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Expert Anxiety Therapy West Hollywood
If you're looking for effective Anxiety Therapy in West Hollywood read more about the unique, effective and refreshing approach offered at Oliver Drakeford Therapy.
Oliver Drakeford Therapy: 8702 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069
How Anxiety Therapy Works Here In West Hollywood.
At my West Hollywood practice, I use anxiety therapy to help you break free from the cycles of worry that dominate your daily life. Through evidence-based approaches including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness-based interventions, and psychotherapy, we work together to reshape how your brain processes stress and uncertainty.
Our work focuses on interrupting anxious thought patterns, bringing regulation to your nervous system, and building sustainable tools for resilience and inner calm.
What makes this approach transformative is how it goes beyond symptom management—you'll fundamentally shift how you relate to fear and uncertainty. Whether you're dealing with generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, or persistent worry, this direct and insightful method creates meaningful, lasting change through understanding your unique anxiety patterns.
True progress in anxiety treatment isn't just about temporary relief—it's about dismantling the core patterns keeping you trapped. My goal is to help you rebuild your internal world so you're living according to your values and desires, not in reaction to anxiety's demands.
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When Anxiety Therapy Can Be Helpful
Physical Symptoms: Chest tightness, shallow breathing, muscle tension, temperature fluctuations (feeling suddenly hot or cold), and jaw clenching or teeth grinding.
Mental Patterns: Racing thoughts, unwanted intrusive thoughts, sleep disruption, repetitive checking behaviors, and excessive mental planning.
When these experiences feel overwhelming, anxiety therapy offers a path to recognize your specific patterns and develop more adaptive stress responses. Through comprehensive assessments and clinical interviews at my West Hollywood practice, we'll clarify whether you're experiencing generalized anxiety disorder or another mood disorder that requires a different approach.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) shows up as pervasive worry that spreads across multiple life domains—your career, relationships, health, financial security—creating a sense of restlessness and mental "static" that feels impossible to quiet.
Perfectionism-driven anxiety, which can overlap with OCD or OCPD characteristics, manifests as inflexibility, an overwhelming need for control or flawlessness, and significant distress about making errors or falling short of impossibly high standards.
Social anxiety centers on the fear of judgment and negative evaluation from others, triggering avoidance of social situations and significant discomfort during interpersonal interactions.
Therapy Techniques We Use for Anxiety Relief
Evidence-Based Treatment Approach To Anxiety Therapy
My therapeutic approach integrates research-supported modalities including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). These methods work synergistically to interrupt anxiety cycles, reframe cognitive distortions, and restore emotional authenticity.
Your treatment plan is built specifically around your circumstances—what works for one person may not serve another, so we prioritize what's effective and sustainable for you.
In practice, this means weaving together behavioral interventions, cognitive restructuring, and psychoanalytic understanding with actionable coping strategies. We identify the specific anxiety loops maintaining your distress and systematically dismantle them. Our work addresses not only worry and catastrophic thinking, but also intrusive thoughts common in obsessive-compulsive disorder, helping you access your true emotional experience beneath the anxiety.
Your customized therapy program may incorporate modified exposure therapy protocols to build confidence in facing feared situations. Some clients benefit more from mindfulness-based approaches for stress management and nervous system regulation, while others respond better to structured cognitive behavioral interventions. The key is matching the treatment to your unique anxiety presentation and goals.
Why This Anxiety Therapy Approach In West Hollywood Works
In my Los Angeles based practice, in the heart of WeHo, ttherapy addresses your specific struggles with stress, worry, uncertainty, and emotional distress. My approach blends psychoanalytic understanding with behavioral interventions and acceptance and commitment therapy principles, creating actionable strategies within a treatment plan personalized to your situation—whether you're managing specific phobias, generalized anxiety, or perfectionism-driven patterns.
Our work uncovers the underlying emotional dynamics fueling your worry while dismantling the repetitive loops that keep anxiety active. You'll develop practical coping skills for navigating daily stressors effectively. My aim is helping you exit the draining anxiety cycle and establish sustainable emotional equilibrium and more fulfilling relationships.
During sessions, you'll gain the ability to identify when your anxious thinking has become distorted or exaggerated, learning to challenge these thoughts in a supported, controlled environment. We carefully examine the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional triggers that anxiety obscures, gradually decreasing your dependence on worry as a coping mechanism. Clients consistently describe feeling more centered, self-assured, and equipped to navigate life's inherent uncertainties through this therapeutic process.
Your WeHo Anxiety Therapist: Oliver Drakeford LMFT
Oliver Drakeford, MA, LMFT, CGP, is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in anxiety, stress, and relationship dynamics. His approach combines warmth, insight, and evidence-based methods to help clients move from chronic worry to emotional balance.
