Mike Keaveny, Psy.D.

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Therapy for Anxiety

Mike Keaveny Psy.D.

An ACT Approach to Healing

My work is grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which helps people build flexibility with their thoughts and feelings while moving toward what matters most. In anxiety treatment, we’ll use ACT’s six core processes in ways tailored to your experience:

Values – Anxiety often pulls you away from the life you want to live. We’ll identify what’s most important to you so that your choices aren’t dictated by fear, but by your values.
Acceptance – The goal isn’t to “get rid” of anxiety, but to make room for it without letting it control your actions. Together we’ll practice tolerating discomfort in small, manageable steps.
Present Moment Awareness – Anxiety keeps you in your head, planning, analyzing, and predicting. We’ll use mindfulness strategies to ground you in the here and now, so you can experience life more directly.
Cognitive Defusion (Thought Distancing) – Worry thoughts can feel like facts. We’ll practice exercises to help you notice anxious thoughts for what they are—just thoughts—so they lose their grip on you.
Self-as-Context – Anxiety can feel like it defines who you are. We’ll work on creating a sense of self that is bigger than your fears, so you can observe anxiety without being consumed by it.
Committed Action – The antidote to avoidance is action. We’ll break down scary situations into manageable steps and gradually expand your freedom through exposures, challenges, and experiments aligned with your values.

What to Expect in Session

Therapy for anxiety is a balance of exploration and practice. A lot of our time is spent talking through what’s driving your anxiety, making sense of your experiences, and helping you process them in ways that feel safe and reflective. I don’t just assign exposures and send you out the door—we’ll collaborate to figure out what makes sense for you, and we’ll go at a pace that respects where you are.

That said, anxiety treatment does involve facing fears. Sometimes I’ll invite you to try small challenges in session or suggest “experiments” outside of session—whether that’s eating in a crowded restaurant, making a difficult phone call, or even going outside the office together if that’s what it takes. Change rarely happens in total comfort, but I’ll be there to support you, never pushing further than feels manageable.

Alongside this work, I can teach practical grounding and coping skills for moments of crisis—so you’re not left fearing panic, but know what to do when it shows up. If medication is part of your treatment plan, I respect that and may refer for management when appropriate. Medications can play a helpful role in easing symptoms, but my goal in therapy is to give you the tools to live fully, whether or not you rely on medication long-term.

Anxiety can feel like it’s running your life. Worry and stress creep into everything—work, relationships, health, sleep—and leave you feeling drained and stuck. You might find yourself constantly problem-solving in your head, replaying conversations, or preparing for every “what if.” It’s exhausting, and despite all that effort, life still feels limited.

Anxiety shows up in many different ways. For some, it’s panic—your heart races, your body flushes hot, and the fear of the next attack keeps you from doing things you want to do. For others, it’s obsessions and compulsions—thoughts you can’t turn off and rituals you can’t resist, even when you know they don’t really help. Sometimes it’s generalized worry that never quiets down, social fears that keep you from connecting, or phobias that make everyday situations feel impossible. However it looks, the pattern is the same: anxiety takes over and narrows your life.

Living Beyond Fear

Anxiety doesn’t have to dictate the shape of your life. With the right tools and support, you can step out of avoidance and back into the things that matter—relationships, passions, experiences, and goals. My aim is to help you build a more flexible, resilient relationship with anxiety, so it no longer runs the show. Together, we’ll work toward a life that feels freer, more balanced, and more fully your own.