Mental Health Conditions
Understanding your symptoms is often the first step toward healing.
Whether you’re experiencing anxiety, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, grief, panic attacks, or another mental health concern, learning more about your experiences can help you make informed decisions about your care.
Explore Common Mental Health Concerns
Select a condition below to learn about common signs and symptoms, contributing factors, treatment approaches, frequently asked questions, and how counseling may help.
This page is intended for educational purposes only and should not be used to diagnose or treat any mental health condition.
What Are Anxiety Disorders?
Feeling anxious from time to time is a normal part of life. However, when anxiety becomes persistent, excessive, or interferes with daily life, it may be part of an anxiety disorder. Anxiety can affect work, school, relationships, physical health, and overall quality of life.
Anxiety disorders are highly treatable. Therapy can help individuals understand triggers, reduce distressing symptoms, challenge anxious thinking, and develop healthier responses.
Common Signs
- Excessive worry
- Feeling overwhelmed or on edge
- Irritability
- Racing thoughts
- Catastrophizing
- Difficulty concentrating
- Trouble making decisions
Common Symptoms
- Rapid heartbeat or chest tightness
- Muscle tension and headaches
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue and sleep difficulties
- Avoidance
- Reassurance seeking
- Social withdrawal
Different Anxiety Disorders
Persistent worry across multiple areas of life.
Recurring panic attacks and fear of future attacks.
Fear of judgment or embarrassment in social situations.
Intense fear related to a particular object or situation.
Persistent fear of separation from important attachment figures.
What Causes Anxiety?
- Genetics and brain chemistry
- Personality traits
- Chronic stress
- Trauma and adverse childhood experiences
- Medical conditions
- Substance use
- Major life transitions
How Therapy Can Help
- Identify anxiety triggers
- Reduce excessive worry
- Challenge anxious thought patterns
- Build coping and relaxation skills
- Reduce avoidance behaviors
- Improve emotional regulation
- Process trauma when appropriate
Related Therapy Modalities
Treatment is individualized based on symptoms, goals, and preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is anxiety normal?
Yes. Anxiety becomes a concern when it is persistent, excessive, or interferes with daily life.
Can anxiety cause physical symptoms?
Yes. Anxiety may cause headaches, muscle tension, stomach discomfort, rapid heartbeat, fatigue, chest tightness, and sleep problems.
Can children experience anxiety disorders?
Yes. Children and adolescents can experience anxiety, although symptoms may look different depending on age and development.
Is medication always necessary?
No. Some people benefit from therapy alone, while others benefit from a combination of therapy and medication.
What is the difference between stress and anxiety?
Stress is usually tied to a specific challenge. Anxiety may continue after the stressor ends or occur without an obvious trigger.
You Don’t Have to Face Anxiety Alone.
Our clinicians provide compassionate, evidence-based care tailored to your needs and goals.
This information is educational and is not a substitute for a personalized evaluation.
What Is ADHD?
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects attention, impulse control, organization, and executive functioning. It can be diagnosed in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. ADHD is not a lack of intelligence, motivation, or effort.
Common Signs
- Difficulty focusing
- Easily distracted
- Forgetfulness
- Frequently losing items
- Trouble completing tasks
- Poor organization
- Time-management difficulties
Common Signs
- Fidgeting or restlessness
- Difficulty sitting still
- Excessive talking
- Interrupting conversations
- Acting without thinking
- Difficulty waiting
- Emotional impulsivity
ADHD in Children and Adults
Academic struggles, emotional outbursts, frequent redirection, difficulty with routines, and friendship challenges.
Chronic procrastination, workplace difficulties, forgetfulness, financial-management concerns, unfinished projects, and feeling overwhelmed.
Areas That May Be Affected
- Planning
- Prioritizing
- Organization
- Time management
- Task initiation
- Working memory
- Emotional regulation
How Therapy Can Help
- Improve organization
- Strengthen executive functioning
- Build emotional-regulation skills
- Reduce stress
- Support self-esteem
- Improve relationships
- Provide parent coaching and school support
Related Approaches
Plans are individualized based on age, symptoms, and goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ADHD only diagnosed in children?
No. Many adults are diagnosed later in life after recognizing long-standing attention and executive-functioning challenges.
Does ADHD mean someone is lazy?
No. ADHD affects how the brain manages attention, organization, and impulse control.
Can therapy help ADHD?
Yes. Therapy can improve organization, coping skills, emotional regulation, self-esteem, and relationships.
Is medication required?
No. Some people use therapy alone, while others benefit from medication combined with therapy.
Build Skills That Support Everyday Success.
Support is available for children, adolescents, and adults navigating ADHD.
This information is educational and is not intended to diagnose or replace professional evaluation.
What Is OCD?
OCD involves recurring unwanted thoughts, images, or urges called obsessions and repetitive behaviors or mental rituals called compulsions. OCD is much more than being neat or organized and can significantly interfere with daily life.
