Erica Smith

If anxiety, overthinking, perfectionism, or the pressure to keep everything together has become a bigger part of your life than you’d like, therapy can be a place to step back and understand what’s really happening beneath the surface.

I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with more than 20 years of experience helping people navigate anxiety, life transitions, grief and loss, and the challenges that can come with being neurodivergent. I especially enjoy working with thoughtful, capable people who may look like they have everything together on the outside while privately feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or exhausted.

My approach is warm, collaborative, and curious. Rather than focusing only on managing symptoms, I want to understand why the pattern is happening in the first place. Together, we look at the thoughts, emotions, behaviors, relationships, and experiences that may be keeping you stuck.

I believe meaningful change comes from developing greater psychological flexibility and the ability to respond to life with more choice rather than being pulled automatically into old patterns. Sometimes that means learning to tolerate uncertainty. Sometimes it means changing a long-standing belief about yourself. Sometimes it means grieving what you hoped life would be and figuring out what comes next.

And sometimes, it simply means having a place where you don’t have to hold everything together.

I draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Interpersonal Psychotherapy, mindfulness, and other evidence-based approaches. I use a trauma-informed and neurodiversity-affirming lens and tailor therapy to the person sitting in front of me.

I don’t believe therapy should be a collection of coping skills handed to you like a checklist. Skills can be incredibly useful, but I also want us to understand what is driving the anxiety or behavior in the first place.

We’ll start with where you are now and what you want to be different. From there, we’ll work together to identify the patterns that are getting in your way and develop a way forward that feels meaningful and sustainable.

I think of my role as being both a guide and a gardener. I can’t grow the garden for you, and I won’t tell you what your garden is supposed to look like. My job is to help you understand the conditions that allow you to grow, tend to what needs attention, and make room for something new.

You already have more capacity for change than you may realize. Therapy can help you access it.

Your first session is a chance for us to get to know each other and begin understanding what brings you to therapy. We’ll talk about what you’ve been experiencing, what you’ve tried, and what you’re hoping will be different. I’ll ask about your history, relationships, stressors, and patterns that may be contributing to what you’re experiencing. Rather than simply focusing on managing symptoms, we’ll begin looking at what may be underneath them so therapy can lead to meaningful change.