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Stress Therapy San Diego, CA

Do you often feel tense, overwhelmed, and worried?

Stress therapy can help you finally relieve these feelings and allow relaxation and peace back into your life

Do you often feel overextended by your responsibilities? Do you feel like no matter how hard you try, you just can’t fully calm down and relax? Perhaps you find yourself feeling tense, worried, or “wound up” throughout the day. This can lead to feelings of frustration, hopelessness, and confusion as to why you just can’t calm down. Chronic stress manifests in many ways in our lives, and can negatively impact your overall mental health and physical health.

Everyone experiences stress sometimes...

We all have things in our lives that we consider to be “stressors”; it is impossible to avoid them all. Feeling stress here and there is not a bad thing, and it is something that all humans collectively experience. However, it can become problematic when the stress becomes heightened and ongoing. Stress levels can fluctuate throughout the day; but for some people, they find that they feel stressed out more often than not. This is actually becoming more and more common these days as well, since we live in such a fast-paced culture with high expectations. You are definitely not alone in feeling high levels of stress.

Stress Therapy Can Help

Stress Therapy San Diego, CA Women Having Stress Symptoms Though it is normal to experience some levels of stress in your daily life, it can become problematic when your high stress response remains ongoing. Experiencing high levels of stress for long periods of time can have a negative impact on your mental health in the way that it can lead to feelings of frustration, anxiety, depression, and possibly low self-esteem. Chronic stress can negatively impact your physical health in various ways as well. But the good news is, therapy can help you to finally find relief from your ongoing stress. Stress therapy can help you to take a step back and examine your stressors in an objective way. We can then help you develop coping skills that you can utilize on a regular basis for stress reduction.


Managing stress through therapy can come with many benefits, including:

What Does Stress Management Therapy Look Like?

Stress Therapist San Diego, CA Treatment for stress can be very effective and improve many areas of your life. In stress management therapy, I provide a comfortable and safe space for you to share about any and all of your current stressors. I will assess your current stress levels and get an overall picture of what your life looks like now, as well as what you would like your life to look like once we have decreased your stress levels. Stress counseling and therapy will teach you ongoing coping skills that you can utilize both inside and outside of therapy sessions, in order to keep your stress at a manageable and healthy level.

Why Book a Stress Therapy Session with Me?

Self emBody Therapy - Sarah Lawley Chernick, LMFT Headshot - San Diego, CA 92109 Feeling stressed out and overwhelmed is such a common struggle that everyone has experienced at some point in their lives. Whether it was just in a specific scenario or in all aspects of life — it is safe to say that most people know what it feels like to be overly stressed. I have experience working with many clients that have struggled with both acute and chronic stress. Many clients have come to work with me when stress was negatively affecting their mood, relationships, career performance, health, and overall joy and contentment in life. I have helped clients with managing stress in a variety of treatment settings including residential treatment centers, psychiatric hospitals, school settings, outpatient clinics, and private practice.

I have a variety of different therapeutic techniques that I will introduce when helping you decrease your overall stress levels. Not only am I trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and use elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in my approach, but I also am a Registered Yoga Teacher, which allows me to utilize a variety of calming mindfulness and relaxation techniques as well. The combination of these various therapeutic skill sets combined with talk therapy makes a powerful combination for stress therapy.

You CAN feel relaxed, peaceful, and confident to tackle the day ahead of you without high levels of stress

Contact me to schedule a 15 minute phone consultation and see if Stress Therapy in San Diego is right for you!

My Standard Rate is $250 Per Session (50 Minutes)

As an out-of-network provider, I have partnered with Mentaya to help my clients save money on therapy. Use the out of network benefits calculator to see if you qualify for reimbursement for my services. Learn more about my rates and insurance.

You may have some questions about seeing a therapist for stress...

