Anxiety has a way of making your world smaller.

Anxiety shouldn't get to decide what you—or your child—can handle.

Therapy for kids, teens, and adults in the Akron area who are ready to stop letting anxiety, overthinking, and avoidance get in the way of the life they want to live.

For kids, it might look like big reactions, frequent reassurance-seeking, fears or phobias, stomachaches before school, or suddenly refusing to do things they used to enjoy. Parents often find themselves wondering how much to push, how much to accommodate, and whether this is something their child will simply outgrow.

For teens and young adults, anxiety can hide behind perfectionism, procrastination, irritability, withdrawal, or a brutal inner critic. Some are high achievers who look successful but are miserable underneath. Others have started avoiding, shutting down, or deciding why bother? when they actually care very deeply.

For adults, anxiety may look more like overthinking, comparing, second-guessing, people-pleasing, or feeling stuck. You may be doing all the things you're "supposed" to be doing while quietly wondering why you're not happier—or why things that seem easy for other people feel so hard for you.

Therapy isn't about never feeling anxious. It's about learning to respond differently when anxiety shows up.

That might mean getting back to school, joining the team, making friends, speaking up, setting a boundary, taking a risk, quieting the constant mental spiral, or simply enjoying your life without analyzing every part of it.

With more than 20 years of experience as a therapist and school counselor, I work with anxious people who find themselves avoiding, overthinking, striving for perfection, or listening a little too closely to their own self-criticism. Together, we work on getting anxiety out of the driver's seat so you can get back to doing the things that matter to you.

Shannah Cariño LPCC-S

Therapist • Licensed School Counselor • Owner