Dr. Z. online class: courses.thisisdoctorz.com
personal website: www.thisisdoctorz.com

Anxiety usually doesn’t walk into my office saying, “Hi, I’m anxiety.” Anxiety shows up as “I can’t stop checking,” “I’m...
12/27/2025

Anxiety usually doesn’t walk into my office saying, “Hi, I’m anxiety.” Anxiety shows up as “I can’t stop checking,” “I’m terrified I’ll make the wrong choice,” “I feel like a bad parent/partner/therapist,” or “My body is always on high alert and I don’t know how to turn it off.”

For so many of my clients, anxiety is a dense, confusing knot of worry, avoidance, overthinking, exhaustion, and self-criticism that doesn’t fit neatly into any single form.

It can be especially confusing when it shows up as overthinking, people-pleasing, procrastination, a need to control everything, or that familiar thought, “I should be able to handle this by now.” It rarely feels like one neat problem to fix; it feels like a knot that keeps tightening, especially for the folks who are already reflective, hard-working, and trying so hard to get it right.

So many of the people I work with are smart, thoughtful, and deeply caring — and also exhausted from constantly trying to outthink, outrun, or outwork their anxiety.

That’s why I’m really excited to be offering a live ACT training that focuses on the coexistence of many anxiety struggles all at once and how to work with that complexity in a clear, compassionate way.

If your caseload is full of:
- Clients who intellectually understand your interventions but stay stuck in the same loops
- High-functioning worriers who are burning out on the inside
- Folks whose anxiety is tangled up with perfectionism, trauma, shame, or OCD processes

… hope you can join me on this training!

If you work with chronic worry, perfectionism, OCD-like patterns, or trauma-related anxiety, this advanced skills training will offer space to deepen case conceptualization, sharpen behavioral interventions, and stay grounded in compassion for your clients and for yourself.

🗓 March 9th–April 13th | Every Mondays 12–2pm EST

🔗 Register here: https://www.praxiscet.com/events/untangling-anxiety-mar-2026/

Praxis CET

12/23/2025

MANY, MANY THANKS to all the high-achievers, go-getters, doers, and thoughtful readers who took the time to leave a review for Acceptance and Commitment Skills for Perfectionism and High-Achieving Behaviors! Your insights mean so much, and I truly appreciate every review you’ve shared.

If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, take a look. It’s all about harnessing your drive without losing yourself in the process.

🔗 Check it out here: https://amzn.to/3cgMPGz

12/23/2025

🎙️ I’m delighted to share that I joined Richard Jacobs on the Finding Genius Podcast for a thoughtful conversation about overcoming procrastination through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in “I’ll do it later,” this episode might offer a fresh perspective.

🎧 Watch or listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk58mvvwTG8

12/23/2025

🎙️ I’m delighted to share that I joined Richard Jacobs on the Finding Genius Podcast for a thoughtful conversation about overcoming procrastination through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in “I’ll do it later,” this episode might offer a fresh perspective.

🎧 Watch or listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk58mvvwTG8

Most people dealing with OCD are familiar with public compulsions because they’re visible and easy to catch. But, what h...
12/22/2025

Most people dealing with OCD are familiar with public compulsions because they’re visible and easy to catch.

But, what happens when our brain fires intrusive thoughts and we do the best we can to handle them by relying on what we think we have control over – our thinking? What happens when we are feeding into OCD using all types of mental strategies? What happens when without knowing, we are doing a mental compulsion? As OCD episodes vary from individual to individual, so do compulsions, and the list of mental compulsions could grow, as well.

We don’t need to live with time-consuming mental compulsions that strengthen the cycle of OCD and keep us stuck. We don’t need to keep wasting energy by trying to solve obsessions with mental strategies.

In this webinar, I share the 11 most common forms of mental compulsions that help catch those tricky mental strategies, stop the OCD cycle, and get back into our life. Learning how thinking strategies are a compulsion will give us the awareness we need to get unstuck from fighting intrusive thoughts.

Most of my clients didn’t know that they were getting lost in compulsively thinking over and over, compulsively going into answer-seeking, and compulsively searching for the “right feeling.”

Register for the webinar, learn about mental compulsions and get back into your life!
https://www.actbeyondocd.com/mental-compulsions-webinar-registration-page/

No matter the type of anxiety or anxiety struggles you are suffering from, we all engage in safety behaviors. I called t...
12/09/2025

No matter the type of anxiety or anxiety struggles you are suffering from, we all engage in safety behaviors.