If you find yourself feeling tense or overwhelmed often and you don’t want to feel that way anymore — then stress therapy could be helpful for you.The definition of “too much” stress really varies per the individual, as we all handle stress in different ways. If you find that your stress levels are negatively impacting your mental health, physical health, relationships, job, or any other area of your life…stress counseling and therapy could be beneficial. Visit this website to learn more about stress symptoms and the ways that it can impact your life.
If you find yourself feeling tense or worried sometimes, but you are not experiencing any overall negative impacts from these temporary feelings — then what you are experiencing is likely considered to be a “normal” or “average” stress level. Normal (as opposed to “acute” or “chronic”) stress comes and goes throughout the day, and varies per the situation. Acute stress can feel disproportionately overwhelming, and can come on very quickly — but also may dissipate quickly. Chronic stress can feel very overwhelming, but is ongoing and for longer periods of time. To assess the level of your current stress take a free online quiz.
Some physical warning signs for stress may include: pounding heart, shortness of breath, sweaty palms, headache, tension in your neck and shoulders, digestive disturbances, or intense feelings of anxiety or depression. While some of these feelings may just come and go temporarily if you are experiencing mild to moderate stressors, it is important to pay attention to ensure that these symptoms are not persisting.
As mentioned above, we all feel stressed out sometimes. But for some people, the high levels of stress persist on a daily basis. This can be due to a variety of factors, and we all handle the stress in our lives differently. It is common to see chronic stress in individuals that grew up in a chaotic environment, or may have experienced some type of childhood trauma. It is also common to experience chronic stress if you are a high achiever or have perfectionistic tendencies, as these can lead to you feeling like you can never fully “turn off” and relax. Individuals may also develop chronic stress if they have high anxiety levels, as these tend to go hand-in-hand. Learn more about anxiety therapy in San Diego and online anxiety therapy for California residents.
High stress levels can lead to other mental health issues and behavioral issues. It is common for individuals experiencing stress to also feel symptoms of anxiety, depression, frustration, hopelessness, or low self-esteem. Sometimes high stress can also manifest in behavioral conditions such as eating disorders, as a way to attempt to manage the stress. Your mental health matters, and you deserve to receive help in managing your stress so that you can live a peaceful and enjoyable life.

Common Symptoms Often Associated with Stress

Related Stress Management Treatments

Mindfulness Therapy Practices

Mindfulness practices include exercises and therapeutic techniques to help calm our nervous system down, which is essential in reducing symptoms of stress. Some mindfulness practices include targeted breathing exercises, guided imagery, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation. Mindfulness-based practices can be very helpful in decreasing stress symptoms, as we are training your body’s nervous system to get into a “parasympathetic” (relaxed) state and out of a “sympathetic” (stressed out) state.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that examines the relationship between our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. It can help you to become more aware of negative thoughts so that you can view difficult situations in a new way, and thus respond to them more effectively. Working to decrease overall stress levels will involve taking a look at the relationship between your thoughts and emotions, as well as your belief system about yourself and the world. CBT techniques can allow you to restructure these thoughts into a more positive way, so that you can view the world differently.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) incorporates both cognitive behavioral strategies and mindfulness strategies. DBT can help clients increase their ability to tolerate distressing emotions and high levels of stress, gain further strategies to reframe negative thought patterns, and implement helpful mindfulness practices into their daily lives. DBT skills are taught by the therapist and clients can utilize them in between sessions to help self-soothe and tolerate overwhelming emotions.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a therapeutic modality that focuses on solutions and what has worked in the past. Instead of examining negative patterns or identifying “problems”, SFBT promotes solution-oriented and positive thinking that is so beneficial for the decreased self-esteem and repeated frustrations that are so often experienced throughout one’s life.
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Stress Therapy in San Diego, CA

If you’re ready to overcome your high stress levels and learn more about my stress therapy services, please use the button above or call (619) 800-5393 for a free 15 minute phone consultation.

Self emBody Therapy
EMDR, Eating Disorders, Anxiety
5330 Carroll Canyon Rd Suite 120,
San Diego, CA 92121
(619) 800-5393