therapy for OCD, intrusive thoughts & anxietymonday counseling · asheville, and across north carolina
You can name exactly what's wrong.
Knowing hasn't fixed it.
does this sound familiar?
your nervous system won't rest.
- a mind that won't stop: the what-ifs all day, the loops at 3am
- intrusive thoughts or rituals you can't reason your way out of
- exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix
- doing everything "right" and still feeling like you're falling behind
- reaching for the thing that takes the edge off, because it works
You don't have to check every box. a few is plenty.
More coping skills isn't the answer. You have coping skills. The question is why your system is working this hard to begin with.
your nervous system can learn to rest.
education + credentials
education
Master of Social Work (MSW)
University of Kentucky
Graduate work centered on trauma-responsive care and the ways race and identity intersect with mental health. Themes that run through everything I do.
Bachelor of Social Work (BSW)
Mars Hill University · Graduated Magna Cum Laude
licensure
Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate (LCSWA)
State of North Carolina
I work as an associate clinician under the clinical supervision of Melissa Zimmer, MSW, LCSW, LCAS, CCS. This is a standard part of the licensure path in NC, and you get the same care, with an extra set of eyes built in.
I care about making sure people across North Carolina have real access to affirming therapy, the kind that holds up past the intake form. I work with teens (16+), young adults, and adults in person in West Asheville and through online therapy across North Carolina.
real change doesn't come from
forcing yourself
into a different version.
If white-knuckling through another week has been the whole plan, this is the alternative. I use ERP, I-CBT, EMDR, and somatic work. You'll know why I'm suggesting what I'm suggesting.
monday is named for the moon, ruler of emotions and the inner life, the part of you that knows things before you can explain them. that felt like the right name for this. the moon also never holds one shape for long. it wanes, it comes back. that's closer to how people actually change than any straight line i've seen. we can renegotiate your relationship with mondays while we're at it.
insight isn't the same thing as change.
my approach includes
You've told the story enough times that it's smooth now. It still lands the same way in your body. EMDR works on the memory rather than your account of it. You don't narrate the worst parts out loud; the processing happens underneath language, which is why it moves things talking has circled for years.
how emdr works →The thought arrives, you do the thing that quiets it, and it buys you about thirty seconds. Then you pay it back with interest. ERP has more evidence behind it than anything else for OCD, and its reputation for brutality comes from people doing it badly. I also use I-CBT, which works on why the doubt feels believable instead of on exposure. Either way we go in order, together, and you always know what's coming. Your brain stops treating the thought as an emergency because you stopped treating it as one.
more on erp → ocd therapy in asheville →Your shoulders are up around your ears before you've opened the laptop, and knowing why has not once brought them down. Somatic work goes at the body directly, at whatever pace you set.
more on somatic therapy →The part of you that pushes and the part that's flattened feel like a civil war. Parts work treats both as staff, hired at some point for a reason, still working from an old job description. We find out what each one thinks it's protecting you from.
more on parts work →The patterns that show up everywhere else will eventually show up between us. We get to look at one while it's happening, instead of reconstructing it from memory a week later.
more on relationship patterns →Polyvagal-informed work, for a system that's been in overdrive so long it reads calm as suspicious. Rest feels like exposure. You get twitchy on vacation. We build the felt sense of safety first, because nothing else holds without it.
why anxiety spikes at night →this is a space that's
Your pace is information. I won't hand you a morning routine and grade you against it, and if your capacity changes week to week we plan around that instead of calling it backsliding. Some weeks the work is smaller. That's still the work.
Race, culture, and the systems you move through are part of the clinical picture. You won't have to argue that some of your exhaustion is environmental, or spend the first twenty minutes building the context before we can use it. I'd rather start from there.
Affirming is the baseline here, and your identity is only the subject if you decide it is.
lgbtq-affirming therapy in asheville →Zero fixing. Most of what you've been told to try was built for someone else's attention span, then handed to you as a character test. We work with how your brain actually runs, including the parts that make the standard advice useless. Executive function is a wiring question. It has never once responded to shame.
A lot of what gets called personal dysfunction is a reasonable response to conditions. Your context doesn't get parked outside while we work on you. Sometimes the most clinically useful thing I can say is that your job is doing this to you.
burnt out or depressed? →You won't be handed a treatment plan to nod along to. We decide what we're working on and change it when it stops fitting. If something I suggest lands wrong, say so out loud. I'd rather hear it in session than have you quietly go elsewhere.
what the first session is like →what people come in with
getting started
01
let's talk
Fifteen minutes, free. Ask me anything, including the thing you'd feel rude asking.
