IN-person in Carmel and online across california
Therapy for Students
Support for high school seniors, college students, and grad students navigating pressure, transitions, and the question of what’s next?
Everyone said these would be the best years of your life…
Instead, you're running on caffeine and anxiety, watching your inbox turn into a graveyard of unanswered emails while trying to keep up with impossible expectations. You're drowning in a sea of 'shoulds' - should know your major by now, should have that internship, should feel as confident as everyone else looks. And when someone asks 'So what are your plans after graduation?' you want to disappear completely.
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Every conversation becomes about college. Where you're applying, what you'll major in, how you'll pay for it. You're supposed to make life-defining decisions when you don't even know who you are yet. The pressure to craft the "perfect" application makes you second-guess every activity, every essay word, every choice you've made since freshman year. Meanwhile, you're still living under your parents' rules, making these huge adult decisions from your childhood bedroom.
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It's the whiplash of finally having freedom but no idea what to do with it. You're picking a major that feels like a huge commitment while still eating cereal for dinner and forgetting to do laundry. Everyone else seems to have internships, research positions, and five-year plans while you're just trying to figure out which building your class is in. The pressure to "network" and "build your resume" and "maximize your college experience" is constant, but mostly you're exhausted, overwhelmed, and wondering if everyone else is faking it too or if you're the only one who doesn't have it together.
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The imposter syndrome hits different when you're surrounded by people who actually chose to specialize in this. Your professor expects you to have opinions on things you just learned existed. The expectations, from professors, from the program, from yourself, feel impossibly high. You're exhausted in ways you didn't know were possible, running on fumes and questioning whether any of this is worth it. The passion that got you here feels buried under deadlines, departmental politics, and the creeping realization that the job market might not care about your degree. Some days you're not sure if you're building a future or just digging yourself deeper into debt and burnout.
Learning to be human, not just a student
Everyone's struggling with something. That put-together classmate? They're probably having the same 3 AM anxiety spirals you are. The truth is, becoming an adult while managing academic pressure is genuinely hard, and it's not because you're doing it wrong.
In therapy, we make space for all of it. Not just the obvious stuff like test anxiety and deadlines, but the deeper questions: Who are you when no one's grading you? What do you actually want when you strip away what everyone expects? We'll work through both the immediate fires and the existential stuff that keeps you up at night.
You’ll start to notice what pressure actually motivates you, and what’s just wearing you down.
You’ll get better at hearing your own voice underneath all the noise.
You’ll develop a relationship with yourself that can weather all the uncertainty ahead. Because there will always be another transition, another “what’s next?” But you’ll know how to find your footing, even when the ground keeps shifting.
Together, we’ll:
Build coping strategies for test anxiety, presentation panic, and those Sunday scaries that don’t wait until Sunday
Navigate big transitions with more clarity and confidence, whether you’re applying, declaring, graduating, or starting over
Separate your worth from your grades, accolades, or what’s on your resume
Develop self-trust that isn’t dependent on gold stars, feedback, or having the “perfect” plan
Practical tools, lasting relief—for students under constant pressure
Untangle your identity from your GPA, resume, or professor’s feedback.
Quiet the voice that says you’re falling behind or not doing enough.
Recognize what expectations actually belong to you (and which ones you’ve absorbed from everyone else).
Learn how to rest without guilt, say no without spiraling, and trust yourself more deeply.
Feel less alone, and less like everyone else has it figured out but you.
Questions?
FAQs
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Friends are great, but they're dealing with their own stuff (and sometimes they're part of what you need to talk about). Campus counseling can be helpful for short-term support, but often has session limits and long wait times. In our work together, you get consistent, ongoing support from someone whose only agenda is helping you. No judgment, no gossip, just a space that's entirely yours.
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What we discuss stays between us. I can provide general updates if needed (like "Yes, they're attending sessions"), but the content of our conversations is confidential. This is your space to work through things without worrying about it getting back to anyone, including parents who are footing the bill.
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When you're less anxious, sleeping better, and not spiraling about every assignment, you tend to perform better academically. But that's a side effect, not necessarily the goal. Therapy helps you handle the pressure in healthier ways, figure out what you actually want from your education, and develop skills that last way beyond graduation. Better grades might follow, but more importantly, you'll actually feel better.