Is It Anxiety or Over-Responsibility? The Emotional Load Women Carry
By Alysha Ruffatto, LPC Associate
Specializing in women’s issues, anxiety therapy, and emotional burnout recovery in Katy, Texas
Changing Tides Counseling – Katy, TX
Understanding Anxiety in Women: Is It Something Deeper?
Many women seek therapy because they feel constantly anxious, overwhelmed, or exhausted, but what if the anxiety in women isn’t just about a chemical imbalance or stress?
At Changing Tides Counseling in Katy, Texas, we often see women struggling with a deeper issue beneath the surface of anxiety: over-responsibility.
What Is Over-Responsibility?
Over-responsibility is when women feel emotionally or mentally responsible for everyone else’s needs, moods, and outcomes. You may:
Anticipate and fix problems before they arise
Feel guilty saying no
Absorb others’ emotional distress
Overfunction in your job, parenting, or marriage
Feel like if you stop managing everything, it will all fall apart
These patterns can lead to chronic anxiety, burnout, emotional fatigue, and disconnection from yourself. What we often call “anxiety in women” is frequently a lifelong pattern of prioritizing others over ourselves.
The Invisible Emotional Load Women Carry
Women today are not just working and raising families, they’re:
Remembering every birthday and school deadline
Managing everyone’s emotions in the household
Making mental checklists that never end
Offering support at work, home, and in friendships
This invisible labor, emotional, mental, and physical, is exhausting. It’s also rarely acknowledged. If you’re feeling anxious, resentful, or like you’re “losing yourself,” you’re not alone.
You may not be too sensitive or overthinking.
You may just be carrying too much.
Is It Anxiety or a Boundary Violation?
As a therapist who focuses on women’s issues and anxiety therapy in Katy, Texas, I help women recognize that anxiety can often be a body-based signal that boundaries have been violated—often by ourselves. Common signs include:
Constant overthinking
Trouble relaxing or resting
Taking care of others at the cost of your own well-being
Feeling guilt when you ask for help
Over-responsibility isn’t a personality trait—it’s a survival strategy. And it’s one you can unlearn.
How Therapy Can Help You Release the Weight
At Changing Tides Counseling, I help women learn to:
Identify the mental and emotional load they’ve been carrying
Challenge perfectionism and people-pleasing
Reconnect with their values and inner voice
Set boundaries without guilt
Soothe their nervous system using body-based strategies
Say yes to themselves—for once
You don’t need to keep running on empty. Therapy can help you learn to set down what was never yours to carry.
Meet Your Therapist
Alysha Ruffatto, LPC Associate, specializes in anxiety therapy for women in Katy, Texas, with a focus on emotional burnout, boundary work, and identity rebuilding. She offers compassionate, non-judgmental care for women navigating motherhood, career stress, caregiving, or relationship struggles.
Supervised by Matthew Whalen, M.Ed, LPC-S
Therapy for Women in Katy, Texas
If you’re looking for therapy that helps you feel seen, supported, and strengthened, reach out today.
Changing Tides Counseling offers therapy for women’s issues, including:
Generalized anxiety
Emotional overwhelm
High-functioning anxiety
Motherhood transitions
Overfunctioning in relationships or career
Ready to Schedule Anxiety Therapy in Katy, Texas?
📍 Located in Katy, TX — serving Fulshear, Richmond, and surrounding areas
📞 832-303-9419
📧 alysha.ruffatto@changingtidescc.com
🌐 https://changingtidescc.com
Start feeling lighter, calmer, and more connected to yourself.
You don’t have to carry it all. You were never meant to.