Therapy for High-Achievers, Recovering People-Pleasers, and the Ones Who Never Learned How to Stop

Below, you can learn more about the most common therapy modalities I pull from to support my clients. This list is not exhaustive; I may incorporate other theories and practices to support you. Rather than a one-size-fits all, I will tailor my approach to meet your individual needs.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT teaches mindfulness and acceptance skills to help individuals live and behave in ways consistent with their values while developing psychological flexibility. It helps individuals recognize ways in which their attempts to suppress, manage, and control emotional experiences create challenges. By recognizing and addressing these challenges, individuals can become better able to make room for values-based actions that support well-being. It also encourages people to develop a new and compassionate relationship with their experiences. Click here to learn more.

Attachment-based therapy

Attachment-Based Therapy explores how one’s childhood experiences might impact their ability to form meaningful bonds as adults. This approach helps people rebuild trust in relationships and heal from past relationship wounds. Though attachment therapy is often recommended for those who had negative childhood experiences, anyone struggling to foster deep connections with others might benefit from this therapy. In attachment-based therapy, you can expect to get in touch with your inner child—the person you were when you were first wounded or traumatized or abandoned. From there, the therapist helps you to ‘re-parent’ that version of yourself with love and patience, and compassion. Click here to learn more.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is based on the idea that our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are all closely connected—and all of these factors have a direct influence on our well-being. Through CBT, you can unlearn negative thoughts and behaviors and develop healthier thinking patterns and habits. CBT involves a wide range of evidence-based techniques to help people overcome troubling thoughts, learn to relax the mind/body, and problem-solve in difficult situations. Click here to learn more.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT is a modified and more comprehensive type of CBT, also comprised of a wide range of evidence-based techniques. DBT teaches people how to live more mindfully, practice healthier ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their communication and relationships with others. The ultimate goal of DBT is to help people build the skills necessary to enhance their lives. Click here to learn more.

INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS (IFS)

Internal Family Systems is an approach to therapy that identifies and addresses multiple sub-personalities or families within each person’s mental system. These sub-personalities consist of wounded parts and painful emotions such as anger and shame, and parts that try to control and protect the person from the pain of the wounded parts. The sub-personalities are often in conflict with each other and with one’s core Self, a concept that describes the confident, compassionate, whole person that is at the core of every individual. IFS focuses on healing the wounded parts and restoring mental balance and harmony by changing the dynamics that create discord among the sub-personalities and the Self. Click here to learn more.

Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB)

IPNB uses the clinical evidence that supports continuous brain growth as its foundation. This technique examines the opportunity for healing trauma by stimulating the brain with powerful and positive persuasion. Studies have shown that conditions that were once considered to be irreversible may actually be able to be transformed in a healthy way. Because the brain grows continuously throughout our lives, the implications for healing are unending. This technique is being used across a broad sector of the population, including with those who work in the areas of mental health, education, parenting, business, industry, and others. Click here to learn more.

Narrative Therapy

Narrative Therapy is a method of therapy that separates a person from their problems. It encourages people to rely on their own skills to minimize problems that exist in their lives. Throughout life, personal experiences become personal stories. People give these stories meaning, and the stories help shape a person’s identity. Narrative therapy uses the power of these stories to help people discover their life purpose. This is often done by assigning that person the role of “narrator” in their own story. Click here to learn more.

Person-Centered Therapy

Person-Centered Therapy diverged from the traditional model of the therapist as expert and moved instead toward a nondirective, empathic approach that empowers and motivates the client in the therapeutic process. The therapy is based on a belief that every human being strives for and has the capacity to fulfill his or her own potential. In Person-Centered Therapy, the therapist avoids directing the course of therapy by following the client’s lead whenever possible. The therapist offers support, guidance, and structure so that the client can discover personalized solutions within themselves. Click here to learn more.

