Gentle Exposure Therapy | Integrative, Mind-Body Support
Online across California
You Understand the Anxiety—But It Still Shows Up
Exposure-based therapy can help you move through avoidance and stay present in moments that used to feel overwhelming—by changing how your body responds in real time, without forcing or rushing the process.
You can explain your anxiety.
You know your patterns.
You’ve done insight-based work—therapy, reflection, maybe medication.
And still, certain moments don’t feel different.
You find yourself avoiding specific situations, or bracing before they even happen.
Your body reacts before you can think your way through it.
The moment itself hasn’t changed.
At this point, it’s less about understanding—and more about changing how the experience unfolds in real time.
Just as the body learns fear through experience, it can also learn safety the same way—through real or imagined experiences the nervous system can actually register.
What Is Exposure Therapy?
Exposure therapy helps you gradually face situations you’ve been avoiding—not by pushing you past your limits, but by helping your nervous system learn something new while you stay present.
This isn’t about “facing your fears” all at once.
It’s about creating new experiences in moments that used to feel overwhelming—so your body no longer responds the same way.
Sometimes that happens in real-world situations.
Sometimes it includes guided imagery, where your system can begin to shift without needing to be thrown directly into the situation.
Because the goal isn’t just to understand your anxiety.
It’s to change how your body experiences it.
The mind doesn’t only bring up feared situations.
It also naturally moves toward images, associations, and moments that support resolution and integration—especially when given the space to do so.
A Different Approach to Exposure
This work is integrated with mind–body awareness and tailored to how your system actually responds.
We’re not following a rigid protocol or pushing through a set sequence.
We’re paying attention to what’s happening in real time—how your body shifts, where your attention goes, and what allows you to stay engaged.
Sessions are paced and collaborative.
We move in a way that allows your nervous system to participate in the process, rather than brace against it.
Some exposure approaches rely on repetition and intensity.
This work focuses on regulation, timing, and staying within a range where change can actually occur.
Change happens most effectively when your nervous system is engaged—but not overwhelmed.
Instead of enduring the moment, your system begins to take in a different experience—one that can actually register and shift how you respond moving forward.
What This Can Help With
This work can be especially helpful when anxiety shows up in specific, repeatable ways that impact how you move through daily life.
Social anxiety—especially in conversations, meetings, or moments where you feel observed
Panic, or the fear of panic, that begins to shape what you do or avoid
Avoidance of certain situations, environments, or interactions—even when you know you could handle them
Overthinking before something happens, or replaying it afterward
Feeling capable in theory—but finding that in the moment, your response doesn’t match what you know
Integrating gains from treatments such as TMS, helping your system translate those shifts into everyday experience
These patterns can look different from person to person—but often share the same underlying experience: wanting to engage more fully, while something in your system holds you back.
What Sessions Feel Like
You won’t be pushed into anything abruptly.
We begin by identifying specific moments or situations that feel relevant to work with.
From there, we move at a pace that allows you to stay engaged—so your system can participate, rather than shut down or push through.
The focus is on what’s happening as it unfolds.
We’re paying attention to what your body is doing in the moment—not just what you’re thinking about it.
The goal isn’t to eliminate anxiety completely—it’s to change what happens in your body when it shows up.
I’m Dr. Pipkins, a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety and mind–body–based care.
My work brings together multiple approaches into a cohesive, individualized process. This may include:
Exposure-based methods
Brainspotting
Mind–body and somatic awareness
Cognitive and behavioral strategies
These aren’t used in isolation or as a fixed sequence. They’re integrated in a way that reflects how you actually experience anxiety.
Each approach supports the same underlying goal: helping your system experience something different in real time—so change isn’t just understood, but felt.
This Work May Be a Good Fit If
You’ve been in therapy before and are looking for something that goes beyond insight
You’re ready to actively engage in the process—not just reflect or analyze
You’re interested in shifting how things feel and respond in the moment—not just understanding why
You’re open to working in a more experiential way, rather than relying only on conversation
Ready to Approach This Differently?
If you’re looking for therapy that moves beyond insight into lived change, you’re welcome to reach out.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Exposure therapy is often misunderstood as intense or overwhelming. In this approach, we work at a pace that allows your nervous system to stay engaged without becoming flooded. The goal isn’t to push through distress—it’s to create conditions where your system can actually learn something new.
-
No. This work is collaborative and paced. We move in a way that allows you to stay engaged, so your system can participate rather than shut down or push through.
You’ll always have a say in how we approach things. The goal isn’t to force exposure—it’s to create conditions where your system can begin to respond differently, at a pace that feels manageable.
-
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy often focuses on identifying and changing thought patterns, along with structured behavioral exercises.
This work may include cognitive and behavioral elements, but it goes further by focusing on what’s happening in your body in real time. Rather than relying primarily on changing thoughts, we work with how your system responds in the moment—so shifts can occur at the level where anxiety is actually experienced.
-
Yes. This approach is especially helpful for social anxiety—particularly when you understand what’s happening, but still feel stuck in the moment.
We work with the situations where anxiety shows up most clearly—conversations, meetings, or being seen by others—so your system can begin to experience those moments differently over time.