Amy Anderson, LCSW

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San Diego, CA
Amy Anderson, LCSW

Trauma therapist who specializes with couples who have experienced ADHD/OCD/CPTSD symptoms and/or professional burnout.

I offer services in person in San Diego, CA for walk n talk and in office; telehealth for California & Pennsylvania residents.

01/26/2026

As tax season approaches, it’s a good time to pause and ask:
Where is my energy, money, and attention going?
Is it aligned with what truly matters to me—or with what I think I should care about?

For many of us, financial habits are layered:
🔁 Cultural or family expectations
🔁 Trauma-informed survival patterns
🔁 Guilt around spending or receiving
🔁 Chronic productivity that blurs priorities

This isn’t about judgment. It’s about clarity.
Your values get to guide how you invest: your time, your money, and your energy.

Not sure what that alignment looks like? Therapy can help untangle the stories behind your spending, your saving, and your self-worth.

01/23/2026

What if your choices didn’t have to make sense to everyone else?

So many high-achieving, sensitive, or trauma-informed folks are wired to prioritize other people’s comfort. To over-explain. To second-guess. To keep the peace even when it costs their own.

But healing asks a different question:
What actually feels good to me?

Not what looks good. Not what earns praise. Not what keeps others happy.

This week’s reminder:
You don’t need to justify your softness, your rest, your boundaries, or your joy.
Feeling good is a valid compass. You get to choose your life, on your terms.

💬 What’s one thing you’re choosing for you right now?

01/21/2026

In this blog, I explore why high-achieving couples often find emotional intimacy harder than professional success. I break down how perfectionism, avoidance, and “fix-it” tendencies can quietly erode connection, and what helps.

If you’ve ever thought, “We’re great on paper… why does this feel so hard?”, this is for you.

📖 Read the full blog to explore why trauma shows up louder in high-functioning relationships, and how you can begin shifting the patterns toward healing, regulation, and true connection.

01/19/2026

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Some days, love feels like the heavier choice.
To stay soft in a hard world.
To keep showing up with hope when cynicism feels easier.
To remain open when you’ve been hurt before.

But love, real love, not performative or polished, is what makes us human.
It’s what helps us keep going.
Even when the world feels overwhelming.
Even when the headlines are heavy.
Even when everything in you wants to shut down.

Today, we honor the power of love as action.
As resistance.
As healing.
As care.

Not just for others but for yourself, too. 🤍

01/16/2026

Letting go can feel like losing part of yourself, and that’s what makes this work so deeply personal. Because identity and coping are often intertwined.

You’re not empty without it. You’re uncovering what’s always been there, and building something that actually fits.

If you’re navigating this shift, I’m here to support you. Therapy helps you gently ask:
💫What parts of you were you trying to soothe?
💫What roles did substances play in your relationships?
💫What else could connection, peace, or celebration look like?

01/14/2026

If you’re a high-achiever who struggles with anxiety, self-criticism, or the need to “get it right,” your relationship might be impacted in ways that don’t always feel obvious at first.

In this week’s guest blog, therapist Erica Basso, LMFT explores:
🌊How perfectionism shows up in couples
🌊Why it’s more than just a “personality trait”
🌊Practical ways to shift the cycle of critique and shutdown
🌊When to seek individual or couples therapy

You don’t have to choose between excellence and connection.
You can have both, with a little awareness, practice, and support.

01/12/2026

FOMO during Dry January is real.

Especially when alcohol, chemicals, or compounds were part of your identity, part of how you coped, connected, or felt like yourself.

It’s not just about the drink or compound.

It’s about what it meant to you, and what you’re learning about yourself without it.

If you’re navigating Dry January (or even just thinking about it), I’m here to support your nervous system, your boundaries, and your sense of self through the process.

01/09/2026

The start of a new year and setting intentions can bring up mixed feelings.

On one hand, there’s desire: to feel more present, more connected, more grounded in what actually matters.

On the other hand, there’s fatigue: from past years of overextending, from goals that came from pressure instead of alignment, from a nervous system that’s already running on empty.

So what if this year, instead of performance-based resolutions, you asked:

✨ What relationships or patterns quietly drain my energy?
✨ What choices have I been making out of guilt, not truth?
✨ Where in my life do I feel most alive, safe, or seen?
✨ What kind of energy do I want to offer to myself and the people I love?

01/07/2026

In my latest blog, I explore the real difference between trauma bonds and secure attachment, and why even high-achieving, successful, loving people can find themselves stuck in cycles of intensity, conflict, and disconnection.

💬 Signs of trauma bonding
💛 What secure attachment actually looks like
🧠 How your nervous system plays a role in reactive relationship patterns
🔁 Why healing requires more than just “better communication”

If your relationship swings between closeness and rupture, or if emotional safety feels out of reach, this post might help you make sense of what’s happening, and offer a trauma-informed path forward.

01/06/2026

For many of my clients (and myself), the start of a new year brings both reflection and resistance. If you’re exploring your relationship with drinking, coping habits, or just craving more clarity this season, know that support is available.

Therapy can help you unpack the patterns behind what soothes you, what disconnects you, and what your nervous system has been carrying.

You don’t have to figure it out alone.

📍 I offer trauma-informed therapy for neurodivergent folks, high-achieving couples, and anyone seeking meaningful change.

Address

2525 Camino Del Rio S
San Diego, CA
92108

Telephone

(619) 597-1505

Website

http://Www.amyandersontherapy.com/

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Breathe. It’s going to be ok.

Hello and thank you for checking out my page! I’m excited to offer clinical counseling services aimed to help you reduce distress surrounding life transitions (divorce/separation, relocation, new job or career path, new relationship, generational changes, etc.), anxiety, depression, substance abuse, relationship turbulence, and preparing and planning for healthier future life changes. I use Solution Focused, Strength Based, Trauma Informed therapeutic approaches that are also rooted in Positive Psychology and Cognitive Behavioral frameworks to help my clients achieve the life satisfaction they are looking for.

I offer these services in Central San Diego in Mission Valley on Tuesdays on a part time basis. I also offer Clinical Supervision for new and aspiring therapists who are pursing licensure in the state of California. I offer a weekly clinical supervision group as well as individual supervision appointments. Please feel free to give me a call or message me here if you have any further questions or would like to schedule a session!