Anxiety Therapy in Salt Lake City
The goal isn't a quiet mind. It's your decisions back.
“Mine probably isn’t bad enough to need therapy.”
There’s no bar you have to clear first. The clearest sign is when avoidance starts making your decisions: the plans you cancel, the thing you keep shelving. If you’ve been wondering for a while, that wondering is usually the answer.
- Your decisions backThe goal isn’t a silent mind; it’s the plans, the job, the conversations that anxiety has quietly been vetoing for you.
- The fear stops being an emergencyYou learn to feel anxiety without treating it as an alarm, so it stops making the next move for you.
- Room to grow, not just copeWe work toward a life that’s bigger than the anxiety, rather than one carefully arranged around it.
What the work looks like
If anxiety has been quietly running more of your life than you'd like, you're in the right place. I'm Sarah, a licensed clinical social worker in Salt Lake City, and I work with adults and teens on exactly this: not on switching the feeling off, but on getting your decisions back from it.
When anxiety needs more than willpower
Anxiety is an alarm system, not a character flaw: your body doing its job with the sensitivity turned up too high. That's fine, until it starts making your choices for you. It talks you out of the job. It cancels the plans, ducks the appointment, keeps the hard conversation on a shelf where it can't hurt you. Each of those brings relief in the moment and quietly shrinks the life a little more. By the time most people call me, the feeling isn't really the problem. It's how much it's been allowed to steer.
Who I see for anxiety
Adults and teens both. With adults, a lot of the work is naming where anxiety has quietly been making the decisions, and taking those back one at a time. With a teen it's often more concrete (a stomach that shows up before school, a world narrowing to the safe rooms), and the first call is with a parent, so nobody's put on the spot. If it's your teenager you're reading this for, therapy for teens walks through how that works.
How the work actually goes
I'm not going to promise a quiet mind, because that isn't the goal and chasing it tends to make anxiety louder. The goal is your decisions back. Most of what I do here is ACT: making room for the feeling so it stops being an emergency, getting clear on what actually matters to you, and letting that set the direction instead. When something older sits underneath the anxiety, a memory that still grabs, EMDR is often where we go next. We work out the fit together, not on day one.
In person or by telehealth
In person at Trolley Corner, or by telehealth across Utah. Whichever one actually gets you here. Some anxious people genuinely find it easier to start from their own room, and that's a fine place to start. Sessions are 53 minutes and $150; we can sort out fees and insurance on the call, before anything's booked.
You don’t have to sort this out on your own.
Book a free callor call (801) 513-3505 · Mon–Fri, 9 AM–6 PM MTThe research
What the evidence says
Acceptance-based approaches like ACT have a solid research base for anxiety; a 2014 review of controlled trials found them effective across anxiety and related disorders.
- Acceptance and commitment therapy for anxiety and OCD spectrum disorders: An empirical reviewBluett, E. J., Homan, K. J., Morrison, K. L., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · 2014
Your therapist
LCSW · Licensed in Utah · No. 13989909-3501
MSW · University of Utah
Verified on Psychology TodayQuestions clients ask
The things people ask first
How do I know if my anxiety needs therapy?
There's no threshold you have to cross first. The clearest sign is when avoidance starts making your decisions: the plans you cancel, the job you don't apply for, the conversation you keep shelving. If anxiety has quietly been steering, that's reason enough, and if you've been wondering for a while, that wondering is usually the answer.
What approach do you use for anxiety?
Mostly ACT: making room for the feeling so it stops being an emergency, then letting what matters to you set the direction instead of the fear. When something older sits underneath the anxiety, a memory that still grabs, EMDR is often where we go next. We work out the fit together rather than deciding it on day one.
Do you work with anxious teens?
Yes. With a teen it often looks more concrete (a stomachache before school, a world narrowing to the safe rooms), and the first call is with a parent, so no one's put on the spot. From there the sessions are the teen's own, and I'll show you how to support them, sharing what their safety and progress call for rather than a transcript.
Can anxiety therapy happen online?
Yes. I see adults and teens by secure video anywhere in Utah, and the approaches I use for anxiety translate well to telehealth. Some people focus more easily in the office and others settle faster at home; we can start with the format that fits your life and change it if the work calls for something different.
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