Have you tried all the things to help with anxiety and nothing has worked? Me too! It's not your fault.

In this short introductory episode, Jessica Richards, a counselor and coach, welcomes you into "It's Not You, It's Anxiety" — a podcast created for anyone who's tried the usual solutions for anxiety and still feels overwhelmed, stuck in constant worry, or exhausted.

Jessica shares why she started this podcast, the truth she wants you to know right from the beginning, and the compassionate framework that will guide every episode.

You'll hear how her work with clients — and her own lived experience — showed her that anxiety isn't a personal failure. It's something shaped by your biology, the messages your learned, and the wild world we're all trying to navigate.

This episode sets the tone for everything to come: warm, grounding, shame-free, and rooted in real psychological insight.

You'll learn what to expect from the show, who it's for, and how it will help you understand and work with your anxiety in a way that finally feels realistic, kind, and doable.

In this episode, Jessica talks about:

Why anxiety isn't a character flaw or personal weakness

The common myths about anxiety that make people feel worse

Her own experiences with anxiety — and how she's helped herself and her clients.

What this podcast will offer:

Insight, compassion, practical tools, brain and body education, and gentle (but powerful) shifts to help anxiety

Why healing anxiety requires understanding, not criticism

How modern life makes anxiety harder — and why it's not your fault

You'll walk away with:

A sense of safety and grounding

Permission to stop blaming yourself for being anxious

An understanding of what this podcast will give you

A feeling of being welcomed into a space where you're not alone

Episode takeaway:

Your anxiety makes sense. You're not broken or behind. And there is nothing wrong with you — even if anxiety has made you feel otherwise.

*Disclaimer* This show is for information and inspiration. It is not professional mental health counseling or medical advice. If you're struggling, please reach out to a mental health or medical professional.

Feeling like nothing works for your anxiety? You're not broken — you just haven't been given the right tools.

In this episode, Jessica unpacks what anxiety really is, why traditional methods often fall short, and how to start healing in and compassionate and realistic way.

Episode Summary

In this honest and deeply relatable first episode, Jessica shares her personal experience with anxiety and what she discovered after years of feeling dismissed by one-dimensional solutions.

You'll learn why anxiety isn't just a mental issue — it's a total life experience involving your biology, this modern environment you live in, and the messages you learned about yourself.

This episode offers a new way to understand anxiety and gives you permission to stop blaming yourself for not being "fixed" yet.

In This Episode, You'll Learn

• Why anxiety can't be solved by focusing on only one area (like thoughts, breathing, or medication)
• The hidden causes of anxiety that the usual approaches overlook
• How family and social messages and unrealistic expectations make anxious thinking worse
• Why validation, understanding, and compassion is crucial to healing anxiety
• What a realistic and helpful approach to anxiety really looks like

Key Quotes

"Anxiety isn't your fault — and it's not your fault that the solutions you've tried haven't worked."

"You're not broken. You've just been trying to fix something with the wrong tools."

"When help only addresses one piece of the puzzle, it can feel invalidating — like no one really gets what you're going through."

Main Takeaway

Anxiety is not a character flaw or a personal failure — and it's not your fault if traditional help hasn't helped.

Anxiety is the result of overlapping factors in your mind, body, and environment. Real healing begins with understanding and recognizing all the pieces, and approaching them with compassion.

Who This Episode Is For

This episode is for anyone who:

• Has tried therapy, medication, or meditation but still feels anxious
• Feels unseen or invalidated by typical mental health or medical advice
• Wants a more complete, compassionate way to understand and work with anxiety

Connect with Jessica Richards

Instagram: @jessica_richards_counseling

Free Guide: Get the 3 Keys to Begin Quieting Anxiety Now

Weekly Emails: Get on Board Here

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this episode helped you feel seen, please follow the show and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps others find the support they need too.

*Disclaimer* This show is for information and inspiration. It is not professional mental health counseling or medical advice. If you're struggling, please reach out to a mental health or medical professional.

Do you constantly criticize yourself for feeling anxious? You're not alone — but it's not helping.

In this episode, Jessica explains why self-criticism actually fuels anxiety, how to recognize your inner critic, and what to do instead to start feeling calmer and kinder toward yourself.

Episode Summary

People with anxiety are often their own harshest critics. In this compassionate follow-up to Episode 1, Jessica explores how self-criticism and anxiety create a painful feedback loop — one that keeps you feeling stuck, tense, and unsafe.

Through relatable stories and practical insight, she shows why "beating yourself up" never works, and how shifting to understanding and compassion can immediately begin to calm your anxiety and open the door to healing.

