate care.

Will I have to talk about things that make me anxious?

Only at a pace you set. Your therapist will not push you into your most difficult material on day one. Pacing is something you decide together, and you can always slow it down.

Is what I share in therapy confidential?

Yes. What you share in session is protected by therapist-client confidentiality and Washington state law. There are a small number of legally required exceptions (for example, imminent risk of harm to yourself or others), which your therapist will explain clearly before you begin.