Overthinking and Worry
Sort practical preparation from the predictions and repeated questions that keep taking up your attention.
When Planning Turns Into Replaying
Thinking ahead can help you prepare for a class, a move or a difficult conversation. But worry can keep producing new problems long after you have done what is practical. I see adults roughly 20 to 45 whose attention gets caught in future predictions and repeated what-ifs. We can examine that cycle and build a plan for responding without promising a mind free of worry.
Find the Point Where the Loop Begins
I ask about a recent worry and what first brought it to mind. It may have started with an email, a change in plans or a quiet moment before sleep. Tracing that beginning helps us distinguish the situation from the extra predictions your mind adds as the worry grows.
Separate a Task From a Prediction
A practical problem may have an action you can take, such as checking a deadline once. A prediction about everything going wrong may not have a question you can answer today. In therapy, we sort those apart so you can decide what needs doing and what calls for a different response.
Examine the Catastrophe
When a small setback becomes a certainty about your future, I use CBT to slow the conclusion down. We ask what the facts show, what other explanations fit and what you could do if a problem occurred. That work acknowledges risk without letting the most frightening possibility stand in for the likely outcome.
Notice the Reassurance Habit
You may ask someone to confirm that you are doing fine, then feel doubtful again soon afterward. I am interested in that sequence, including the relief and its limits. We can explore a different response to the next urge to check, rather than simply supplying another answer for the loop.
A useful plan has an action in it, not just another prediction.
Bridget Moore, LCSWMake Room for What You Cannot Know
ACT work can help when you have reached the edge of available information. We may practice recognizing uncertainty and choosing an action connected to your values anyway. This is different from ignoring a real concern; we first consider what can reasonably be checked or addressed in the situation.
Include the Body and the Routine
Worry may show up as restlessness, disrupted sleep or changes in appetite. I ask about those experiences in plain language without assuming a diagnosis from one sign. We also look at how reviewing thoughts affects your routines, relationships and motivation, so our goals reflect more than the thoughts themselves.
Choose a Practice You Can Repeat
Between meetings, you might write down a prediction, your balanced response and the action you chose. We keep the practice small enough for your week. At the next appointment, we review the example and adjust the plan if the exercise became another thing you felt you had to do perfectly.
Arrange Time for the Work
We set priorities during a 60-minute intake after a free consultation, when the intake fee is confirmed. Regular sessions are $175 for 45 minutes. I offer weekday daytime appointments in Shelton or online in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island, based on where you are physically located when we meet.
Tell Me Where the Worry Keeps Returning
A free 15-minute consultation is time to describe one recurring worry and ask about my approach. We can consider a focus for therapy and the practical details of meeting.
Free 15-Minute Consult