Anxiety Therapy & Counseling in Alexandria, VA
If your brain hasn’t really shut off in months, if you’re tired of being told to “just breathe,” or if you’re searching for an anxiety therapist in Alexandria, VA who actually understands what living with chronic worry, panic, or intrusive thoughts is like, you’re in the right place.
Coastal Collaborative Care is a specialty therapy practice in Old Town North Alexandria offering evidence-based, trauma-informed treatment for anxiety disorders, panic, OCD, perfectionism, and the relentless overthinking that often runs underneath them.
Anxiety Disorders We Treat in Alexandria, VA
Anxiety isn’t one thing.
It can sound like a constant background hum of worry that won’t switch off, a panic attack that ambushes you on the Metro, intrusive thoughts that don’t match who you are, a dread of social situations that’s quietly narrowing your life, or a perfectionism so loud you can’t tell what you actually want anymore.
Our Alexandria therapists are trained to work across the full spectrum of anxiety presentations.
Anxiety disorders we treat
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Panic Disorder and recurring panic attacks
- Social Anxiety Disorder
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), including Pure-O, contamination, harm, scrupulosity, relationship, and existential subtypes
- Health Anxiety and Illness Anxiety Disorder
- Specific phobias
- Perfectionism and high-functioning anxiety
- Performance, workplace, and academic anxiety
- Anxiety tied to life transitions, parenting, identity, and relationships
Co-occurring concerns we also treat
Anxiety rarely shows up alone. Our team is trained to support clients navigating any of the following alongside, or independently from, anxiety:
- Trauma and PTSD, including complex trauma
- Depression and depressive disorders
- Eating disorders and disordered eating
- ADHD and other neurodivergent presentations
- Grief, loss, and identity transitions
- Self-harm and suicidal ideation (outpatient support)
OUR THERAPEUTIC APPROACH
Evidence-Based, Personalized Anxiety Treatment
There’s a lot of bad anxiety advice out there. Most of it boils down to “calm down” with extra steps. Our team works from approaches that actually have research behind them, then matches the right tool to the kind of anxiety you’re carrying.
Therapy at Coastal Collaborative Care in Alexandria, VA isn’t a worksheet factory and it isn’t pure talk-it-out either. It’s structured, collaborative, and grounded in modalities like:
The most-studied and consistently effective approach for most anxiety disorders
especially for anxiety that arrives with intense emotions or co-occurring overwhelm
The gold-standard treatment for OCD
A newer evidence-based approach to OCD that targets the obsessional doubt itself rather than only the compulsion
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Helpful for chronic worry, avoidance, and value-driven change
Which is at the heart of all of your philosophies.
WHY COASTAL COLLABORATIVE CARE
Why Clients Choose Our Alexandria Practice for Anxiety Therapy
Our care is grounded in a Health At Every Size® (HAES®) framework , meaning we reject diet culture and weight stigma in our practice. If you’ve felt dismissed, judged, or unseen by other providers, this office is designed for YOU.
We treat anxiety at depth, not at surface level.
Anxiety isn’t a personality trait, and recovery isn’t about learning to white-knuckle through a panic attack with a deeper breath. Our Alexandria, VA clinicians have advanced training in anxiety disorders, including OCD, which is still routinely misdiagnosed in general practice. We know the difference between intrusive thoughts and someone’s actual values, between social anxiety and introversion, between healthy caution and a phobia, and we treat each accordingly.
We collaborate.
Anxiety treatment often involves coordination with psychiatrists, primary care physicians, dietitians, or coaches. With your written consent, we communicate with the rest of your providers so your care doesn’t fragment between offices.
We’re genuinely inclusive.
We serve clients of all body sizes, genders, sexual orientations, cultural backgrounds, and neurotypes. LGBTQ+-affirming care and neurodivergent-affirming therapy are core to how we practice , not an afterthought.
We get the DMV.
Many of our clients work in high-stakes fields: federal government, military, foreign service, law, medicine, education, tech, and journalism. We understand the particular flavor of anxiety that comes from clearance reviews, deployment cycles, billable hours, election seasons, and the cultural pressure to keep performing flawlessly while everything inside feels loud. You don’t have to translate that context for us.
OUR ALEXANDRIA OFFICE
Conveniently Located in Old Town North Alexandria
Our Alexandria therapy office is located at 901 N Washington St Alexandria, VA 22314, in the Old Town North neighborhood, just minutes from the waterfront, with easy access from Arlington, Fairfax County, and Washington, DC.
Our Alexandria location serves clients traveling from:
- Old Town Alexandria & Del Ray
- Arlington & Rosslyn
- Fairfax, McLean & Falls Church
- Reston & Herndon
- Crystal City & Pentagon City (DC adjacent)
- Washington, DC and the greater DMV area
If commuting to Alexandria adds to your anxiety (we hear you), we also offer telehealth therapy for residents anywhere in Virginia, plus several additional states where our clinicians are licensed. Many of our anxiety clients prefer virtual sessions because it removes the logistical layer of getting to and from an appointment, especially during a hard week.
| Address | 901 N Washington St Alexandria, VA 22314 |
| Phone | (571) 249-5332 |
| admin@coastalcollaborativecare.com | |
| Office hours | Monday-Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday & Sunday 10am-4pm |
| Parking | There is a lot of free street parking around the building as well as some parking garages. |
| Public transit | Blue line to Braddock Road Station. 10-ish minute walk to the office from Braddock Road Station. You could also use the Dash bus. At Braddock Road Station go to Bay D. Take the 30 or 31 Dash bus and get off at Madison and North Washington, which is about a block or so from the office. |
INSURANCE & FEES
Out-of-Network Therapy in Alexandria, VA
Coastal Collaborative Care is an out-of-network provider.
