Overthinking & Catastrophic Thinking Counseling in Fort Wayne, IN
Support for teens and young adults, ages 13-25, whose minds won't stop running worst-case scenarios
Overthinking rarely feels like a choice. It feels like being handed a problem your brain refuses to put down, replaying a conversation for the tenth time, building out an entire disaster from one small, uncertain detail, or lying awake running through every way tomorrow could go wrong.
Overthinking and catastrophic thinking counseling at Unwilted Counseling helps teens and young adults in Fort Wayne understand why the mind gets stuck in these loops and builds the ability to step out of them before they take over the whole day.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation | Call or text (260) 255-6432
At a Glance | Category |
|---|---|
First step | Free 15-minute consultation |
Ongoing session fee | $135 for 50 minutes (private pay; out-of-network reimbursement may be possible) |
Formats | In person at 3514 Stellhorn Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46815; virtual across Indiana and Ohio |
Therapist | Destina Rekeweg, LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor) |
Approaches | CBT, mindfulness-based strategies, exposure-informed techniques |
Concerns | Overthinking, rumination, catastrophic ("worst-case") thinking, racing thoughts, replaying conversations, decision paralysis |
Who we help | Teens and young adults, ages 13-25 |
What Overthinking and Catastrophic Thinking Actually Look Like
Overthinking is the broad pattern, going over the same thought, decision, or memory far past the point of usefulness. Catastrophic thinking is a specific, common form of it: jumping from a small, uncertain fact to the worst possible outcome, almost automatically. "I didn't hear back from my friend" becomes "they're mad at me," which becomes "I ruined the friendship," often within seconds and without any new information actually arriving.
These patterns aren't the same as careful thinking. Careful thinking reaches a conclusion and lets the mind move on. Overthinking and catastrophizing loop, the same scenario, the same worry, the same replayed moment, without ever actually resolving anything.
How This Often Shows Up
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Rumination after social situations. Replaying a conversation on a loop, analyzing tone, word choice, or a pause, looking for proof that something went wrong.
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Catastrophizing small events. A minor mistake, a vague text, or an ambiguous comment spirals into assuming the worst possible outcome.
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Decision paralysis. Overanalyzing every option for a decision, large or small, until making any choice feels impossible or exhausting.
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"What if" spirals. A chain of worst-case questions, each one building on the last, that rarely lands anywhere resolved.
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Mental rehearsal of disasters. Imagining in detail how a future event could go badly, as if preparing for it, even though it usually just increases dread.
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Difficulty being told "don't worry about it." The thought isn't a choice you're making on purpose, so being told to simply stop rarely works.
Signs Counseling Might Help
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You replay conversations or decisions for hours or days afterward, looking for something you got wrong
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A small, ambiguous event (an unanswered text, a short response from a teacher or friend) quickly becomes a worst-case story
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Making decisions, even minor ones, feels disproportionately hard or draining
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Your mind keeps running even when you're exhausted and want it to stop, especially at night
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You've been told you're "overanalyzing" or "catastrophizing" and know it's true, but can't seem to stop in the moment
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Overthinking has led to avoidance, not sending a message, not making a choice, not trying something new, because imagining the worst outcome feels too real
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Physical tension, trouble sleeping, or a racing heart that tracks with the mental loop (see Anxiety Counseling if physical anxiety symptoms are the dominant pattern)
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The spiral is almost always about not being good enough or making a mistake (see Perfectionism & Fear of Failure Counseling if that's the core driver)
Where Overthinking and Catastrophic Thinking Often Come From
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A brain that learns uncertainty is dangerous. For some people, an unpredictable or high-stakes environment growing up taught the mind to prepare for the worst as a form of protection, better to imagine the disaster than be caught off guard by it.
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Past situations where the worst case actually happened. If a feared outcome has come true before, even once, the mind can treat every uncertain situation afterward as equally high-risk.
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An attempt at control. Overthinking can function as a way of trying to control an uncertain outcome by mentally working through every angle, even though it rarely changes what actually happens.
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Perfectionism and fear of failure. When a mistake feels catastrophic to your sense of worth, the mind works overtime trying to prevent one, often by overthinking every decision in advance.
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Anxiety itself. For many people, overthinking and catastrophizing are simply what anxiety sounds like from the inside, the mental loop that accompanies the physical symptoms.
This pattern usually made sense as a form of protection at some point. It can be examined and loosened once the mind no longer needs to work this hard to feel safe.
How Counseling for Overthinking Works
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Noticing the pattern in real time. Many people overthink so automatically that they don't notice it happening until it's already taken over. The first stage is building awareness of when a thought has shifted from useful to looping.
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Separating productive thinking from rumination. Learning to recognize the difference between genuinely working through a problem and replaying it without progress, and having a plan for the second one.
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Testing catastrophic predictions against reality. Looking at specific worst-case thoughts and checking them against what's actually happened in similar situations before, building real evidence rather than abstract reassurance.
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Building tolerance for uncertainty. Since overthinking is often an attempt to eliminate uncertainty, part of the work is practicing sitting with "I don't know how this will go" without needing to resolve it through more analysis.