02
your first session
75 minutes, because the first one always runs long. You talk, I ask questions, and by the end we know where to start.
03
we work at your pace
Weekly, biweekly, monthly, whatever fits your life. We change it when it stops fitting.
services offered
Teens (16+), young adults, and adults across North Carolina. You don't need to know what you need yet.
most popular
individual therapy
50-minute sessions. slow things down and untangle what isn't shifting on its own.
what we explore together
- anxiety, stress + overwhelm
- depression + the flatness that lingers
- OCD + intrusive thoughts (ERP + I-CBT)
- identity, self-worth + life transitions
- relationship patterns
- trauma processing (EMDR available)
- substance use + what's underneath it
deeper work
extended sessions
80-minute sessions for trauma work that needs more time to unfold: EMDR, somatic approaches, or simply the space to go somewhere without having to come back from it in 50 minutes.
who this helps
- complex trauma + PTSD
- attachment wounds + shame
- chronic stress showing up in the body
- dissociation + feeling far from yourself
- grief that hasn't had room to move
- when the past keeps showing up in the present
a private office
in west asheville
If you'd rather sit across from someone in a room, that's an option. I have a private office in West Asheville.
In-person and virtual are the same thing on my end. Same intake, same rate. Come in one week, stay home the next. You don't have to choose once.
common questions
It's a 15-minute phone call, and it's free. No paperwork, no pressure, no commitment. We'll talk about what's been weighing on you, what you're hoping therapy might help with, and whether we seem like a good fit. You can ask me anything. If we're not the right match, I'm happy to point you toward someone who might be.
If forms are the thing standing between you and starting, say so on that call and we'll do your intake out loud instead.
I have a private office in West Asheville. In-person and virtual are both available, and you can switch between them. Most clients just pick whatever has the least friction that week.
Virtual sessions run on secure, HIPAA-compliant video. I'll send you a link before each session. All you need is a device with a camera, an internet connection, and a quiet space where you can talk freely. If tech ever fails, just text me. Most issues are solved by refreshing the page.
I work with teens ages 16 and up, as well as young adults and adults. If you're a parent inquiring for a teen, reach out and we can talk through what that might look like, including how parent involvement is (and isn't) part of the process.
With the two approaches built for it. ERP means approaching what OCD tells you to avoid and skipping the ritual afterward, in steps we plan together, so you always know what's next. I-CBT works on the doubt itself: why a what if keeps winning out over what you can see and know. Some people do better with one, and some use both.
If your theme has a name, it has a page: harm thoughts, pure O, relationship doubt, scrupulosity. OCD therapy covers how the work runs week to week.
I provide outpatient therapy for people stable enough for weekly or biweekly sessions, not crisis intervention or intensive support outside scheduled appointments.
If you're in crisis right now: call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, any time. In western NC the Vaya Health crisis line is 1-800-849-6127, also 24/7. More options are on the Asheville mental health resources page. Once you're on steadier ground, I'd be glad to work together.
Standard sessions are 50 minutes. Extended sessions are 80 minutes, designed for trauma work that needs more time to unfold. Your first session is 75 minutes so we have enough time to actually understand what's going on before we get into it.
Most people start weekly. Biweekly once you've built some momentum, monthly for maintenance. We figure out what fits your life and adjust as things shift.
Self-pay is $150 for a 50-minute session, $190 for 80 minutes. HSA and FSA accepted. Self-pay has its own benefits, and we can talk through them in your free consult. I also accept BCBS NC, Aetna, and the NC State Health Plan. Your cost depends on your plan's copay and deductible, and I'll check it before your first session. If cost is a real barrier, a limited number of reduced-fee slots are available; just bring it up when we talk.
Life happens. I ask for at least 24 hours notice when possible so the time can be offered to someone else. Late cancellations (under 24 hours) and no-shows are charged the full rate for the session you booked, $150 or $190. Not a penalty. The hour was held for you and it can't be filled on short notice. If something comes up, just text me directly. I'd always rather hear from you than not.
All sessions are HIPAA-compliant and your records are confidential per NC law. The exceptions (risk of harm, legal requirements) are covered before we begin. No surprises.
Not every therapist is right for every person. Tell me directly, try a few sessions to see, or ask for a referral. I'd rather you find the right fit than stay out of politeness.
still have questions? send me a message →
you've read enough.
let's just talk.
Fifteen minutes, free. You tell me what's going on, I'll tell you whether I think I can help.
— lindsey
in-person in west asheville · virtual across nc
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