In This Episode, You'll Learn

Why anxiety makes you blame yourself — and how that intensifies criticism

How self-criticism tricks your brain into thinking it's keeping you safe

What happens in your body when you judge yourself harshly

Simple ways to interrupt the anxiety/self-criticism cycle

A gentle exercise to replace judgment with understanding and compassion

Key Quotes

"If beating yourself up actually worked, you'd be 'perfect' by now — but you're not, and I'm not. Because criticism doesn't actually help."

"Criticism ramps us up or shuts us down — it never helps us change."

"Treat yourself the way you'd treat anyone else who had anxiety — with kindness and understanding."

Main Takeaway

You can't heal anxiety when you're beating yourself up.

Real change begins when you stop beating yourself up, stop blaming yourself for being anxious, and start meeting yourself with kindness, compassion, and understanding.

Who This Episode Is For

This episode is for anyone who:

Constantly blames themselves for feeling anxious

Feels trapped in self-criticism and perfectionism and wants a way out

Wants to feel calmer and kinder toward themselves

Connect with Jessica

Instagram: @jessica_richards_counseling

Get My Free Guide: Three Keys to Begin Quieting Anxiety Now

Weekly Emails: Get Weekly Emails Here

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation helped you feel seen, please follow and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps others find the show — and reminds them they're not alone.

*Disclaimer* This show is for information and inspiration. It is not professional mental health counseling or medical advice. If you're struggling, please reach out to a mental health or medical professional.

Anxiety is your fault and you should have it figured out by now, right?

Nope.

Anxiety isn't your fault. You didn't cause it — in fact, you're actually set up for it.

Jessica breaks down three core reasons anxiety isn't your fault and helps you finally understand why what your anxiety makes sense.

Episode Summary

In this clear and compassionate episode, Jessica explains why anxiety isn't a personal failure — it's part of being human living in this modern world.

You'll learn the three major factors that "set you up" for anxiety: Your biological wiring, The overwhelming pace of modern life, and the messages you've learned from family and society.

By the end, you'll see your anxiety in a completely new light — with more understanding, less shame. You'll have a powerful reminder that it makes sense you feel this way...and it isn't your fault.

In This Episode, You'll Learn

About the biological survival system that creates anxiety

Why modern life overwhelms a brain built for simpler times

How social and family messages quietly shape anxiety

The phrase that changes everything: "This makes sense"

How self-understanding leads to self-compassion, healing, and relief

Key Quotes

"You are totally set up for anxiety — and that's why it's not your fault."

"Your biology, this modern world, and the messages you've learned all combine to create anxiety — so how could you not feel this way?"

"Understanding why anxiety makes sense is the first step to changing it."

Main Takeaway

Anxiety isn't a defect — it's a reasonable response that you're totally set up for. Once you understand how your brain, body, and environment work together to create anxiety, you can finally release the blame and begin to get relief.

Who This Episode Is For

This episode is for anyone who:

Feels guilty or ashamed about their anxiety

Wants to understand why anxiety really happens

Is ready to replace self-blame with insight and compassion

Connect with Jessica

Instagram: @jessica_richards_counseling

Get My Free Guide: 3 Keys for Quieting Anxiety Now

Get My Weekly Emails: Get On Board Here

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this episode helped you see your anxiety differently, please follow the show and leave a review. Your words help others discover that their anxiety makes sense too.

*Disclaimer* This show is for information and inspiration. It is not professional mental health counseling or medical advice. If you're struggling, please reach out to a mental health or medical professional.

"You should have known better."

"You screwed it up."

"You're going to make a mistake again."

These are the nasty things anxiety can say to keep you from trusting yourself.

When you live with anxiety, trusting yourself can feel impossible. In this episode, Jessica explores how anxiety makes you doubt your judgement and convinces you that you can't make good decisions about your life — and how to start rebuilding trust in yourself through compassion, reflection, and learning from the past.

Episode Overview

Anxiety and self-trust can feel like opposites. When you’ve made choices that didn’t turn out the way you hoped, it’s easy to believe you can’t trust yourself — and anxiety is more than happy to take over from there.

In this episode, Jessica explains why anxiety steps in when you start doubting your decisions, how it convinces you that worry equals control, and why that cycle keeps you stuck. Through gentle reflection, she guides you toward seeing your past choices with more understanding and less judgment — and reminds you that your current self has more wisdom, experience, and agency than you think.

What You’ll Learn

• How anxiety convinces you that you “can’t be trusted”
• Why anxiety believes it’s protecting you — and how it actually blocks clarity
• The difference between learning from the past and living in the past
• How to release old evidence that keeps you from trusting yourself
• Steps to rebuild confidence and decision-making, even when you still feel anxious

Key Quotes

“Anxiety jumps in and says, ‘You can’t trust yourself — I’ve got this.’ But anxiety doesn’t actually help you make better choices.”

“You were just making the best choice you could with what you knew at the time.”

“You can be trusted. You can sit down and make decisions about your life without anxiety running the show.”

