Therapy for Anxiety

Moving beyond constant worry to live a calmer, more grounded life.

Anxiety Conditions I Treat

Anxiety disorders are mental health conditions characterized by persistent, excessive fear or worry that can disrupt daily life. Typically, people may get diagnosed with an anxiety disorder if their anxiety lasts 6 or more months and consists of excessive, persistent fear, worry, or anxiety that causes significant distress or functional impairment. Key anxiety issues I treat include:

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Panic Disorder and Panic Attacks
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Social Anxiety Disorder
Agoraphobia
Specific Phobias
Health Anxiety

My Approach to Anxiety Treatment

Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommend Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as one of the most effective approaches for anxiety, which I commonly use within my practice. As well as CBT, I am also trained in several other evidence-based therapies that can help address and manage anxiety. These include:

Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT): Builds practical skills to manage anxiety by developing our soothe system within the brain as well as self-compassion. Many people with anxiety are highly self-critical, which can intensify distress. CFT helps you cultivate a kinder, more supportive inner voice, reducing shame and soothing the nervous system.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Helps you change your relationship with anxious thoughts rather than fighting them. ACT supports you in accepting internal experiences while committing to actions that align with your values, so anxiety no longer dictates your choices or limits your life.
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT): Offers structured skills to manage overwhelming emotions, including anxiety. DBT focuses on distress tolerance, emotional regulation, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness, helping you stay steady during intense moments without resorting to avoidance or impulsive coping strategies.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR): Assists in processing difficult or distressing memories that may be contributing to ongoing anxiety. By helping the brain reprocess these experiences, EMDR can reduce the emotional charge attached to them and alleviate symptoms that feel stuck or intrusive.

Alongside therapy, we may also explore supportive lifestyle factors such as sleep routines, stress management, boundaries, movement, and nervous system regulation strategies. Together, these approaches allow me to tailor support to what will work best for you. Therapy is collaborative and paced carefully, ensuring you feel safe and understood throughout. The aim is not just symptom reduction, but helping you feel more resilient, more self-assured, and better able to engage fully in your life with greater calm, flexibility, and confidence.

Understanding anxiety

Anxiety is part of a wide range of difficulties and can significantly disrupt daily life, affecting both the body and mind. It often has a powerful physiological impact, triggering physical symptoms like a racing heart, tight chest, stomach discomfort, muscle tension, digestive issues, and difficulty thinking clearly. These effects can make everyday tasks feel overwhelming, leading people to simply avoid situations or withdraw from others.

However, anxiety doesn’t always present as chronic or extremely pervasive. It can be waking up already exhausted, catastrophising and scanning the day for problems that haven’t happened, or feeling tense without knowing why. It often shows up through the body which may be through a clenched jaw, tight shoulders, a knot in your stomach, or can be through overthinking small decisions, and replaying conversations long after they’re over.

The Reality of Living on High Alert

From the outside, you may seem calm and capable. But on the inside, you may feel constantly on edge, bracing, over-preparing, and unable to fully relax. It’s an exhausting way to live.

Over time, anxiety can begin to shape the way you see yourself and the world. You might doubt your abilities, second-guess your choices, or assume the worst about how others perceive you.

Even positive events can feel tinged with worry, waiting for something to go wrong or feeling unable to enjoy the moment fully. Sleep may become lighter or disrupted, and rest rarely feels restorative.

What Life Looks Like After Therapy

After therapy, life often feels calmer and more manageable. You will notice anxious thoughts without letting them take over, feel more confident facing situations you once avoided, and have practical tools to cope. You might also find sleep, focus, and overall wellbeing improve, and you can start enjoying daily life and relationships more fully. Therapy doesn’t erase anxiety completely as we all need it, but it helps you handle it with confidence and live the life you want.

Schedule Your Free Consultation

Starting therapy can feel daunting, but you don't have to have everything figured out before reaching out. Book a free 15-minute consultation to ask questions, see if we're a good fit, and take that first step toward feeling better.