Disclosure: Following this interview, Dr. Carmichael asked me to do some freelance work with her practice, and I accepted. That is not really relevant to this blog post, but I am sharing for transparency.
I connected with Dr. Chloe when I did a panel on clinical practice through Therapists Connect. In her presentation, she talked a bit about her book, Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety. As we know, people who appear successful, “functional,” and happy on the outside can still struggle with their mental health. Dr. Chloe’s book looks at helping people who might not have obvious deficits or impairments in their lives.
Nervous Energy was published earlier this year and is a great resource for anyone struggling with anxiety, and especially those who might feel like they are “too high-functioning” to need a lot of support.
Dr. Chloe found herself working with people who have “the basic boxes in life checked” and whose anxiety symptoms might actually be helping motivate them or serving them in their careers. (I have said before that I cannot imagine writing an entire dissertation without some motivating anxiety!) She sought to honor the function of that anxiety while addressing the clinical impairments of an anxiety disorder.
This re-framing has helped Dr. Chloe’s clients who might struggle with anxiety in a way that does not cause obvious deficits in their lives. She described it as “Like a little fly that they keep swatting at.” This is such a necessary focus if we want to validate that there is not a minimum threshold of struggling to ask for help or get support.
Nervous Energy is based on Dr. Chloe’s approach and techniques with her individual clients, so those who want to manage their anxiety in a healthier way can use it as a supplement to therapy services to build skills.
In addition to her book, Dr. Chloe has some excellent resources on her site for individuals looking to manage their mental health in a healthy way. She has a psychology practice that offers therapy and coaching services.
Dr. Chloe also has programs for therapists looking to build a successful practice. She has fantastic tips for marketing and specifically getting your name out there with the media.
You can also subscribe to Dr. Chloe’s newsletter on her website.