Anxiety is a part, not the whole of you
The worrying, the scanning, the replaying — that is one part of you working overtime. Once you can see it as a part, you stop being it.
- Accepting new clients
- Online across Pennsylvania
- Free 15-min consult
Anxiety Therapist in Pennsylvania — Online
Telehealth therapy in Pennsylvania for overthinking, relationship stress and self-criticism. Warm, structured, IFS-informed and skills-based, with John Pelikan, LCSW, LCADC.
- $175 / 55-min · private pay
- LCSW, LCADC
- HIPAA-compliant video
- Licensed in Pennsylvania
Request your free 15-minute consult
No pressure, no obligation. We will talk about what is going on and whether working together is the right fit. You will hear back within one business day.
Prefer to book a time yourself? Book directly in SimplePractice (opens in a new tab).
You might be here because…
Your mind spirals at night and will not switch off.
Nothing you finish ever feels finished well enough.
You replay conversations for hours, looking for what you got wrong.
You are high-achieving and exhausted, and you cannot let yourself rest.
You worry constantly about where you stand with people.
You are harder on yourself than you would ever be on a friend.
Shame sits underneath the anxiety, and it has been there a long time.
Anxiety is not a character flaw and it is not the whole of you. It is a part of you doing a job it took on a long time ago. It does not need to be argued with — it needs to find out it is allowed to stop.
“I am not afraid of any of them. I can listen.”
Self · Not a part — this is you
Underneath every part there is a you that is calm, curious and compassionate. IFS calls it Self. It is never damaged, only crowded out — and the work is making room for it to lead again.
Why I use IFS for anxiety
Managing symptoms vs. meeting the source
Breathing exercises help in the moment. They do not tell you what the worrying is protecting you from. That is the part IFS goes after, so the relief outlasts the exercise.
Skills you will use this week
You leave with something concrete: a way to catch the spiral, a boundary to try, a good-enough version of the thing you are avoiding.
IFS — Internal Family Systems, sometimes called parts work — is a structured approach used widely for anxiety, shame and trauma. The premise is simple: the worrying is not all of you, it is one part of you doing a job. Get to know what it is guarding and it stops having to run things. All of it happens inside you, which is why it works as well by video as in a room.
How therapy with me works
Four steps, so you know what you are walking into.
Free 15-minute consult
We talk about what is going on, I answer your questions, and we both decide whether this is a fit. No charge and no pressure to book.
First session: find the pattern
We work out what sets the spiral off, what keeps it running, and which part of you is doing the worrying in the first place.
Ongoing sessions
You get to know the part driving the anxiety and what it is afraid would happen if it eased off. As that gets answered, the alarm stops being the loudest thing in the room.
Skills for the week
You leave with something practical — a way to catch a part before it blends with you, a question to ask it — so the work keeps going between sessions.
What a session looks like online
- A secure video link — nothing to install.
- A private space and headphones.
- 55 minutes, weekly to start.
- Anywhere in Pennsylvania.
Private pay, no insurance hassle — here is exactly what it costs
$175 per 55-minute session, private pay. No insurance billing, no authorizations, no diagnosis on file with an insurer. I accept HSA and FSA cards and provide superbills you can submit for possible out-of-network reimbursement.
- $175per 55-minute session
- Private payno insurance billing
- HSA / FSAcards accepted
- Superbillsfor out-of-network claims
This is probably not the right fit if…
- you are looking for couples or marriage counseling
- you are seeking therapy for a child or a teenager
- you need medication management or psychiatry
- you are in crisis right now — see the note at the bottom of this page
If none of that describes you, we are probably in the right place. The consult is where we find out for certain.
About John
John Pelikan, LCSW, LCADC
I have lived with my own anxiety, depression and emotional pain, and I am in recovery from addiction and homelessness. That is part of why I do not treat your symptoms as problems to delete. Numbing, the drink, the critic that will not let up — those are parts doing jobs, and they took them on for reasons that made sense at the time.
IFS is not one approach among several for me. It changed the direction of my life before it shaped my practice, and it is the lens I bring to every session. My style is casual, honest and human — I will not sit in silence and stare at you, and I will not hand you advice that ignores your actual life.
Credentials and focus
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LCADC)
- Trained in Internal Family Systems — parts work is the core of how I practice, not an add-on
- Dual licensure means compulsion and numbing are treated as protectors, not as a separate problem to hand off
- Licensed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Maine — including Pennsylvania
- Works with adults on trauma, shame, anxiety, perfectionism and self-criticism
- Telehealth only — secure video sessions, no office visits
Questions people ask first
Private pay keeps the work between us: no diagnosis filed with an insurer, no session limits, no company deciding when you are finished. I provide superbills so you can still claim out-of-network if your plan allows it.
Yes. Nothing in this work needs a shared room, and many people find it easier to be honest from their own space. It also removes the commute, which is one less thing to dread.
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Maine. You need to be physically in one of those states during the session — that is a licensing rule, not a preference.
Usually within a week or two of the consult. Tell me which times work in the form and I will reply within one business day with what I have open in Pennsylvania.
Fifteen minutes by video or phone. You tell me what is going on, I tell you how I would work with it, and you ask me anything. If I am not the right fit, I will say so and point you somewhere better.
It depends on what you are carrying. Most people start weekly. Some feel a shift within a couple of months; deeper trauma work usually takes longer. We check on progress as we go rather than guessing up front.
Sessions run on a HIPAA-compliant video platform. Use headphones and a room where you will not be overheard. I do not record sessions.
Ready to talk? The first 15 minutes are free.
Currently accepting new clients across Pennsylvania.