ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION · ONLINE ACROSS CALIFORNIA
Performance Anxiety Therapy & Hypnosis for Performance Anxiety in California
I offer online therapy for anxiety &/or depression across California. Whether you're facing pressure around public speaking, tests, sports, auditions, work, relationships, travel..... With compassion, competence and experience I can assist in working through a variety of objectives.
Start where you are
Does this sound familiar?
Anxiety can show up before the moment, during it, or in the long replay afterward. You may know your material and still feel your body tighten, your thoughts speed up, or your confidence disappear when attention turns toward you.
- I feel prepared until the exam, audition, presentation, or game actually begins.
- Public speaking makes my thoughts go blank or my body feel difficult to settle.
- I keep replaying a performance and imagining everything that could go wrong next time.
- Fear of flying or another specific fear is limiting where I can go or what I can plan.
- I want to perform at my level without pretending that anxiety is not there.
Performance moments
Practice for the moments that matter
Different moments can activate different stories. Naming the situation is one way to make the work specific.
Audition
Game day
Presentation
Flight
How I help with performance anxiety
Make room for the feeling and the next step
ACT and acceptance
I combine plain-language ACT, cognitive restructuring, and hypnotic rehearsal when those tools fit your goals. ACT teaches you to accept anxious thoughts so you can focus on what matters most.
Cognitive restructuring
Cognitive restructuring helps you examine a thought that has become automatic and consider a more balanced way to understand the moment.
Hypnotic rehearsal
Hypnotic rehearsal gives you a calm place to practice the situation before you meet it in real life.
Rehearse the moment, calm the triggers
The work begins with the moment you want to handle differently. I may ask what happens in your body, what you predict will happen, what you say to yourself, and what you do next. I can help you separate a useful preparation plan from the anxious story that keeps adding pressure.
ACT can help you notice anxiety without spending all your energy fighting its presence. Accepting an anxious thought does not mean agreeing with it or giving up on change. It means noticing the thought, allowing the feeling to be there, and returning attention to the value, task, or relationship that matters in that moment.
Cognitive restructuring adds another practical step. You can look at the evidence for a prediction, identify an all-or-nothing conclusion, and develop language that is more accurate and workable. Hypnotic rehearsal can then narrate the exam, audition, game, presentation, or flight from your intake process so you can practice calming the triggers and rehearsing the response you want to bring with you.
Goals and growth
Goal Achievement with scientific-proven steps
A performance moment can feel like a judgment on your whole ability. I help bring the focus back to the next observable step: opening the exam, entering the audition, taking the field, beginning the presentation, or settling into the flight. The objective is to build a sequence you can return to without waiting for perfect calm.
Imposter syndrome can overlap with performance anxiety when success feels accidental or undeserved. Low self-esteem, shame, disbelief, or fear of being found out can make an ordinary challenge feel like a test of identity. This concern is kept in a focused, removable block so the page can stay centered on performance anxiety while its broader scope is reviewed.
Life-work balance may also be part of the context when pressure from work, study, or competition leaves little room to recover. I can help you describe that context without turning this page into a separate burnout focus.
- Fear of blanking, freezing, or making a visible mistake
- Physical tension, racing thoughts, or trouble settling before an event
- Harsh self-judgment after a performance
- Imposter syndrome or doubts about belonging in the room
- Avoiding a test, audition, presentation, game, or flight
Practical support
What anxiety and performance anxiety therapy can help with
Online support may be shaped around concerns such as:
- Public speaking anxiety
- Test and exam anxiety
- Sports performance anxiety
- Audition and presentation anxiety
- Fear of flying and other specific fears
- Feeling stuck when pressure makes the next step hard to take
Two backpacks
Why a licensed psychotherapist matters
Performance anxiety can connect with relationships, identity, expectations, past experiences, and the meaning you attach to being seen. A licensed psychotherapist can help you consider those layers while also working on the specific moment you want to approach differently.
I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Hypnotherapist, and NLP practitioner. I can explain how psychotherapy, ACT-informed work, cognitive restructuring, hypnosis, or NLP may fit the objective you bring to therapy.
Online sessions are available for adults located anywhere in California. A first consultation is a chance to describe the performance moment, ask questions about the process, and decide whether my way of working feels like a useful fit.
Related reading
Topics to Consider
How to Overcome Self Sabotage and Move Forward
A reflection on avoidance, self-trust, and taking one useful step when pressure makes progress feel difficult.
CBT Versus Hypnotherapy Methods Compared
A practical comparison of structured skills, rehearsal, and choosing an approach for performance pressure.
About the author
Lisa Lichtenstein, LMFT, CHT, NLP
I provide online psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and NLP for adults and couples located anywhere in California.
I am the author of two published books and completed six months of weekly TV segments on mental health during COVID.
Read about meQuestions and answers
Before you begin
What is performance anxiety therapy?
It is a focused way to explore the thoughts, body responses, predictions, and patterns that arise around an important moment. I can pair psychotherapy with rehearsal and other tools when they fit your objective.
Can hypnosis help with performance anxiety?
Hypnotic rehearsal can give you a relaxed setting to practice the moment and calm connected triggers. I can discuss whether hypnosis fits your goal during a first consultation.
Do you work with public speaking, test, and sports anxiety?
Yes. These are examples of performance moments that can be explored in online therapy for adults across California, along with auditions, presentations, and fear of flying.
How do I begin online anxiety therapy in California?
Use the consultation link to ask about current openings, describe the moment you want support with, and learn more about working together online across California.
A clear place to begin
What happens in your free 20-minute consultation
Tell me what you want to change
We will discuss what you'd like to work on and accomplish in therapy
I see if I'm a fit and map your first steps
You'll get a change to ensure you feel comfortable with me.
You decide, no pressure
You can take the next step when it feels right to you.
Please don't share detailed health information here.
If you are in crisis, call 911 or call/text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). This form is not monitored for emergencies.
Request a free 20-minute consultation
A few short questions help Lisa prepare for your first conversation.