Meg Young, LCSW, PLLC, Certified EMDR therapist

Meg Young, LCSW, PLLC, Certified EMDR therapist Helping other professionals maintain the passion of their career throughout life

You didn't sign up to be a professional worrier. And yet, here you are, hypervigilant in the grocery store, replaying a ...
08/10/2026

You didn't sign up to be a professional worrier. And yet, here you are, hypervigilant in the grocery store, replaying a client's story at 2am, snapping at your kid over nothing.

That's not you being "too sensitive." That has a name: secondary trauma, and it has a mechanism, and the good news is, it has an off-ramp.

My new post is up on the signs to watch for (and why it's not the same thing as burnout, even though they love to show up together like uninvited plus-ones). Link in comments.

I caught this sunrise the other morning and those light rays fanning out behind the trees is basically what my brain doe...
08/10/2026

I caught this sunrise the other morning and those light rays fanning out behind the trees is basically what my brain does every time I think about September 2nd. (Also it's a real weather thing — crepuscular rays which is sunlight breaking around obstacles as the day starts — but "my excitement made visible" works too.)

Here's the thing about the Anxiety Management Group: it's not another "just breathe" workshop. It's not a lecture. It's a room full of people who are done white-knuckling their way through daily life and are ready to actually learn how their nervous system works, and how to work with it instead of constantly fighting it.

We'll cover:
- The mechanics of anxiety (spoiler: your brain isn't broken, it's just overprotective)
- Real tools, not vague advice, for catching anxious spirals before they take over
- You'll have a space to practice this stuff with other people who get it, instead of white-knuckling it alone at 2am

That moon still hanging on as the sun comes up fits also by the way. You don't have to fully let go of where you've been to start moving toward something new. One doesn't cancel out the other.

September 2, in Lakewood Ranch. Spots are limited because this is a group, not a webinar and I want you to be heard, seen and validated throughout the process.

If you've been thinking about it, this is your sign. DM me or check the link in the comments to grab your spot before it fills.

This lizard had his alarm system fully activated before I even opened the door.That ridge along his back is called a nuc...
08/03/2026

This lizard had his alarm system fully activated before I even opened the door.

That ridge along his back is called a nuchal/dorsal crest, and by the time I got outside, his was already up. I didn't do anything; I wasn't even there yet. Whatever set him off, it happened before I existed as a variable in his day. I'm 5'0". I am not a credible threat to anyone, let alone a lizard with a spine ridge.

This is such a good visual for something I hear frequently: "I don't even know why I'm anxious right now."

Sometimes the crest is already up before you can identify the trigger. Your body clocked something, whether a thought, a memory, a feeling in your chest, or a l text you haven't opened yet, and went into "get big, get ready" mode before your conscious brain caught up enough to ask "why?"

That's not a malfunction. That's just how fast the nervous system moves. It reacts first and listens for the explanation later, which means by the time you're standing there going "wait, why do I feel like this," you're already mid-response.

The skill isn't figuring out the trigger every single time; sometimes you never will. The skill is learning to notice "oh, my crest is up" and knowing how to bring the system back down without needing a tidy explanation first.

We build exactly that skill set in my anxiety management group starting September 2 in Lakewood Ranch. Come learn to lower the crest even when you have no idea what raised it.

Pre-registration is required and the link is in the comments.

You spend your whole shift telling patients their health matters. When's the last time someone said that to you?Healthca...
07/28/2026

You spend your whole shift telling patients their health matters. When's the last time someone said that to you?

Healthcare workers are some of the most resilient people out there, and also some of the most likely to be running on fumes. Burnout doesn't show up overnight. Eventually you notice sleep just doesn't feel like rest anymore, a shorter fuse, and/or the sense that you're just getting through the day instead of living it.

Needing support isn't a crack in your armor. It's a normal response to carrying what you carry.

My most recent blog post about the hidden weight medical workers carry, why asking for help isn't weakness, and small ways to start refilling your own cup is in the link in the comments.

I did not put a shark tank on this flyer. You're welcome.But I did want to talk about one today, because it's a useful m...
07/28/2026

I did not put a shark tank on this flyer. You're welcome.

But I did want to talk about one today, because it's a useful metaphor I use in the group and explains why "just don't be anxious" is possibly the worst advice ever given to an anxious person.

Here it is:

"Imagine that you're sitting at the edge of a tank surrounded by sharks and that you're connected to an extremely sensitive polygraph machine. Your task is to avoid feeling any anxiety whatsoever. If you feel anxious, your seat will tilt and you'll go directly into the shark tank. What do you think will happen? As you can imagine, you'll very likely experience anxiety. This metaphor is perfect for people who suffer panic attacks. You start to feel a little bit anxious, but you want to avoid anxiety. However, you can't stand it, and you think 'This is horrible, I can't feel anxious!' and that makes you even more anxious. When you realize what's happening, you're already inside the shark tank."

Read that again. The task was never actually about the sharks. It was about the demand to feel zero anxiety...and that demand is what tips the chair.

This is the trap so many of us live in daily: white-knuckling our way through the day trying not to feel anxious, which — plot twist — is one of the most reliable ways to guarantee the anxiety shows up anyway. The polygraph doesn't care about your effort. It cares whether you're fighting the feeling.

