Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. Feeling nervous before an important event, worrying about a difficult situation or feeling stressed during a major life change can be a normal part of life. For people experiencing persistent or disruptive anxiety, anxiety therapy can provide a way to better understand what is happening and develop strategies for managing it.
For some people, anxiety becomes more persistent and begins to interfere with everyday activities, relationships, sleep or work. Therapy can help people explore the thoughts, experiences, and situations contributing to these feelings and develop healthier ways of responding.
Understanding Where Anxiety Comes From
Anxiety can look different from one person to another. Some people experience constant worrying, while others may experience racing thoughts, physical tension, difficulty sleeping or intense fear. Common forms include generalized anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, and health anxiety.
Anxiety involves the body’s threat-response system. When the brain perceives danger or uncertainty, the nervous system can respond with a racing heart, muscle tension, shortness of breath, sweating or increased alertness. For some people, this response can remain activated even when there is no immediate physical danger.
Therapy can help people understand the thoughts, experiences and situations that contribute to anxiety. Early experiences, relationships and attachment can shape how someone learns to respond to stress and perceived threats. Anxiety can also be connected to trauma for some people.
Learning to Manage Anxious Thoughts
Anxiety can cause people to expect negative outcomes or interpret uncertain situations as threatening. Someone might repeatedly think about what could go wrong, replay conversations or worry about situations that have not happened yet.
A therapist can help identify these patterns and explore other ways of looking at a situation. This may involve learning to notice anxious thoughts as thoughts rather than facts, examining the evidence for them and considering alternative interpretations. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), developed in part through the work of Aaron Beck, is one of the most researched approaches for anxiety.
Mindfulness offers another way of responding to anxious thoughts. Instead of trying to eliminate every worry, a person can learn to notice a thought without automatically reacting to it. Mindfulness-based approaches, including mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), can help develop this awareness.
Mindfulness and the Body
Anxiety is not only experienced through thoughts. Someone may notice a racing heart, tight chest, tense muscles, changes in breathing or restlessness. Mindfulness can involve observing these sensations without immediately interpreting them as signs of danger. A body scan is one example of practicing awareness of physical sensations.
For people with trauma who are not yet stabilized, body awareness may need to be introduced gradually so that it remains within their window of tolerance.
Practical Strategies for Anxiety
Therapy can provide practical tools for managing anxiety. Depending on the person’s needs, strategies may include paced or box breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, grounding with the five senses, regular physical activity and mindfulness exercises.
Other strategies can include using thought records to examine anxious thinking, setting aside scheduled worry time, maintaining consistent sleep routines and reducing caffeine when it contributes to anxiety. Gradually facing avoided situations can also be part of treatment. Exposure-based approaches can help people learn that anxiety can be experienced without automatically avoiding the situation that triggers it.
The goal is not necessarily to eliminate all anxiety. Some anxiety is a normal human response. Therapy can instead help people develop greater confidence in their ability to experience anxiety without allowing it to control their decisions.
Different Approaches to Anxiety Therapy
There is no single type of therapy that works for everyone.
Alongside CBT, other approaches may be appropriate depending on a person’s symptoms, history and goals. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on changing the relationship with difficult thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness-based approaches develop awareness of thoughts, feelings and physical sensations. Exposure-based approaches can help with feared or avoided situations, while psychodynamic therapy may explore underlying emotional patterns, relationships and earlier experiences.
A therapist can help determine which approach may be appropriate and adjust treatment as therapy progresses.
How Online Therapy Can Make Starting Easier
For someone already experiencing anxiety, attending an appointment in person can sometimes create another source of stress. There may be concerns about travelling to an unfamiliar location, sitting in a waiting room or finding time to commute.
Online therapy can remove some of these practical barriers. A person can participate from a private location without travelling to a therapist’s office.
For some people, being in a familiar environment can make starting therapy feel less intimidating. Online therapy is not necessarily the right format for everyone, but virtual sessions can provide another way to access professional support.
When Should You Consider Therapy?
You do not have to wait until anxiety becomes overwhelming before seeking support.
It may be worth considering therapy if anxiety is regularly affecting sleep, relationships, work, school or activities you would normally enjoy. Avoiding situations because of anxiety can also be a sign that additional support could be helpful.
Therapy cannot remove every source of stress or uncertainty from life, but it can help people better understand anxiety, develop practical coping strategies and feel more confident managing difficult emotions.
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Our Editorial Team are writers and experts in their field. Their views and opinions may not always be the views of Wellbeing Magazine. If you are under the direction of medical supervision please speak to your doctor or therapist before following the advice and recommendations in these articles.