What a Session Actually Looks Like
Sessions often start with a specific loop from the past week: a conversation replayed a dozen times, a decision that took hours longer than it should have, a night spent running through worst-case scenarios. From there, the work gets curious about the actual content of the loop, what the feared outcome was, how likely it really was, and what happened the last several times a similar fear didn't come true.
Some sessions are practical: building a specific strategy for interrupting a spiral once it starts, or setting a boundary around when and how long to think about something. Others go deeper into where the pattern comes from, often tied to perfectionism, a past experience, or a general discomfort with uncertainty. There's no expectation of arriving with a quiet mind. A session about a spiral that happened anyway, and how it played out, is often some of the most useful material.
Our Approach
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Identifying the specific catastrophic thoughts driving a spiral and testing them against actual evidence, rather than accepting them as fact.
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Mindfulness-based strategies. Building the ability to notice a thought without immediately following it down a spiral, reducing the automatic pull of rumination.
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Exposure-informed techniques. For catastrophic thinking tied to specific fears, gradually facing the uncertainty directly rather than mentally rehearsing ways to avoid it.
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Addressing the root driver. When overthinking is fueled by perfectionism, past experience, or anxiety, treatment addresses that underlying pattern, not just the thought loop itself.
Why Families Choose Unwilted Counseling
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Focused on ages 13-25. Clinical work centers on how overthinking shows up at this stage of life: academic and social decisions, early independence, and a still-developing sense of what's actually within your control.
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Treat the pattern, not just the moment. The goal is understanding why the mind loops in the first place, not just interrupting one spiral at a time.
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One consistent therapist. As a solo private-pay practice, the same therapist holds your full history over time.
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Your pace, always. What's discussed, and when, is your call.
For Parents and Caregivers
If your teen seems to replay conversations for days, spirals into worst-case thinking over small events, or takes an unusually long time to make simple decisions, it can be hard to tell whether that's just a thoughtful personality or something worth addressing.
Meet Your Therapist: Destina Rekeweg, LMHC
Destina is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and more than three years of experience working exclusively with teens and young adults.
In-Person and Virtual Counseling
In person in Fort Wayne. Sessions take place in a private, comfortable office at 3514 Stellhorn Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46815.
Virtual across Indiana and Ohio. Secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth is available to clients located in Indiana and, through the Counseling Compact, eligible parts of Ohio.
What to Expect
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Free consultation (15 minutes). A low-pressure conversation about what's going on and what support could look like, with no obligation to continue.
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Initial intake assessment (50 min). Understanding your history, current patterns, strengths, and goals.
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Ongoing sessions (50 minutes). Work that moves from noticing the pattern to testing it and building tolerance for uncertainty.
Fees and Payment
Unwilted Counseling is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly. Clients may use out-of-network benefits for possible reimbursement, and documentation can be provided for that purpose.
Service | Duration | Fee |
|---|---|---|
Initial intake assessment | 50 min | $160 |
Ongoing session | 50 min | $135 |
Intensive session | 75 min | $202.50 |
Intensive session | 100 min | $270 |
Intensive session | 150 min | $405 |
Good Faith Estimate: Clients paying privately have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate explaining expected costs of care. You may request this prior to scheduling. See our full fees and policies page.
Related Services
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Anxiety Counseling: when overthinking comes with physical anxiety symptoms like a racing heart or chest tightness
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Perfectionism & Fear of Failure Counseling: when the spiral is driven by a fear of mistakes or not being good enough
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Panic Attack Counseling: when catastrophic thinking triggers or follows a panic attack
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Emotion Regulation Counseling: for the distress that builds during a thought spiral
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Self-Esteem & Identity Counseling: for the self-worth patterns that often sit underneath catastrophic thinking
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Individual Counseling: for a broader, personalized approach to overall mental health
Frequently Asked Questions About Overthinking & Catastrophic Thinking Counseling
Overthinking and catastrophic thinking are patterns, not a diagnosis on their own. For some people they occur alongside generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder; for others, they show up without meeting the full criteria for an anxiety disorder. Either way, the patterns themselves are very treatable, whether or not a formal anxiety diagnosis is present.
Not quite. General worry tends to stay roughly proportional to the situation. Catastrophic thinking jumps specifically to the worst possible outcome, often within seconds, and tends to feel certain rather than merely possible, even when the actual evidence doesn't support it.
Usually not for long. Overthinking rarely responds to willpower alone, since the loop often feels automatic and urgent rather than optional. Therapy focuses on building the skill to notice and interrupt the pattern, and to test the thoughts driving it, rather than relying on sheer effort to suppress it.
Often, yes. For many people, catastrophic thinking is driven by a fear that a mistake will be unbearable, which overlaps heavily with perfectionism.
The timeline varies depending on your goals and needs. Many clients notice an initial shift in awareness within a few weeks, while developing healthier thought patterns and reducing overthinking can take several months.
Unwilted Counseling is private pay and does not bill insurance directly. Clients may seek out-of-network reimbursement from their plan.
Good Faith Estimate: Clients paying privately have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate explaining expected costs of care. You may request this prior to scheduling.
Your Mind Can Learn a Different Pace!
You don't have to have the spiral figured out, or already know how to quiet your mind, to start. A free 15-minute consultation is a low-pressure way to talk about what's going on and find out what support could look like. Call or text (260) 255-6432 or request your free consultation.