Main Takeaway

Anxiety tries to protect you from making mistakes — but it ends up keeping you stuck in fear. You can trust yourself again. The key is compassion: recognizing that you’ve grown, learned, and changed, and that you’re capable of making thoughtful choices in the present moment.

Connect with Jessica

Instagram: @jessica_richards_counseling

Get My Free Guide: 3 Keys for Quieting Anxiety Now

Emails When a New Episode Drops: Get On Board Here

If You Liked This Episode

If this conversation helped you see yourself more clearly, please follow the show and leave a review. It helps others discover that it’s possible to stop listening to anxiety and build self-trust — even in a wild world.

*Disclaimer* This show is for information and inspiration. It is not professional mental health counseling or medical advice. If you're struggling, please reach out to a mental health or medical professional.

Why does your anxiety feel so strong, so persistent, and so much bigger than the things happening in your life?

In today’s episode, Jessica breaks down the real reason anxiety feels overwhelming — and it’s not because you’re dramatic, broken, or “overreacting.”

Episode Summary

You’ll learn how anxiety’s one job — protecting you from supposed threats — explains overthinking, spiraling, tension, and those moments where your mind jumps to the worst-case scenario instantly.

Jessica shares personal examples straight from her week (“spending too much money,” “looking stupid,” “forgetting to pay my bills,” “hitting a pedestrian in the dark,” and more) to show how anxiety reacts to anything it perceives as dangerous, whether it’s logical or not.

This episode will help you understand your anxiety more clearly, reduce the shame and self-blame you’ve been carrying, and start relating to your anxiety with compassion instead of fear.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• Why anxiety feels so intense and persistent for so many people
• What anxiety thinks its “job” is — and why that makes it react so strongly
• How your biology, modern life, and learned messages shape your anxiety
• Why anxious threats don’t have to be real to feel real in your body
• How to start identifying what your anxiety is trying to protect you from
• The key mindset shift that immediately softens self-blame and confusion

Key Quotes

“There is a perfectly good reason anxiety is doing this — and it makes complete sense. Anxiety thinks it’s protecting you.”

“What is the threat anxiety sees? What is this anxiety trying to protect me from?”

“This isn’t you. This isn’t who you are as a person. It’s not your fault. You’re not making this happen — this is a process happening in you.”

Main Takeaway

Your anxiety feels so intense because it’s doing the only job it knows how to do: spot potential threats and keep you safe.

The problem is that anxiety reacts to imagined, exaggerated, or future-based threats just as strongly as real ones.

When you understand this, anxiety becomes less mysterious, less shame-inducing, and less overwhelming — and you can finally work with it instead of fighting yourself.

Who This Episode Is For

This episode is for anyone who:

• Feels like their anxiety is “too much” or “doesn’t match the situation”
• Blames themselves for not being “logical” enough when anxious
• Wants to understand why their anxiety feels big and persistent
• Has been searching for answers that feel validating instead of dismissive
• Wants a grounded, compassionate explanation for what’s happening inside them

Connect with Jessica Richards

Instagram: @jessica_richards_counseling

Get My Free Guide: 3 Keys for Quieting Anxiety Now

Get My Weekly Emails: Get On Board Here

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this episode helped you feel seen, understood, or less alone, it would mean so much if you followed the show and left a review. It helps others who struggle with anxiety find this kind of support too.

*Disclaimer* This show is for information and inspiration. It is not professional mental health counseling or medical advice. If you're struggling, please reach out to a mental health or medical professional.

Topics Covered in This Episode

• why anxiety is so intense
• anxiety protection response
• anxious overthinking
• threat response system
• nervous system anxiety
• chronic anxiety patterns
• why anxiety spirals
• anxiety feels disproportionate

If you struggle with overthinking, obsessing, or spiraling, this episode will help you understand why it happens — and why it’s not your fault.

Episode Summary

Jessica explains that overthinking isn’t a random symptom of anxiety; it’s one of the primary ways anxiety tries to protect you from something it believes could go wrong.

Using relatable examples — replaying conversations, stressing over work, worrying about climate change, and even baking muffins for a neighbor — Jessica shows how anxiety mistakes discomfort, uncertainty, or possible mistakes as “threats.” From there, it launches into overthinking as its attempt to prepare you, keep you safe, or prevent you from being surprised.

By the end of this episode, you’ll begin to see your overthinking differently: not as a personal flaw, but as a misguided safety response. And you’ll learn a powerful practice for gently stepping outside of the spiral and getting clarity.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• Why overthinking is one of anxiety’s primary “protection strategies”
• How overthinking turns into obsessing and full-body spiraling
• Why anxiety sees even small things as potential “threats”
• How your brain tries to prevent mistakes, discomfort, or surprises
• Why overthinking feels automatic or uncontrollable
• A simple practice to create space between you and your anxious thoughts
• How understanding anxiety’s motives helps you calm it more quickly
• How this practice sets you up for deeper healing in future episode

Key Moments From the Episode

“Overthinking, obsessing, and spiraling are ways anxiety tries to protect you.”

