Performance Anxiety

Is Performance Anxiety Getting In The Way Of Your Goals?

Have you developed performance anxiety when it comes to your job, academics, athletics, or art?

Are activities like public speaking, test-taking, or playing an instrument impossible for you to

imagine or feel confident about?

Do you experience physical symptoms like nausea, sweating, or a racing heart when expected to

perform?

It’s normal to feel a little nervous or uncertain when we are preparing to be “on” for others.

Anxiety is something we all experience from time to time. But when physical symptoms and

mental anguish prevent us from being able to perform with confidence, it signals that our anxiety

is going haywire.

If you’re in school or a high-pressure job atmosphere, it’s possible your performance anxiety is a

bit more acute. Especially if tests, presentations, performances, or sporting games are a regular

part of your routine, your symptoms may have increased or worsened over time.

Therapy is an effective way to manage performance anxiety. By working together in counseling,

we can explore the origins of your anxiety, work on overcoming stressors, and develop strategies

to optimize your performance.

The Voice Pushing For Success Might Also Be Perpetuating Your Fears

Performance anxiety signals something really simple: you don’t want to fail. This fear may be

particularly intense if you were raised in a culture or environment with extremely high

expectations, or if you’ve received negative feedback in the past about what you can and cannot

do. And when you live with the internal monologue that you’re incapable or under-prepared, it

can lead to a lot of shame, hopelessness, and difficulty concentrating.

While it may feel like you’re the only one struggling with performance anxiety, the truth is that

this issue is incredibly common. As an example, it’s estimated that between 10 and 40 percent of

students experience some level of test anxiety. [1] In adulthood, performance anxiety often

manifests as workplace stress, irritability, and difficulty connecting.

There are actionable skills you can learn in therapy to help you stop and slow down the cycle of

performance anxiety. By learning to think differently about your stressors through emotional

exploration, cognitive restructuring, and other tools, you can feel empowered to change the way

you approach performance anxiety.

I Specialize In Therapy For Performance Anxiety

My treatment approach is well-suited to teens and adults experiencing any aspect of performance anxiety, including:

● High school, college, and graduate-level students navigating high-stress academic

demands (including test anxiety)

● Professionals who want to enhance their presentation and public speaking skills

● Athletes, musicians, and other artists who feel blocked or experience “stage fright” when

performing

● Job seekers experiencing acute anxiety during interviews

Using a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), gentle exposure, and techniques

for promoting relaxation, I help people learn new ways of preparing themselves for high-pressure situations that don’t trap them in the performance anxiety cycle.

What To Expect

Anxiety has a way of speeding up the stress response so that you don’t know what’s really

happening beneath the surface.

My goal as a therapist is to help you connect your symptoms to your experiences and emotions so that you can be more aware of performance anxiety triggers as they arise. Then, through gentle, gradual exposure to your stressors—starting with less anxiety-provoking situations—you can learn to face and overcome your fears in real time. Along the way, you will develop concrete skills for managing all kinds of stressors in your life.

It's possible to feel less overwhelmed and controlled by your fear of performing. Through this

process, you can free yourself from the stress responses that are no longer working. By

collaborating with you on a meaningful plan to quiet the inner voice that tries to convince you

that you can’t, we can enhance your confidence and self-empowerment in counseling.

Common Concerns About Treatment For Performance Anxiety

I’ve had performance anxiety all my life—therapy won’t make a difference or will take too long.

Treatment can be short-term, especially when it’s for something specific like performance anxiety. In focused sessions, we will connect your performance anxiety symptoms to the thoughts and beliefs fueling your discomfort. Then, working at a gentle yet productive pace, we will safely expose you to anxiety triggers while slowing down your automatic stress response in the moment.

Practicing these skills alongside a therapist and in your day-to-day life will allow you to reduce performance anxiety symptoms within a matter of weeks or months.

Talking about my performance anxiety with a therapist will just make me feel worse.

The right therapist should make you feel better, not worse. And in the counseling space, you are given a rare opportunity to let go of performance anxiety with a specialist who can support you in building resilience and approaching your fears with confidence and composure.

I encourage you to try therapy for a few sessions or schedule a consultation to see how quickly you can begin to see results. This work is hard sometimes, but you can do it!

I’ll become reliant on counseling in order to perform.

Therapy for performance anxiety is not designed to take forever, and the goal is always to get you to a place where you feel confident to apply the skills and insights you gain without the help of a therapist.

My job is to guide you in developing your toolkit for coping with anxiety so that you can take what you learn inside of therapy and bring it to your next test, interview, or big presentation.

Once you have the skills in place, you’ll have what you need to manage stress both now and in the future.

My hope as your therapist is to foster a trusting relationship with you that honors your pace and goals for anxiety treatment. I find that when clients are aware of the growth and healing that therapy provides, they can become their most authentic and self-compassionate selves.

Performance Anxiety

Is Performance Anxiety Getting In The Way Of Your Goals?

The Voice Pushing For Success Might Also Be Perpetuating Your Fears

I Specialize In Therapy For Performance Anxiety

I’ve had performance anxiety all my life—therapy won’t make a difference or will take too long.

Talking about my performance anxiety with a therapist will just make me feel worse.

I’ll become reliant on counseling in order to perform.

Optimize Your Performance And Free Yourself From The Anxiety Cycle

My Blog

Performance Anxiety

Is Performance Anxiety Getting In The Way Of Your Goals?

The Voice Pushing For Success Might Also Be Perpetuating Your Fears

I Specialize In Therapy For Performance Anxiety

I’ve had performance anxiety all my life—therapy won’t make a difference or will take too long.

Talking about my performance anxiety with a therapist will just make me feel worse.

I’ll become reliant on counseling in order to perform.

Optimize Your Performance And Free Yourself From The Anxiety Cycle

My Blog

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