Anxiety is everywhere right now, but nobody teaches you what it’s actually for. We sit down with Dr. Leslie Bottoms, therapist and owner of Wise Mind Counseling PLC in the Richmond, Virginia area, to get practical about mental health without the fluff. She shares what she’s seeing across therapy for adults, kids, families, and couples, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and borderline personality disorder, and why so many people feel stuck in constant nervous system activation.

We talk about the cultural shift that makes mental health less “hush hush,” especially after COVID forced so many of us to sit with grief, isolation, pressure, and relationship stress. Dr. Leslie breaks down why anxiety isn’t automatically bad, how “triggered” gets misused, and what it looks like to move from survival mode to thriving. If you’ve been thinking about therapy but keep telling yourself you should just power through, this conversation will challenge that mindset in a supportive way.

Then we zoom out to entrepreneurship and leadership. Dr. Leslie gets honest about building a private practice, the fear that comes with being the boss, what hiring red flags feel like in your gut, and why empathy without boundaries turns into self-destruction. Her biggest low point comes when she realizes she can’t do it all alone, and the breakthrough that happens when she finally brings in the right help.

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