When You Don’t Fit in Just
One Box
Some individuals do not neatly fit into a single category. You may feel like you have a foot in anxiety, another in disordered eating, and a hand in unresolved trauma or ADHD. When experiences overlap in this way, it can be difficult to know where to begin.
Guided Practice
Clients often wonder:
-
Should I focus on the anxiety first? - Do I need to address my family history or past trauma before anything else can change?
- Is it even possible to work on one issue without the others getting in the way?
- Am I too complicated for one therapist?
Overlapping struggles are more common than they seem. They do not mean you are broken or too complex. They reflect layered experiences that require thoughtful, integrative work.
This specialty focuses on working at that intersection, where anxiety, trauma, disordered eating patterns, perfectionism, or ADHD interact. Given Dr. Mann’s extensive training, she is able to pull from different modalities to help you understand how these patterns reinforce one another and create a clear, structured path forward.
Care That Works
Overcontrol, Perfectionism, and Hidden Exhaustion
Many individuals navigating this overlap are high functioning and outwardly capable. Often described as type A or people pleasing, they may appear composed and responsible while internally feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or unsure of their sense of self.
You may be the one who handles everything. The reliable one. The responsible one.
At the same time, you might experience:
- A constant sense of pressure, tension, or burnout
- Difficulty relaxing without guilt
- Feeling pulled in multiple directions
- Patterns of control around food, productivity, or self-worth
- Loneliness despite being surrounded by others
- Fear that if the mask slips, others will see how overwhelmed you truly feel
- Feeling like you are never good enough or have never done enough
Managing career, relationships, parenting, or advocacy responsibilities can create a steady undercurrent of anxiety and exhaustion. Over time, this may lead to emotional disconnection, feeling like you can never really enjoy things or be present in the moment, or feeling like you can’t be or don’t even know how to be your authentic self.
Client Focus
Working with the Overlap
Rather than treating anxiety, trauma, disordered eating,
or perfectionism as separate boxes, therapy with Dr. Mann can
explore how these patterns developed and how they operate together.
The work may include:
Identifying which concerns are most interconnected
Understanding how early experiences shape current responses
Regulating the nervous system to reduce overwhelm
Increasing flexibility where overcontrol has taken hold
Developing sustainable change rather than short term coping