Craig Sinclair (He)

Anxiety becomes a problem when efforts to control or eliminate it narrow your life. ACT addresses this directly — rather than targeting symptoms, we build psychological flexibility: the ability to hold difficult thoughts and feelings without letting them dictate behavior. Exposure work is integrated throughout, helping you move toward valued living even in the presence of discomfort, fear, or uncertainty. My work is grounded in evolutionary theory and contemporary behavioral science.

Anxiety persists when avoidance prevents you from learning that feared situations are manageable. Exposure therapy directly targets this cycle — through repeated, structured contact with feared situations, you build new learning that overrides old fear associations. My work is grounded in inhibitory learning research, one of the most evidence-based treatments available for phobias, panic, health anxiety, social anxiety, and trauma.

PTSD persists through avoidance of trauma-related memories, sensations, and situations — preventing the new learning needed to reduce their grip. Treatment targets these maintaining mechanisms directly, using exposure-based methods grounded in inhibitory learning and an ACT framework that builds flexibility in the presence of difficult internal experiences.

Anxiety disorders share a common maintenance cycle: avoidance prevents the new learning needed to break fear’s hold. I work with the full range of anxiety presentations — generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorder, specific phobias, health anxiety, and perfectionism — using structured, evidence-based exposure methods grounded in inhibitory learning research and embedded within an ACT framework.

Exposure therapy works by helping you gradually face the things you’ve been avoiding — situations, memories, physical sensations, or thoughts. Rather than just reducing discomfort in the moment, the goal is building genuine confidence that you can handle what you’ve been dreading. This can include imagining difficult scenarios, writing about them, or approaching real situations step by step.

I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) for sleep-related concerns — the most effective non-medication treatment for chronic insomnia. CBT-I targets the thoughts, behaviors, and sleep patterns that perpetuate poor sleep.

Poor sleep affects everything — mood, memory, physical health, and the ability to recover from stress and trauma. I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the gold standard behavioral treatment, as well as Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for nightmares. Treatment is structured and time-limited, and is effective whether or not trauma is part of the picture.