Anxiety Therapy for Highly Sensitive People in Brooklyn, NY: What Sessions Actually Look Like

You've Been Googling "Anxiety Therapy Brooklyn" at 2 AM Again

Let me guess: you've read all the articles. You know your anxiety is "manageable." You've tried breathing exercises, journaling, maybe even meditation apps. And still, your nervous system feels like it's running on high alert 24/7.

If you're a highly sensitive person (HSP), traditional anxiety advice often misses the mark. "Just don't overthink it" feels impossible when your brain is wired to notice everything. "Calm down" doesn't help when your body is already flooded with sensation.

As an art therapist in Brooklyn who specializes in working with highly sensitive, creative, and anxious humans, I want to pull back the curtain and show you what anxiety therapy actually looks like in my practice—because I know the unknown can feel scary.

What Makes Anxiety Different for Highly Sensitive People?

Before we talk about therapy, let's name what you already know in your bones:

Your anxiety isn't just "worry." It's your entire nervous system responding to stimuli others don't even notice. You might experience:

• Emotional overwhelm from absorbing others' feelings (yes, even through screens)

• Physical symptoms like tension, nausea, or exhaustion that doctors say are "just stress"

• Overthinking that spirals into worst-case scenarios you know aren't logical but feel absolutely real

• Shutdown or numbness when things get too intense—because sometimes your system just gives up

• Guilt about needing "too much" alone time, quiet, or recovery

This isn't weakness. This is your sensitive nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do—just on a higher volume than most people experience.

What Actually Happens in Anxiety Therapy Sessions

Let's walk through what working together might look like. No therapy-speak, no mystery—just the real experience.

First Session: Getting to Know Your Anxiety

We start by understanding your specific experience. Not anxiety in general—your anxiety.

• Where does it show up in your body? (Chest tightness? Stomach knots? Jaw clenching?)

• When is it loudest? (Mornings? Social situations? Before bed?)

• What does it say to you? (What stories does your anxious mind tell?)

• How long has it been this way?

I might ask you to notice what you're feeling right now, in this moment. Not to fix it—just to notice. This is the beginning of somatic work: learning to be with your body's experience instead of fighting it or running from it.

Early Sessions: Art as a Bridge

Here's where art therapy becomes powerful for anxiety. I don't hand you a coloring book and call it therapy. Instead, we use creative expression to access what words can't reach.

You might:

• Use colors and shapes to express what anxiety feels like in your body—without needing to explain or make it make sense

• Create imagery for the "parts" of you that carry anxiety (this is IFS work—more on that below)

• Explore the protective role anxiety is playing—because anxiety isn't trying to torture you; it's trying to keep you safe

One client described her anxiety as "television static"—constant, buzzing, exhausting. We worked with that image, giving it shape and color. Once she could see it outside herself, it became something she could relate to differently instead of being consumed by.

You don't need to be "good at art." You need to be willing to get curious.

Middle Sessions: Somatic Work and Parts Work

As we go deeper, we integrate somatic awareness with Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy. This is where real shifts happen.

Somatic work means we're tracking your nervous system responses in real-time:

• Notice the tightness in your chest? What happens if you breathe into it instead of trying to make it go away?

• That urge to change the subject? That's a protective part. What is it protecting?

• The exhaustion after feeling a lot? We work with pacing and titration—feeling in doses your system can handle.

IFS parts work helps you understand that you're not just "an anxious person." Part of you is anxious. Other parts might be:

• The perfectionist pushing you to do more

• The people-pleaser abandoning your needs

• The inner critic telling you you're too much

• The younger part who learned the world wasn't safe

We work with these parts through conversation, visualization, and creative expression. The goal isn't to get rid of your anxious part—it's to help it trust that you're safe enough to relax.

Later Sessions: EMDR for Stuck Patterns

Sometimes anxiety has roots in specific experiences—times you weren't safe, relationships that hurt you, moments your nervous system decided it needed to be on high alert forever.

When we identify these stuck patterns, we might use EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to help your brain reprocess them. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to help your nervous system finally complete what it started when something overwhelming happened.

Combined with art therapy, EMDR becomes even more effective because we're working with image and sensation—the language your nervous system speaks.

What You Might Notice As We Work Together

Therapy isn't linear, but here's what clients often report:

• Your anxiety becomes less mysterious. You start recognizing patterns, triggers, and the protective role anxiety plays.

• You develop tools that actually work for your sensitive system—not generic advice, but practices tailored to you.

• You feel emotions without being consumed by them. This is nervous system regulation, and it's learnable.

• You stop fighting yourself. The war between "I should be over this" and "I'm still anxious" starts to quiet.

• You find your capacity expanding—more energy, more presence, more room for joy.

"But I'm Not Creative" and Other Concerns

"I can't draw."
Perfect. Neither can most of my clients. Art therapy isn't about making pretty pictures. It's about expression, exploration, and giving your inner world a voice.

"I've tried therapy before and just talked in circles."
Somatic and creative approaches work differently than traditional talk therapy. We're engaging your body and your creative brain, not just your analyzing mind.

"I'm worried I'm too anxious for therapy."
There's no such thing. We work at your pace. If you need to take breaks, we take breaks. If you need sessions to feel slower or more structured, we adjust.

"What if I cry the whole time?"
Then you cry. Therapy is one of the few places where your feelings get to be exactly what they are—no editing, no apologizing, no performing.

Virtual Anxiety Therapy Across New York State

I offer virtual sessions throughout New York State. Many highly sensitive people actually prefer virtual therapy—you're in your own safe space, you can wrap yourself in your favorite blanket, and there's no commute to drain your energy.

Who This Therapy Is For

This approach works beautifully for:

• Highly sensitive people who feel emotions and sensations intensely

• Creative, spiritual, or intuitive people drawn to depth and meaning

• Anyone with anxiety, depression, or both

• People who've tried traditional talk therapy and felt something was missing

• Those interested in holistic, body-centered healing

If you're reading astrology posts at 3 AM trying to understand yourself, if you feel everything deeply, if you need healing that honors your sensitivity instead of trying to fix it—this work is for you.

Ready to Actually Feel Better?

You don't have to keep managing anxiety alone. You don't have to prove you're "functional enough" to deserve support. If anxiety is taking up too much space in your life, let's work together to help your nervous system finally feel safe.

Book a free 15-minute consultation to see if we're a good fit.

You deserve to feel calm in your own body.