Common Examples
- Fear of contamination
- Fear of harming yourself or others
- Fear of making a mistake
- Need for certainty
- Intrusive sexual or religious thoughts
- Fear of losing control
- Constant doubt
Common Examples
- Excessive handwashing
- Repeated checking
- Counting or arranging
- Repeating words or prayers
- Seeking reassurance
- Mental reviewing
- Avoiding certain situations
How OCD Can Interfere
- School or work performance
- Relationships
- Parenting
- Daily routines
- Sleep
- Decision-making
- Self-esteem
How Therapy Can Help
- Understand the OCD cycle
- Reduce compulsions
- Increase tolerance of uncertainty
- Develop coping skills
- Reduce anxiety
- Improve daily functioning
- Build confidence
Related Approaches
Your therapist will help determine the most appropriate plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is OCD just liking things clean?
No. OCD involves distressing obsessions and compulsions and may have nothing to do with cleanliness.
What are intrusive thoughts?
They are unwanted thoughts or images that enter the mind without invitation. Having them does not mean you will act on them.
Can children have OCD?
Yes. OCD can develop during childhood, adolescence, or adulthood.
Is OCD treatable?
Yes. Many people experience meaningful improvement through evidence-based treatment.
Effective Treatment Is Available.
Compassionate support can help reduce anxiety, manage intrusive thoughts, and restore confidence.
Every person’s grief journey is unique. This content is educational and does not replace personalized support.
What Is Grief?
Grief is a natural emotional response to loss. It may follow the death of a loved one, divorce, miscarriage, infertility, job loss, chronic illness, retirement, a move, friendship changes, or another significant life transition.
There is no single right way to grieve and healing does not follow a strict timeline.
Common Reactions
- Sadness
- Anger
- Guilt
- Loneliness
- Numbness
- Anxiety
- Difficulty concentrating
- Preoccupation with the loss
Common Reactions
- Fatigue
- Sleep difficulties
- Appetite changes
- Headaches
- Low energy
- Social withdrawal
- Crying
- Changes in routine
Grief Is Not Linear
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance may describe common experiences, but people do not necessarily move through them in order. Several emotions may appear at once, return unexpectedly, or change over time.
How Therapy Can Help
- Process painful emotions
- Adjust to life changes
- Reduce isolation
- Build healthy coping skills
- Navigate family dynamics
- Honor memories
- Rebuild hope
Healing Does Not Mean Forgetting
Most people gradually learn how to carry a loss while continuing to build a meaningful life.
Related Approaches
Care is personalized to your loss, relationships, and goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does grief last?
There is no set timeline. Grief changes over time and looks different for every person.
Is it normal to still grieve years later?
Yes. Significant losses may continue to affect people long after they occur.
Can grief cause physical symptoms?
Yes. Fatigue, sleep difficulties, appetite changes, headaches, and muscle tension are common.
Can children experience grief?
Yes. Children may express grief through behavior, play, emotional changes, or physical complaints.
You Don’t Have to Navigate Loss Alone.
Our team can provide a compassionate space to process loss and move forward at your own pace.
Symptoms that resemble a medical emergency should be evaluated by a healthcare provider, especially during a first episode.
What Are Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder?
A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear or discomfort that reaches its peak quickly. Panic Disorder involves recurrent unexpected attacks, persistent worry about another attack, or avoidance intended to prevent one.
Common Signs
- Rapid heartbeat
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Shortness of breath
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Chills or hot flashes
- Tingling or numbness
Common Signs
- Intense fear
- Feeling out of control
- Fear of dying
- Fear of “going crazy”
- Feeling detached from reality
- Ongoing fear of future attacks
What May Contribute?
- Genetics
- Anxiety disorders
- Chronic stress
- Trauma
- Major life changes
- Medical conditions
- Substance use
- Caffeine or stimulants
How Therapy Can Help
- Understand panic symptoms
- Reduce fear of future attacks
- Identify triggers
- Challenge catastrophic thinking
- Learn calming techniques
- Return to avoided activities
- Rebuild confidence
Related Approaches
Many people experience meaningful improvement with treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are panic attacks dangerous?
They can feel terrifying but are not usually physically dangerous. First-time or severe symptoms should receive medical evaluation.
Can panic attacks happen during sleep?
Yes. Some people experience nocturnal panic attacks that wake them from sleep.
How long do panic attacks last?
They often peak within about 10 minutes, although some symptoms may continue longer.
Can therapy reduce panic attacks?
Yes. Many people experience fewer attacks and greater confidence through evidence-based therapy.
You Don’t Have to Let Panic Control Your Life.
Learn practical skills that reduce fear and help restore confidence in daily life.
We’ll Help You Find the Right Service and Approach.
Our team can help you explore your concerns, understand your options, and connect with a clinician whose experience fits your needs.