Anxiety, OCD and Trauma-Informed Therapy
in Durham, NC
Compassionate, inclusive, trauma-informed therapy for overthinkers and deep feelers navigating relationship challenges, self-doubt, and emotional overwhelm.
Therapy for the sensitive, overwhelmed, overthinkers.
You might be getting through your days, but your mind is constantly busy replaying, analyzing, or trying to get things “just right,” and your body is left holding the tension and overwhelm.
You overthink, second-guess yourself, and feel pulled into cycles of worry, doubt, or emotional overwhelm. It can feel exhausting trying to keep up with your thoughts while also managing life’s responsibilities.
Maybe you find yourself:
Stuck in your head, replaying conversations or imagining worst-case scenarios
Feeling not good enough, no matter how hard you try
Caught between wanting to change and not knowing how
Overwhelmed by your emotions, or disconnected from them altogether
Over time, these patterns can start to shape how you relate to yourself, your relationships, and your life.
Therapy offers a space to slow down, understand what’s happening beneath the surface, and begin to shift these patterns in a way that feels meaningful and long lasting.
I work with…
Individuals
Navigating anxiety/OCD, trauma, chronic illness and challenges in relationships.
Couples
Navigating challenges in their relationship.
I specialize in working with individuals navigating…
Anxiety & Worry
Support for constant worry, self-doubt and feeling stuck in cycles of overthinking
OCD & Intrusive Thoughts
Help with mental loops, reassurance seeking or checking behaviors, and feeling trapped in your thoughts
Relationship Challenges
Support for navigating relationship patterns, including conflict, disconnection, and feeling stuck in unworkable cycles with others.
Trauma & Past Painful Experiences
Process the impact of experiences that still shape how you feel and relate to yourself, others and the world around you.
Chronic Illness & Health Anxiety
Support for the emotional impact of chronic illness, including anxiety and the strain of living with ongoing uncertainty.
How Therapy Can Help
Therapy can help you begin to feel less stuck in cycles of overthinking, self-doubt, and emotional overwhelm.
Over time, many clients notice that they:
Feel less caught in their thoughts and more able to step back from them
Experience more clarity and confidence in their decisions
Feel more grounded and less emotionally reactive
Develop a more compassionate and trusting relationship with themselves
Feel more connected to themselves, to others, and to what matters most
Rather than trying to eliminate anxiety completely, therapy helps you relate to it differently, so it no longer runs the show.
A Deeper, More Relational Approach
At Connected Living Psychotherapy, I draw from evidence-based and trauma-informed approaches like Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Psychodynamic Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Therapy with me is a collaborative process where we slow things down and explore what’s happening beneath the surface, so you can begin to understand and shift the patterns that are keeping you stuck.
This allows us to gently shift patterns at their root, not just manage them on the surface.
Therapy becomes a space where you can:
feel supported without judgment
explore your experiences with curiosity
build new ways of responding that feel more grounded and aligned
Meet Anna Vargas, LCMHC
(she, her, hers)
As a therapist, I help people…
Reconnect with their sense of self-worth beneath layers of doubt and self-criticism.
Step out of fear based cycles to do what’s meaningful and important.
Celebrate the wins, not just fixate on the losses.
Discover what brings joy and connection to their lives.
Listen to their needs without guilt.
Heal from complicated or painful relational dynamics.
Show up in relationships with more confidence.
What brings me the most joy as a therapist is connecting with folks on a human to human level, giving others the opportunity to be safely seen, heard, understood and feel a little less alone because I believe that is when real transformation and change happens.
All stories are welcome here.
One of the most important parts about therapy is emotional safety for everybody.
It is of the utmost importance to me that every person I work with feels welcome in the therapy space, no matter their background, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, ability, or body. Discrimination impacts mental health. As the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, I have seen first hand what this impact looks and feels like. It’s a big reason why I do this work. Feeling “othered” because your story is different from the majority is deeply painful. I am dedicated to continuously learning and respecting all cultural backgrounds and increasing my own self-awareness through ongoing reflection, supervision, and education.
Schedule A Free Consultation
Begin your journey towards more self-compassion and understanding today. We’ll explore what you’re looking for and how I can support you to ensure we’re the right fit.