“Even when part of you knows the overthinking isn’t helping, another part feels like it’s necessary.”

“Anxiety sees threats everywhere — even in things like baking muffins for a neighbor.”

“Overthinking protects you from making a mistake, missing something, or being surprised.”

“Just naming what’s happening gives you distance from it.”

“This sets you up to eventually shift from anxiety-driven reactions to calm, grounded thinking.”

Who This Episode Is For

• This episode is perfect for anyone who:
• Gets stuck in overthinking or rumination
• Spirals quickly into worst-case scenarios
• Feels overwhelmed by obsessive or looping thoughts
• Wants to understand why their brain reacts this way
• Feels frustrated, ashamed, or confused about their anxiety
• Craves a kinder explanation for patterns they can’t seem to control

If you’ve ever wondered, “Why am I like this?” — this episode offers clarity and compassion.

Connect with Jessica

Instagram: @jessica_richards_counseling

Get My Free Guide: 3 Keys for Quieting Anxiety Now

Get My Weekly Emails: Get On Board Here

*Disclaimer* This show is for information and inspiration. It is not professional mental health counseling or medical advice. If you’re struggling, please reach out to a mental health or medical professional.

Topics Covered in This Episode

• why we overthink
• anxiety and overthinking
• anxiety spiraling
• obsessive thoughts and anxiety
• threat response and anxiety
• why anxiety sees danger everywhere
• nervous system and overthinking
• rumination vs. protection
• how to stop spiraling
• compassionate anxiety tools
• understanding anxious thoughts
• how to reduce overthinking
• trauma-informed anxiety education

Send us a text

If you live with anxiety, chances are you feel guilty all the time.

Guilty for disappointing people. Guilty for saying no. Guilty for wanting something different. Guilty for existing.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Jessica breaks down the truth about guilt — and it’s not what you think.

You’ll learn how guilt is another way anxiety tries to protect you, why it shows up in situations where you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, and how to start seeing guilt for what it really is: a safety strategy, not a moral failing.

Jessica shares real-life examples (holiday plans, food waste, posting a selfie, and even existential guilt) to help you understand how anxiety uses guilt to push you toward the “safe,” “right,” or “expected” thing — even when that thing hurts you.
When you understand what guilt is actually doing, everything changes.

In This Episode, You'll Learn

• Why anxious people feel guilty all the time
• How guilt functions as a protection strategy, not a moral failing
• How anxiety scans your life for threats and misinterprets normal choices as dangerous
• Why guilt feels like absolute proof that you're doing something wrong
• The difference between real guilt and anxiety-driven guilt
• What existential guilt is — and why it’s so common for anxious people
• How guilt tries to push you toward “safe,” expected, socially approved choices

Key Quotes

“I haven't met a person with anxiety who doesn't experience guilt pretty much all the time.”

“Anxiety uses guilt to make you feel bad so that you'll supposedly be the way you need to be to stay safe.”

“Anxiety is a threat detector. It is not a good-outcome detector.”

“Sometimes the guilt gets so deep it feels like guilt for existing.”

“Guilt is one of the things that can really get us stuck because it’s so convincing.”

“Guilt is a way that anxiety is showing up to protect you. It's not you — it's anxiety.”

Main Takeaway

Overthinking isn’t a character flaw or bad habit — it’s anxiety reacting to a perceived threat in an attempt to keep you safe. Understanding why it happens immediately reduces shame, increases clarity, and gives you the power to begin shifting out of spiraling into calmer, clearer thinking.

Who This Episode Is For

This episode is for anyone who:

• Feels guilty constantly, even when nothing bad happened
• Overthinks decisions because they fear disappointing others
• Experiences deep or existential guilt
• Struggles to trust themselves
• Wants a grounded, compassionate explanation for their guilt
• Wants to stop guilt from controlling their choices and self-worth

Connect with Jessica

Instagram: @jessica_richards_counseling

Get My Free Guide: 3 Keys for Quieting Anxiety Now

Get My Weekly Emails: Get On Board Here

Enjoyed This Episode?

If this episode helped you see guilt differently, please share the show, leave a rating, or reach out. Everyone deserves clarity and compassion.

*Disclaimer* This show is for information and inspiration. It is not professional mental health counseling or medical advice. If you're struggling, please reach out to a mental health or medical professional.

Topics Covered in This Episode

• why guilt feels so intense
• anxiety and guilt connection
• why anxious people feel guilty
• guilt as a safety response
• understanding chronic guilt
• anxious guilt vs true guilt
• fear of disappoin