I called those safety behaviors, playing-it-safe moves.

I wanted to introduce you to the Playing-it-Safe Questionnaire, a tool that aims to help you stop living "small" lives and start living with more intention and purpose.

The questionnaire is designed to identify the 10 most common safety behaviors a person engages in when dealing with anxiety.

It takes 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire and obtain your playing-it-safe profile.

Take the Playing-it-safe questionnaire: https://www.thisisdoctorz.com/playing-it-safe-questionnaire/

High-achieving, striving or perfectionistic actions can go unchecked and unrecognized for a long time, to the point that...
11/25/2025

High-achieving, striving or perfectionistic actions can go unchecked and unrecognized for a long time, to the point that they keep us stuck in a perfectionistic trap.

For instance,

Are you busy trying to show up perfectly to whatever they do?

Are you doing the things you feel confident about, but avoiding the things they are not good at?

Are you working super hard so they don’t make mistakes?

I put together a free audio so listeners can learn Acceptance and Commitment skills to turn perfectionism from a rigid oppressor into a flexible friend.

Get the free audioguide: https://proud-snow-5694.ck.page/73a2c1b566

🎙️ New Podcast Episode!I’m so excited to share that I recently joined Dr. Jessica Higgins on The Empowered Relationship ...
11/17/2025

🎙️ New Podcast Episode!

I’m so excited to share that I recently joined Dr. Jessica Higgins on The Empowered Relationship Podcast for an in-depth and heartfelt conversation about moving beyond fear and control to build emotional flexibility in relationships.

In this episode, we explore:
✨ How fear and control can quietly limit the way we love and connect
✨ What emotional flexibility really means, and how it helps us stay true to our values
✨ Practical steps to bring more compassion, openness, and resilience into our relationships

If you’ve ever felt caught between wanting connection and fearing vulnerability, this one’s for you.

🎧 Listen here: https://drjessicahiggins.com/erp-502-beyond-fear-and-control-building-emotional-flexibility-in-relationships-an-interview-with-patricia-zurita-ona/

✨ Exciting news! My Psyche Guide article, "How to respond to annoying things with greater ease," was featured in the Ame...
11/11/2025

✨ Exciting news! My Psyche Guide article, "How to respond to annoying things with greater ease," was featured in the American Psychological Association (APA)’s recent roundup, “Six Things Psychologists Are Talking About …” It is #6 in the list!

My article explores how we can manage everyday irritations and frustrations with more awareness, humor, and compassion, turning those small annoyances into opportunities for emotional growth and perspective.

🌟 Even more thrilling: it’s now reached 30,000 views!

A heartfelt THANK YOU to the APA for highlighting my work and to everyone who has read, shared, and engaged with it.

Read my Psyche Guide here:
https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-respond-to-annoying-things-with-greater-ease

See the full APA list here:
https://view.info.apa.org/?qs=24b269e36bdd2e1d8f7596f73f183b68cc468e42303f661a429a1da5f26b78e8feddca28de41188d3b53a0e61fcfbd0d17a4f951d0d7d48e51f483401848f8bc4a6435e2db78905bd83ba07d24733171

10/31/2025

🎙️ I’m thrilled to to share my conversation with Kyle Gray + The Story Engine on the latest episode The Story Engine Podcast!

In this episode, we dive deep into a topic close to my heart: the hidden struggles of high achievers. So often, success looks effortless from the outside, but underneath, anxiety, self-doubt, and pressure can quietly take over.

I share why ambitious, high-performing individuals are especially prone to anxiety, the subtle ways it shows up, and how the same drive that fuels achievement can also lead to peace, resilience, and self-acceptance without losing your edge.

If you’ve ever felt like your success comes at the cost of your peace of mind, this conversation will show you how to achieve both. 💫

🎧 Tune in now: https://www.thestoryengine.co/patricia-zurita-ona/

🚨📘 NEW BOOK ALERT: The ACT Workbook for the Anxious ProcrastinatorYou’re not lazy — you’re stuck in a loop.This workbook...
10/03/2025

🚨📘 NEW BOOK ALERT: The ACT Workbook for the Anxious Procrastinator

You’re not lazy — you’re stuck in a loop.
This workbook helps you break it with science, compassion, and small, doable steps.

Buy it here: https://a.co/d/ddsj4j1

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

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