We do not bill insurance directly, which allows us to give each client the individualized, unhurried care they deserve, without managed care restrictions limiting your treatment.
We provide a superbill after each session, which you can submit to your insurance company for potential out-of-network reimbursement. Many clients are surprised to find their insurance covers a significant portion of out-of-network therapy costs. We use a system called Mentaya to check your out-of-network mental health benefits for you right during your consultation call — so you know what to expect before your first appointment.
Mentaya can also assist with submitting and processing your superbills for potential out-of-network reimbursement.
For clients who are active military or veterans:
Jennifer Forbes, LPC is a TRICARE-certified non-participating provider. This means she is approved by TRICARE but does not bill TRICARE directly — clients pay upfront and may submit claims to TRICARE for potential reimbursement.
Please contact us to discuss your specific coverage.
Anxiety Therapy in Alexandria, VA: Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have an anxiety therapist in Alexandria, VA?
Yes. Our Alexandria, VA office is located at 901 N Washington St Alexandria, VA 22314, and every clinician on our team has specialized training in treating anxiety disorders. We work with adults and adolescents experiencing generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, OCD, health anxiety, perfectionism, and anxiety connected to trauma or life transitions. Both in-person sessions in Alexandria and telehealth sessions across Virginia are available.
What’s the difference between everyday anxiety and an anxiety disorder?
Everyone experiences anxiety. It becomes an anxiety disorder when it starts running the show: when you’re avoiding things you used to do, sleeping poorly for weeks at a time, having physical symptoms like a racing heart or chest tightness without a medical cause, or losing hours to worry, rumination, or compulsive checking. If it’s interfering with work, relationships, or how you feel in your own life, that’s a clinical concern worth addressing with a trained therapist, not a willpower problem.
Do you specialize in OCD treatment?
Yes. OCD is one of our core clinical specialties. Our therapists are trained in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), the most evidence-supported treatment for OCD, as well as Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT), a newer approach that targets the obsessional doubt at the root of OCD. We treat the full range of subtypes, including Pure-O, contamination, harm, scrupulosity (religious or moral OCD), relationship OCD (ROCD), sexual orientation OCD, and existential OCD. If you’ve been told you have anxiety but you’re describing intrusive thoughts and rituals, you may actually be dealing with OCD, and a proper assessment matters.
What is ERP and what does it actually look like in session?
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold-standard therapy for OCD. In simple terms, you and your therapist build a plan to gradually face the situations, thoughts, or sensations that trigger your obsessions, while practicing not doing the compulsion that usually follows. It is structured and collaborative, never sprung on you. Done well, ERP teaches your brain that you can tolerate uncertainty without ritualizing, which is what dissolves OCD’s grip over time. We pace it to what you can handle and revise as we go.
Can therapy actually help with panic attacks?
Yes, and often faster than people expect. Panic attacks are terrifying, but the underlying mechanism is well-understood and very treatable. We use a combination of CBT for panic, interoceptive exposure (gently practicing the physical sensations that scare you), and skills work so that you learn how to interrupt the panic cycle instead of bracing for the next one. Most clients see meaningful change in the frequency and intensity of panic within a few months of consistent work.
Do you work with high-functioning anxiety and perfectionism?
Absolutely, and a meaningful portion of our caseload looks exactly like this. High-functioning anxiety often hides behind a polished exterior: you’re getting things done, hitting deadlines, showing up for everyone, and quietly running on adrenaline, caffeine, and self-criticism. We help you slow down enough to see what’s actually driving the engine, and build a different relationship with rest, productivity, and the version of you that’s been afraid to disappoint anyone.
How long does anxiety therapy usually take?
It depends on what you’re working on and what you want from treatment. Many clients with focused concerns like specific phobias, panic disorder, or contained OCD can see significant change in 12 to 20 sessions. More layered work, like trauma-driven anxiety, complex OCD, or longstanding perfectionism, generally takes longer. We talk about timelines openly during your consultation and revisit them throughout treatment so you always know where you stand.
Can I do anxiety therapy virtually if I’m elsewhere in Virginia?
Yes. We offer secure HIPAA-compliant telehealth sessions for clients anywhere in Virginia, including Loudoun County, Prince William County, Fauquier, Stafford, Richmond, Charlottesville, Norfolk, and rural areas where specialized anxiety care is harder to find. Several of our clinicians are also licensed in Washington, DC, Maryland, and additional states. Research consistently shows that telehealth therapy is as effective as in-person care for anxiety disorders.
How do I get started with anxiety therapy at your Alexandria office?
The first step is a free phone consultation. You can reach us at (571) 249-5332 or email admin@coastalcollaborativecare.com to request one. During the consultation, we’ll talk through what’s bringing you in, answer questions about how we work, check your out-of-network benefits, and match you with the therapist whose specialty and availability fit best. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll point you toward providers who are.
Ready to Work with an Anxiety Therapist in Alexandria, VA?
You don’t have to keep negotiating with your own brain alone. Whether your anxiety shows up as constant low-grade worry, paralyzing panic attacks, intrusive thoughts you can’t talk about with anyone, or the kind of perfectionism that’s quietly running your life, there’s a way through, and there are people whose entire training is built around helping you find it.
Coastal Collaborative Care exists for people who want more than a generalist. Reach out for a free consultation, and take a first small step toward feeling like yourself again.
Whether you’re ready to start now or just gathering information, we’d love to connect. Reach out to schedule your free consultation, and take the first step.
📍 901 N Washington St Alexandria, VA 22314
📞 (571) 249-5332 · ✉️ admin@coastalcollaborativecare.com
