It's Not You, It's Anxiety is a podcast for people who are anxious, but haven't found relief from the usual anxiety help, and feel like there must be something wrong with THEM!
Overwhelmed, tired of overthinking, and exhausted, they're ready for a compassionate and straightforward way to understand and work with anxiety — especially in the current world we’re in.
Hosted by Licensed Professional Counselor and coach Jessica Richards, this mental health podcast blends psychology, compassion, and Jessica's insight as a counselor and as a person who struggled with anxiety and had to figure it out herself. It's time to make sense of your anxiety, ease constant worry and judgement, and believe in and trust yourself.
Anxiety isn’t your fault. You're not the problem. Your anxiety actually makes sense and there is a way to work with it.
Learn how to understand and work with your anxiety...with kindness, compassion, and no judgement (even in these wild times).
“Is This Really a Threat?” The Key Question You Need to Ask Anxiety
What if the things making you anxious aren’t actually threats? Jessica explores one of the most important shifts in healing anxiety: learning to separate what is an actual threat from what simply feels threatening because your survival system has been activated. Episode Summary In this episode, Jessica brings together everything covered in the series so far — your biology, modern living, and the messages you learned — and explains how these three things work together to make everyday situatio...
12 Mar 2026
You Learned Messages That Taught You What to be Anxious About: How This Fuels Your Anxiety
Why are you anxious about the specific things that make you anxious? Episode Summary In this episode, Jessica explores the third major cause of anxiety: the messages you learned throughout your life. These messages—spoken and unspoken—teach you what to worry about, what to fear, and who you believe you need to be in order to be safe, accepted, or successful. Jessica explains how these messages come from everywhere: family, school, culture, religion, media, and the experiences you observe grow...
4 Feb 2026
Modern Life is Making You Anxious: How It's Too Much For Your Survival System
Do you ever feel like you just can’t keep up with life? Like there’s too much information, too much stimulation, and too many demands coming at you all the time? Episode Summary In this episode, Jessica breaks down the second major contributor to anxiety: modern living. She explains why our brains and bodies are simply not designed for the pace, volume, and constant input of modern life...and how this mismatch keeps your survival system activated almost nonstop. Using clear explanations, curr...
28 Jan 2026
Your Normal Biology is Making You Anxious (Why It Makes You See Danger Everywhere)
Learn how anxiety is caused by biology: How your survival system is designed to scan for threats, why it misfires, and how understanding the biology of anxiety can immediately reduce shame and self-blame. This episode helps you understand what’s happening in your body so anxiety stops feeling mysterious, scary, or personal. Episode Summary In this episode, Jessica breaks down the first and most foundational cause of anxiety: your biology. She explains how your survival system is d...
31 Dec 2025
Quieting Your Anxiety Can Save the World
In this powerful bonus episode, Jessica explores something most people have never been told: Anxiety quietly shapes how people make decisions, use power, and treat one another in the world. Changing your anxiety can change the world! Episode Summary Through a moving real-life story, you’ll hear how one woman working through her anxiety didn’t just change her own life — she protected healthcare for an entire community. This episode reveals how anxiety doesn't just live in individuals — it dri...
17 Dec 2025
It's Not Just People Pleasing: There's Another Reason You Care So Much What Other People Think
In this episode, Jessica unpacks one of the most painful and misunderstood parts of anxiety: caring deeply — and worrying — about what other people think. Episode Summary You’ll learn why this isn’t insecurity, overreacting, vanity, or “people-pleasing gone wrong.” It’s actually one of the most common ways anxiety tries to protect you. Using real-life examples (pumpkin spice lattes, doctors’ appointments, parenting, and everyday interactions), Jessica explains why your brain sees other ...
10 Dec 2025
The Truth About Why You Feel Guilty All the Time
If you live with anxiety, chances are you feel guilty all the time. Guilty for disappointing people. Guilty for saying no. Guilty for wanting something different. Guilty for existing. Episode Summary In this episode, Jessica breaks down the truth about guilt — and it’s not what you think. You’ll learn how guilt is another way anxiety tries to protect you, why it shows up in situations where you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, and how to start seeing guilt for what it really is: a safe...
3 Dec 2025
...Overthinking Explained: You Won't Believe This
If you struggle with overthinking, obsessing, or spiraling, this episode will help you understand why it happens — and why it’s not your fault. Episode Summary Jessica explains that overthinking isn’t a random symptom of anxiety; it’s one of the primary ways anxiety tries to protect you from something it believes could go wrong. Using relatable examples — replaying conversations, stressing over work, worrying about climate change, and even baking muffins for a neighbor — Jessica shows h...
26 Nov 2025
The Real Reason Anxiety is SO Intense
Why does your anxiety feel so strong, so persistent, and so much bigger than the things happening in your life? In today’s episode, Jessica breaks down the real reason anxiety feels overwhelming — and it’s not because you’re dramatic, broken, or “overreacting.” Episode Summary You’ll learn how anxiety’s one job — protecting you from supposed threats — explains overthinking, spiraling, tension, and those moments where your mind jumps to the worst-case scenario instantly. Jessica sh...
19 Nov 2025
Proof That Trusting Yourself IS Possible (Despite What Anxiety Says)
"You should have known better." "You screwed it up." "You're going to make a mistake again." These are the nasty things anxiety can say to keep you from trusting yourself. When you live with anxiety, trusting yourself can feel impossible. In this episode, Jessica explores how anxiety makes you doubt your judgement and convinces you that you can't make good decisions about your life — and how to start rebuilding trust in yourself through compassion, reflection, and learning from the past...
10 Oct 2025
Why Anxiety Isn't Your Fault
Anxiety is your fault and you should have it figured out by now, right? Nope. Anxiety isn't your fault. You didn't cause it — in fact, you're actually set up for it. Jessica breaks down three core reasons anxiety isn't your fault and helps you finally understand why what your anxiety makes sense. Episode Summary In this clear and compassionate episode, Jessica explains why anxiety isn't a personal failure — it's part of being human living in this modern world. You'll learn the three major fac...
9 Oct 2025
Criticizing Yourself For Anxiety? Time to Stop
Do you constantly criticize yourself for feeling anxious? You're not alone — but it's not helping. In this episode, Jessica explains why self-criticism actually fuels anxiety, how to recognize your inner critic, and what to do instead to start feeling calmer and kinder toward yourself. Episode Summary People with anxiety are often their own harshest critics. In this compassionate follow-up to Episode 1, Jessica explores how self-criticism and anxiety create a painful feedback loop — one that ...
8 Oct 2025
Anxiety Help Hasn't Helped (Spoiler: It's Not You)
Feeling like nothing works for your anxiety? You're not broken — you just haven't been given the right tools. In this episode, Jessica unpacks what anxiety really is, why traditional methods often fall short, and how to start healing in and compassionate and realistic way. Episode Summary In this honest and deeply relatable first episode, Jessica shares her personal experience with anxiety and what she discovered after years of feeling dismissed by one-dimensional solutions. You'll learn why ...
7 Oct 2025
Welcome: It's Not You, It's Anxiety!
Have you tried all the things to help with anxiety and nothing has worked? Me too! It's not your fault. In this short introductory episode, Jessica Richards, a counselor and coach, welcomes you into "It's Not You, It's Anxiety" — a podcast created for anyone who's tried the usual solutions for anxiety and still feels overwhelmed, stuck in constant worry, or exhausted. Jessica shares why she started this podcast, the truth she wants you to know right from the beginning, and the compassionate f...
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Contact It's Not You, It's Anxiety!
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of It's Not You, It's Anxiety!?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
