Therapy for Anxiety

Online psychotherapy with Simona Hawkins, UKCP-registered psychotherapist — sessions available across the UK.

Calm sea fading into soft mist

Anxiety can make it difficult to feel settled within yourself or emotionally secure in your relationships.

You may experience persistent worry, overthinking, self-doubt or a need to anticipate what might happen next. You may become particularly sensitive to other people’s reactions, worry about rejection or find it difficult to switch off.

Sometimes anxiety is linked to a particular situation. At other times it can feel more general — a sense of unease, uncertainty or being overwhelmed that is difficult to explain.

Psychotherapy offers a space to understand what your anxiety may be expressing and the patterns that influence how you respond to it.

Understanding what is behind anxiety

Anxiety involves thoughts, feelings, behaviour and physical responses. Together, we can explore what triggers your anxiety, what you fear might happen, and how you respond when you feel uncertain or out of control.

We may also look at the expectations and beliefs you hold about yourself and other people. You may, for example, feel that you need to perform perfectly to be accepted, that others are likely to reject you, or that you need to remain in control in order to feel safe.

Understanding these patterns can enable different responses.

Anxiety and relationships

Anxiety can become particularly strong in relationships, especially around closeness, conflict, uncertainty or perceived rejection — something sometimes called relationship anxiety.

You may become preoccupied with another person’s responses, struggle to trust your own understanding of what is happening, or react quickly when you feel threatened, misunderstood or dismissed.

Therapy can help you slow these moments down, become more curious about your own experience beneath the anxious feelings, and consider your assumptions and expectations, as well as what may be happening for the other person. This can create more space between feeling anxious and automatically reacting.

Developing a different relationship with anxiety

The aim of psychotherapy is to help you understand the anxious feelings, your experience, recognise familiar patterns and develop greater flexibility in how you make sense of and respond to your internal experiences of anxiety and also in your relationship with others.

As your understanding of yourself grows, you may find it easier to tolerate uncertainty, communicate your needs, make decisions and remain connected to yourself and others.

Common questions

What kind of anxiety can psychotherapy help with?

People seek psychotherapy for many experiences of anxiety, including persistent worry, overthinking, self-doubt, relationship anxiety, social insecurity and feeling overwhelmed.

Do I need to know what is causing my anxiety?

No. We can begin with what you are experiencing now and gradually explore the thoughts, feelings, relationships and experiences that may be relevant.

Will therapy focus on the past?

Earlier experiences may be explored when they help us understand the present. The focus, however, remains on your anxious feelings and on your life, relationships, and the meanings you associate with these experiences.