Psychological therapy for anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of being ‘on edge’, fearful and worry. Although anxiety is a normal human emotion when faced with a threatening situation, it can become problematic when it lasts for a continued period or time or when it gets in the way of living your life.

The way I often describe worries to clients is by talking about the difference between ‘productive worry’ and ‘unproductive worry’. Productive worry leads us to act or make plans. For example, if I have a meeting coming up that I am feeling worried about, I can be proactive by preparing my notes or making sure I know where the meeting is etc.

Unproductive worry is different. These are thoughts that whirl around in our minds but don’t lead us to take action (often because these type of worries are things we can’t do much about because we do not have control over) for example “what if”, imaginary type thoughts. For example, “what if I get there and no one likes me?”. Getting caught up in these types of worries can leave us feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

This is where therapy come in - we can work out which of your worries are productive or unproductive, and then from here, explore strategies to help you handle them.

Research also highlights that worry and overthinking underpins and precedes depression. This is often why anxiety and depression co-occur, but generally speaking, worry underpins depression. This is why it is important to seek support for worry and anxiety if it is impacting your life.

There are different types of anxiety, including:

Generalised anxiety - having lots of different worries about many different types of things - such as your health, social situations, money etc. People with generalised anxiety tend to have many different types of “what if…” thoughts. Quite cruelly, people with this type of worry then worry that they worry too much - which further intensifies the anxiety.

Health anxiety - excessive worries that you have - or may develop - a serious health condition.

Social anxiety - anxiety in social situations related how other people may perceive you e.g. that others are judging you, that others may reject you or that you may be humiliated in some way. This can lead to fears of meeting new people or speaking in big groups.

Panic - panic is a rush of very intense physical and mental changes, such as a fast heart rate, shortness of breath, feeling dizzy/faint and racing thoughts. People with panic may avoid spaces that they feel they cannot escape from e.g. busy streets, shops etc.

Phobia - intense anxiety about a specific object or a situation.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - caused by a traumatic event(s). Symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks of the traumatic event(s), avoidance of things that may triggers distress and feeling on edge.

When we are faced with a situation that causes stress and/or anxiety, our bodies automatically respond. This is called the ‘fight or flight response’. We perceive threat(s) which then triggers a range of physiological changes in the sympathetic nervous system. This is the system which puts the body on high alert and in threat mode - our body gets ready to either fight or flee (this is why we have a natural urge to avoid situations that frighten us). These physical changes include an increase in heart rate, shallow breathing, tense muscles, feeling dizzy or lightheaded and racing thoughts.

Now, it is important to say that the fight or flight is an evolutionary response and is designed to help us - fighting or fleeing a situation would have increased our chance of survival in a dangerous or threatening situation. The problem, however, is that the brain can perceives threat where the fight or flight response is not needed. Although we no longer need to survive the threat from wild predator animals, we can feel threatened by a work interview or feeling rejected by someone.

A key part of therapy is often firstly exploring how the fight or flight response is triggered for you, specific to your situation. Then treatment involves exploring techniques that can help calm this response down - from both a physical aspect but also in terms of thoughts.

I typically support people who experience:

Generalised anxiety

Social anxiety

Health anxiety

Phobias

Panic

• If anxiety has been present for several weeks

• If you feel anxiety is taking over your life e.g. you are not doing the things that you used to enjoy

• If you feel your worries are uncontrollable

• Some people like to just have a few sessions to learn a few more skills to handle anxiety

I only use the latest psychological therapies which are proven to be effective for anxiety, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).

These therapies can help you to recognise triggers for anxiety and help you handle worries (there are a few different strategies for this). For example, CBT focusing on challenging worry thoughts.

‘Exposure’ work is also often a component of anxiety therapy which helps you face what you are frightened of in a systematic way. Facing our fears can be difficult - which is why it is important to do this in a very graded and compassionate way.

As I am trained in an array of treatment approaches, I can draw on them to tailor therapy specifically to you and your goals. This will start by an initial comprehensive assessment to understand how anxiety affects your life. From here, we can agree on the best way to work together.

No. I offer support to anyone who is struggling with anxiety. From everyday worries to more intense anxiety, I can support you. It is important to seek professional help if you feel it is getting in the way of your life.

This is often linked to the ‘core beliefs’ underpinning our worries. CBT states that our core beliefs are the deeply held assumptions we have about ourselves, others and the world around us. Life events and experiences can shape and contribute to these core beliefs. For example “others abandon me”, “I am stupid” or “I am uninteresting”.

The initial psychological assessment and ongoing treatment sessions often explores the core beliefs underpinning anxiety. Treatment can then involve helping you to handle these limiting core beliefs.