Relational Therapy

Relational psychotherapy, an approach that can help individuals recognize the role relationships play in the shaping of daily experiences, attempts to help people understand patterns appearing in the thoughts and feelings they have toward themselves. Based on the idea that strong and fulfilling relationships with other individuals can help people maintain emotional well-being, this model may be beneficial to people seeking therapy for any number of reasons, but in particular to address long-term emotional distress, especially when distress occurs as a result of relational concerns. Click here to learn more.

Somatic Psychotherapy

Somatic psychotherapy, a holistic therapeutic approach, incorporates a person’s mind, body, spirit, and emotions in the healing process. Because past trauma or other psychological concerns may affect a person’s autonomic nervous system, people experiencing emotional and psychological issues may also be affected by physical concerns. Practitioners of somatic psychotherapy can help individuals become more aware of bodily sensations and learn to use therapeutic techniques to release any tension the body is holding. Techniques often used in therapy include breathing exercise and sensation awareness, physical exercise such as dance or other movement, voice work, massage, and grounding exercises. Somatic therapy may help people experience greater self-awareness and connection to others. Participants may find themselves able to better sense their own bodies, reduce stress, and explore emotional and physical concerns. Click here to learn more.

Take the Next Step

Eden Stone, LPC, M.Ed.

Licensed Professional Counselor — Texas (#83998)

In-person (Austin, TX) · Telehealth (Texas) · Hybrid schedule

I work with people who've spent their lives being the reliable one — the over-functioner, the fixer, the friend everyone calls — and who are exhausted in a way that doesn't show up as a crisis so much as a slow-burn baseline. Most of my clients are high-achieving, self-aware, and already know a lot about what's wrong. What they haven't had is the room to actually change it.

Who This Work Is a Good Fit For

● You're the dependable one — at work, at home, in your friend group, in your family — and you're worn down by it in a way that's hard to name or justify to yourself

● You have a history of anxiety, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or burnout, and coping strategies that used to work have stopped landing

● You're carrying a complex trauma or family-of-origin history, including childhood experiences where you had to manage yourself (or other people's emotions) before anyone checked in on you

● You want depth-oriented, experiential work — not a structured protocol, weekly homework, or a purely skills-based approach

● You're comfortable with a therapist who validates but also challenges — someone willing to name a pattern directly rather than only reflect it back

● You're a college student or graduate student navigating anxiety, burnout, identity, or a life transition, particularly in academically demanding environments

● You'd benefit from a nervous-system-informed, somatic approach rather than talk therapy alone

● You want a therapist who understands ADHD, learning differences, or disability-related needs, even if that's not the primary reason you're coming in

● You're one half of a couple — not in crisis, but stuck in a pattern where one person keeps reaching and the other keeps retreating — and you're looking for individual therapy to work through it, or, in limited cases, joint sessions

When This May Not Be the Best Fit

● You need or want to use insurance. I'm private pay only (superbills provided for out-of-network reimbursement).

● You need early morning, evening, or weekend availability. My hours are Monday–Thursday, 10am–4pm.

● You're in immediate or active crisis — including active suicidal or homicidal ideation — or need a higher level of care than weekly outpatient therapy. This includes significant, acute depression that would be better served by IOP, PHP, or inpatient support.

● You're looking for a structured, directive approach — homework-driven, coach-style, or solution-focused/short-term work. My approach is relational and depth-oriented.

● You're seeking treatment primarily for OCD, active eating disorders, sleep disorders, chronic illness, or Dissociative Identity Disorder. I have some training and experience in these areas but don't currently take these on as a primary focus.

● You have a history of Schizophrenia, psychosis, or other severe mental illness requiring a higher level of psychiatric support than outpatient talk therapy provides.

● You're looking for family therapy, child or adolescent therapy, sex therapy, religious/faith-based counseling, or Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), EMDR, or Brainspotting. I don't offer these.

● You're a couple looking for a therapist trained in a specific couples modality (Gottman, EFT). My couples work is currently limited and individually-informed rather than protocol-based.

