When your brain won’t stop rehearsing.

CBT for teens and adults stuck in worry, what-ifs, and replaying conversations.

Anxiety and Overthinking

Marie Sarte, LCSW

You reread the text before sending it. You replay the meeting on the drive home. You plan for the worst so it can’t surprise you. It’s exhausting, and it rarely feels optional.

What It Can Look Like

“It’s hard for me to turn my brain off at night.” “I keep thinking, what if? I know it’s not rational.” If that sounds like you, you are in the right place.

Lying awake replaying a conversation from hours ago
Avoiding calls or emails because the reply might be bad
Needing reassurance, then doubting it a minute later
A tight chest before ordinary things like work or school
Feeling calm on the outside and frantic on the inside
Knowing the worry isn’t rational and worrying anyway

Worry tries to protect you. The goal isn’t to fight it. It’s to stop letting it make every decision.

How We Work on It

01
Map the loop
We find what sets the worry off, what it says, and what you do to quiet it.
02
Talk back to it
You practice catching anxious predictions and weighing them against what actually happens.
03
Face things in steps
We choose small, manageable steps toward what you’ve been avoiding, at a pace you agree to.
04
Calm the body
Simple breathing and grounding skills you can use in a meeting, a classroom, or bed at 2 a.m.

Illustrative sunlit forest stream running over mossy rocks among ferns

What Can Shift

A handle on the anxiety, and its roots.

The aim is not a life with no worry. It is getting a handle on your anxiety and understanding where it comes from, so a what-if is a thought you can look at instead of an order you have to follow.

For teens and college students, that often means getting through a test, a social plan, or a hard conversation without the night before being lost to it.

Consultation

Free, 15 minutes

A short call to see whether working together makes sense.

Sessions

50 minutes, weekly

Online in Oregon; In person at 1125 SE Market St, Portland, OR 97214. Rates are on Services and Rates.

Cancellations

48 hours notice

Rescheduling within the same week counts as a reschedule, not a late cancellation.

FAQ

Questions About Anxiety Work

Illustrative still forest lake reflecting tall evergreens, with ferns and mossy rocks

Do I have to do exposure?

Only in steps you agree to. We pick small, specific moves toward what you have been avoiding, and we go at a pace that keeps you steady.

What about medication?

I don’t prescribe. If you want to explore medication, I can help you think through questions for your doctor, and therapy works alongside it.

My teenager overthinks everything. Is this for them?

Yes. I have worked with teenagers my entire career and I really enjoy it. I want teens and young adults to have the knowledge and skills to navigate the many life decisions that are ahead of them. The first conversation includes a parent or guardian.