The work isn't "never feel anxious." It's learning to sit near the edge of the tank without needing the water to be calm first.

We spend time on exactly learning how to not fight anxiety into submission, but change your relationship to it in my anxiety management group; the next one starting September 2 in Lakewood Ranch. Come sit somewhere that isn't the edge of a shark tank for once. 🦈 (Unless you like this sort of thing in which case, enjoy!)

Pre-registration is required and can be done in via the link in the comments.

Weekend debrief: I watched an alligator eat a squirrel in the sky and it fixed my nervous system faster than anything el...
07/19/2026

Weekend debrief: I watched an alligator eat a squirrel in the sky and it fixed my nervous system faster than anything else I could imagine.

(Look closely at the pink cloud. Tell me that's not a gator mid-bite. I'll wait.)

There's something very on-brand about spotting a predator-prey drama in the clouds while your own nervous system is just watching the sunset, completely unbothered. No fight, no flight, no doom-scrolling about Monday. Just vibes and a very dramatic sky.

Which — surprise — is basically the whole point of the group I'm launching September 2 in Lakewood Ranch.

Most of us don't get to just watch the anxious moment happen. We're usually inside it, heart racing, brain sprinting three steps ahead. This group is about learning to notice the gator-eating-the-squirrel from a safe distance instead of feeling like you're the squirrel. 🐿️😅

If your nervous system could use a little more "sunset watching" and a little less "sprint mode," this one's for you. Spots are limited. DM me or check the link in bio for details.

Happy Sunday. May your clouds be dramatic and your anxiety be manageable. 🌅

A lot of people use "stress" and "anxiety" the same way. I used to hear it constantly in sessions, and I get it. They fe...
07/13/2026

A lot of people use "stress" and "anxiety" the same way. I used to hear it constantly in sessions, and I get it. They feel similar from the inside, but they work differently.

Stress is usually a response to something happening. Your caseload is too heavy, your inbox won't stop, your kid is sick again. The feelings are real and hard. But when the thing resolves, the stress tends to ease up with it.

Anxiety doesn't wait for a reason. It can stay long after the situation is gone, or show up when nothing is obviously wrong. It loops. It catastrophizes. It can convince you that danger is around every corner even when you're objectively fine.

This distinction matters in the work I do with people because when you treat anxiety like it's just stress, the usual fixes often fall flat because you're working on a different problem than the one that's actually there.

What helps anxiety looks different. It often starts with slowing down the nervous system, not powering through it. It involves noticing the pattern of thought, not just the trigger. And it usually means building a new relationship with uncertainty rather than trying to eliminate it.

If you've been doing "all the right things" and still feel like something isn't clicking, it might be worth asking: is this actually anxiety I'm dealing with vs stress?

Ready to tackle it and really influence the anxiety? The group I'm starting September 2 is waiting for you.

Pre-registration is required and you can sign up using the link in the comments.

You've spent your career taking care of everyone else's crises. Who's taking care of yours?If burnout, compassion fatigu...
07/10/2026

You've spent your career taking care of everyone else's crises. Who's taking care of yours?

If burnout, compassion fatigue, or the low hum of "I can't keep doing this" sounds familiar, therapy can help you find your way back...to your patients, your relationships, and yourself.

Read the full piece on therapy for burnout, then book your initial consult when you're ready.

The goal of managing anxiety is not to eliminate it.That sounds counterintuitive. But it's one of the most important ref...
07/09/2026

The goal of managing anxiety is not to eliminate it.

That sounds counterintuitive. But it's one of the most important reframes I work with.

Your nervous system doesn't have an off switch. Anxiety is a protective signal; not a malfunction. Trying to get rid of it, suppress it, or think your way out of it often makes it worse. Research on thought suppression indicates that suppressing a feeling can actually activate the threat response further. The system gets louder, not quieter.

What we work toward instead is a wider window of tolerance: the ability to feel anxious and still function, still think, still choose.

We use skills to influence anxiety; not control it because complete control isn't possible. But widening the window is.

The work inside the anxiety management group I'm starting September 2 is the skills to stop white-knuckling and start moving through anxiety.

Preregistration is required and the link to do so is in the comments.

Let's bust a myth that keeps people stuck."You should be able to handle this on your own."Maybe you've said that to your...
07/08/2026

Let's bust a myth that keeps people stuck.

"You should be able to handle this on your own."

Maybe you've said that to yourself. Maybe you've been saying it for years. You know anxiety is a thing. You've read about it, maybe even worked with someone about it. So why does Sunday night still feel like dread?

Here's the truth: knowing about anxiety and having the actual capacity to be with your own are two different things.

Myth #1: Anxiety means something is wrong with you.
It doesn't. It's a nervous system response, not a character flaw, not a failure, not proof that you can't handle your life.

Myth #2: Managing anxiety means eliminating it.
It doesn't. The goal is capacity; the ability to be with your experience without being hijacked by it. You're not chasing a life without anxiety. You're building a wider window of tolerance.

Myth #3: If you talk about it, you make it worse.
You don't. Naming it actually reduces its charge. Language creates distance. Distance creates choice.

If you're ready to do this work — not just know about it, but actually practice it — I'm running an anxiety management group this fall for people who are done white-knuckling their way through it.

Pre-registration is required. Link in the comments.

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8470 Enterprise Circle
Sarasota, FL
34202

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