● You're transgender or navigating gender dysphoria. I don't currently have the specialized training to support this well, and I'd rather name that clearly than take on work I'm not equipped for. (I do work with LGB clients regularly and comfortably.)

● You have a diagnosed personality disorder. I have training to support this work (DBT) but limited capacity for it at any given time — if this describes you, a brief consultation can clarify whether I currently have room.

If you're unsure whether any of this applies to you, a free consultation is the fastest way to find out.

Therapeutic Approach & Style

I work integratively, pulling from several modalities depending on what a given moment calls for, rather than running one protocol start to finish.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is one of my primary lenses. We'll get to know the different "parts" of you that show up to manage, protect, or push you — the anxious part, the perfectionistic part, the part that says yes before checking in with the rest of you — and work with them with curiosity instead of judgment.

Somatic Experiencing means we won't only talk about what's happening — we'll slow down and check in with your body as it comes up, since a lot of anxiety and old trauma live somewhere talk alone doesn't reach.

Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) shapes how I think about change itself: new experiences of safety and connection, not just new insight, are what actually shift long-standing patterns — including what happens between the two of us in session. When emotions feel unmanageable or a specific skill would help — tolerating distress, navigating conflict, calming a panic response — I'll bring in DBT skills directly, without turning the whole course of therapy into a skills class.

I also draw on attachment-based and relational therapy (looking at how your earliest relationships shaped your patterns now, and using our relationship as part of that work), and occasionally narrative therapy or CBT when reframing a specific story or thought pattern is useful in the moment.

For couples: I'm currently training in Relational Life Therapy (RLT), expected to complete in 2027, which will expand my couples work. Until then, couples sessions I take on are individually-informed rather than built around a specific couples protocol.

In session, I'm accommodating and validating, but not only that — I'll name a pattern I notice, even a hard one, if it serves what you're working toward. I don't come in with an agenda, and I'm not big on homework or worksheets, though I'll offer resources between sessions when they'd help.

Credentials & Experience

I've been licensed since 2020, with roughly a decade of clinical training and practice altogether. I'm a Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist (CCTS-I), with advanced training in Complex PTSD, IFS (Foundations and Level 3 consultation), Somatic Experiencing, and interpersonal neurobiology through training with Dr. Janina Fisher, Dr. Eric Gentry, and Juliane Taylor Shore. I also completed DBT skills training with Marsha Linehan and self-compassion training with Kristin Neff.

Alongside private practice, I've spent 15+ years in higher education disability services at UT Austin, supporting students with ADHD, learning differences, autism, and psychological or medical conditions. That work informs both my clinical understanding of executive functioning and burnout, and my familiarity with practical supports like workplace or academic accommodations, medical leave, and disability documentation.

Why Colleagues Refer Here

Colleagues most often send me clients with complex relational or developmental trauma who want a nervous-system-informed or IFS-based approach, clients who've done EMDR or other therapy without the progress they hoped for, and college students navigating anxiety, burnout, or life transitions — a referral pattern that tracks directly with my UT Austin background. I also get consistent referrals for clients experiencing panic attacks.

Clients who do this work tend to become less self-critical, more able to name and tolerate their own needs, and better at recognizing when a relationship or job isn't giving them what they're giving it. For many, panic and anxiety symptoms become less frequent as the underlying pattern gets addressed directly.

Practical Details

● Licensure: Licensed Professional Counselor, Texas (#83998)

● Practicing in: Texas only — in-person and telehealth

● In-Person: Austin, TX (2 days/week)

● Telehealth: Available to clients located in Texas

● Ages Seen: Adults (see note on age scope below)

● Session Format: Individual therapy; limited couples sessions

● Payment: Private pay only — no insurance accepted. Superbills provided for

out-of-network reimbursement.

● Getting Started: Free 15–20 minute phone consultation for new clients

Clear Next Step

If this sounds like your pattern, a free consultation is the easiest way to find out if we're a good fit.

Schedule a Consultation