Counselling for Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the most common reasons people come to counselling, and it can show up in so many different ways. For some people it's a constant low-level hum of worry that never quite goes away. For others it's sudden and overwhelming, arriving as panic attacks that seem to come from nowhere. It might look like avoiding certain situations, people, or experiences. It might feel like a knot in your chest, a racing heart, difficulty sleeping, or a mind that simply won't slow down.
A certain amount of anxiety is entirely normal and even helpful. It's the thing that helps you prepare for a difficult conversation or stay alert in a genuinely risky situation. The problem arises when anxiety stops being useful and starts running the show.
How Anxiety Gains Momentum
Anxiety often has a strong relationship with our need for certainty and control. When we can't predict or manage what might happen, the mind can generate very powerful alarm signals even when there's no immediate threat. Over time, this can lead to a narrowing of life: avoiding situations that might trigger anxious feelings, withdrawing from people, sleeping badly, and sometimes developing depression alongside the anxiety.
The physical symptoms can be very real and very distressing, including sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, a racing heartbeat, dry mouth, or dizziness. It can be easy to misread these as signs that something is physically wrong, which often makes the anxiety worse.
My approach
Over many years of working with anxious clients, I've found that a two-part approach works best. The first part is practical: learning ways to manage the symptoms when they arise, so that anxiety doesn't have to feel completely out of control. The second part goes deeper: exploring the underlying reasons for the anxiety, which is usually where the more lasting change happens.
Anxiety is rarely just about the thing that seems to be triggering it. Often it's a kind of smokescreen for other feelings, sometimes anger, sometimes shame, sometimes a grief that hasn't been properly acknowledged. When we can start to understand what the anxiety is really about, and build up a toolkit of ways to manage difficult feelings, it becomes possible to live a much calmer and more expansive life.
Therapy doesn't have to be frightening. We go at your pace, and we always start with what feels manageable.