Therapy shouldn't be mysterious. Here is the shape of it.
Dr. Carlson practices from the evidence. She is trained across a range of established modalities, including trauma-focused, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, and relational approaches, and that breadth is what makes individualized care possible. Two people with the same diagnosis are often treated quite differently, on purpose.
That includes practical help. If you want strategies for the anxiety this week, Dr. Carlson will give them to you. They simply tend to hold better once the reasons underneath them are understood.
She also treats people as whole. Mood lives in a body, inside a family, within a history, and often inside a faith. Sleep, illness, hormones, grief, marriage, work, culture, and belief all press on mental health, and she works at those intersections rather than treating a symptom in isolation.
And getting better is not only the subtraction of what hurts. Strengths, values, creativity, and humor tend to be the first things distress quietly takes and the last things people think to ask for. Play and creativity are signs of wellness, and helping people get them back is part of the work.
You describe what is going on, and Dr. Carlson tells you honestly whether she is the right person. If she isn't, she will point you toward someone who is.
Two or three sessions for a careful history and a clear statement of what you want to be different. She shares how she understands it and what would help. You decide whether it fits.
Usually weekly to begin. The work addresses what is pressing now while following the patterns underneath it. What we do and how quickly we do it is decided together.
Therapy that isn't helping should change. Goals get revisited openly, and she will say so if a different approach or a different clinician would serve you better.
That weekly shape is not the only one available. See the ways to work together, including intensives and couples workshops.