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, I bring nearly a decade of experience helping adults overcome anxiety, perfectionism, and relationship stress.
My approach integrates psychoanalytic insight, behavioral therapy, and mindfulness practices to uncover the emotional roots of anxiety and teach lasting coping skills.
A Decade Providing Mental Health Services In West Hollywood and Los Angeles
I offer both in-person therapy in my office at 8702 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood and online therapy throughout California. The office is convenient for all parts of Los Angeles, Culver City, Long Beach and Beverly Hills.
What to Expect in Your First Anxiety Therapy Session
1 A Warm Welcome and Conversation
Your first anxiety therapy session focuses on understanding your experiences and building a personalized treatment plan. We'll discuss your goals, review assessment results, and identify the most effective therapy techniques for your needs.
2 Understanding Your Story - Assessments and Interview
Together, we'll begin outlining what you'd like to achieve in therapy and how best to get you there- we'll look at specific goals or situations you want to focus on
3.Mapping Out The Goals And Path
We'll talk more about what brings you in, and learn about your particular anxiety symptoms— maybe persistent worry, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or tension.
We will ask gentle questions to understand how anxiety shows up in your daily life, relationships, and thoughts. Then, we will give you a set of assessments. These will help us understand how best to help you.
4. Therapy Techniques And Action Plan
We'll talk more about what brings you in, and learn about your particular anxiety symptoms— maybe persistent worry, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or tension.
We will ask gentle questions to understand how anxiety shows up in your daily life, relationships, and thoughts. Then, we will give you a set of assessments. These will help us understand how best to help you.
FAQ
Q1: How can therapy help me stop worrying and overthinking?
A: Therapy can help you break the cycle of worry and overthinking by addressing the "Paradox of Worry" and the "Anxiety Loop." We'll work together to recognize how worry provides temporary relief but ultimately prolongs anxiety. Through our sessions, you'll learn to distinguish between genuine concerns ("signals") and unnecessary worries ("noise"), and develop strategies to challenge anxious thoughts
In short, anxiety therapy helps you replace worry with clarity and regain a calm, focused mindset.
Q2: What approach do you use in treating anxiety?
Our approach involves a three-layered strategy:
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Recognizing and reshaping the anxious mindset
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Accepting and allowing deeper emotions to surface
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Changing behavior and attitudes by developing new coping strategies
We help you change from a "protect and defend" mindset to an "accept and allow" mindset. This enables you to face and process emotions better. This approach also helps with depression therapy.
Our anxiety therapy in Los Angeles blends evidence-based tools and emotional insight to create lasting calm and confidence.
Q3: I've tried to stop worrying before, but it hasn't worked. How is your therapy different?
A: Our therapy addresses the root causes of anxiety, not just its symptoms. We could explore "Five Rules of Anxiety" above to see if they apply to you - if they don't there will be others keep your trapped in anxious thinking.
Unlike approaches that rely solely on willpower or avoidance, we work on changing your relationship with anxiety. This includes understanding the payoffs of worrying and learning to tolerate uncertainty, which can lead to more lasting change
Q4: How long does anxiety therapy typically take to show results?
A: Our therapy addresses the root causes of anxiety, not just its symptoms. We may explore "Ten Rules of Anxiety" above to see if they apply to you - if they don't, there will be others to keep you trapped in anxious thinking.
Unlike approaches like CBT that rely solely on willpower or center on avoidance, we work on your anxiety disorder by changing your relationship with anxiety. This includes understanding the payoffs of worrying and learning to tolerate uncertainty, which can lead to more lasting change.
Unlike quick fixes, this therapy helps you build resilience by transforming how you relate to anxiety itself.
Anxiety Therapy Los Angeles—Whole-Person Care, Practical Tools
At our West Hollywood center, anxiety therapy is more than talk—it’s an active process that blends cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness practices, and targeted exposure techniques. This approach works well for social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), trauma-related stress, and depression, all of which can hide beneath chronic worry. Our small clinical team draws on proven tools to retrain anxious behaviors, helping you move from overthinking into purposeful action. Because every mental health journey is personal, we tailor sessions to the concerns that matter most to you—whether that’s breaking a loop of compulsive checking or learning to tolerate uncertainty without spiraling.
Schedule Your First Session Today
You may be surprised how quickly progress happens once the right strategies are in place. If anxiety is disrupting sleep, work, or relationships, schedule a free 15-minute call today to discuss the best next step. We’ll outline a treatment plan that can include CBT-based homework, mindfulness drills you can practice at work, and check-ins to track real-world change. Whether you come to the office or meet online, Anxiety Therapy Los Angeles provides focused, evidence-based care so you can reclaim calm and confidence—starting now.