Therapy for Relationship Anxiety & People-Pleasing in Chicago
Feel more secure in relationships without losing yourself in them.
You may care deeply about your relationships — and spend a great deal of energy trying to make sure they are okay.
You replay conversations. You wonder whether someone is upset. You apologize quickly, even when you are not sure you did anything wrong. You may understand your own feelings clearly until another person disagrees with you, at which point you begin questioning yourself.
Over time, relationships can start to feel less like a source of connection and more like something you are constantly monitoring.
Therapy can help you build relationships that feel more mutual, secure, and grounded — while staying connected to yourself.
overthinking texts or conversations
worrying that someone is pulling away
feeling responsible when another person is upset
apologizing or explaining excessively
having difficulty saying no
minimizing your needs to avoid conflict
feeling guilty after setting a boundary
becoming highly sensitive to changes in someone’s tone or attention
staying in one-sided relationships too long
questioning whether your reactions are reasonable
needing reassurance but feeling embarrassed to ask for it
These patterns may show up in romantic relationships, friendships, family relationships, or all three.
Relationship Anxiety Can Look Like…
People-Pleasing Is Often About Safety
People-pleasing is not simply being kind or considerate.
It can become a strategy for keeping relationships stable: anticipating what someone needs, avoiding conflict, taking responsibility for their feelings, or adapting yourself to prevent rejection.
These patterns often make sense in the context of earlier relationships.
Therapy gives us space to understand where they came from while helping you develop new ways of staying connected without abandoning yourself.
What We Work On In Therapy
Our work may include:
understanding what secure, mutual connection feels like
noticing when emotional caretaking becomes over-responsibility
tolerating the discomfort of disappointing someone
setting boundaries without excessive guilt
trusting your perceptions when someone is unhappy with you
becoming clearer about your needs and preferences
understanding how attachment patterns affect current relationships
reducing codependent or over-functioning dynamics
developing greater security in yourself
A Relationship-Focused Approach
My work is relational and attachment-based, which means relationships are not simply something we talk about — they are central to how we understand your emotional patterns.
Together, we look at how earlier experiences shaped your expectations of closeness, rejection, safety, and conflict, while helping you experiment with new ways of relating.
Ready for Relationships to Feel Less Consuming?
A complimentary 15-minute consultation gives us a chance to talk about what you are experiencing and whether working together feels like a good fit.
In-person therapy is available in Lincoln Park, Chicago, with virtual therapy throughout Illinois and Washington.