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Anxiety Therapy in Chester

A powerful unique dynamic combination for anxiety therapy.

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When anxiety becomes a constant presence, it can affect far more than how you feel. You may find yourself overthinking conversations, anticipating what might go wrong, struggling to switch off at night or feeling constantly on edge despite knowing, logically, the things are probably going to be ok. For some people, anxiety develops around particular situations. For others it becomes a persistent background feeling that gradually affects confidence, sleep, relationships, work and everyday life.

Anxiety is not simply a problem of thinking differently. It can involve deeply established patterns of thought, emotional and physical response.

My approach combines CBT, hypnotherapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, selected according to what is actually maintaining your anxiety. The aim is not to simply give you more things to think about. It is to help you understand the patterns behind your anxiety, change unhelpful thinking and responses, and develop greater sense of calm and control.

When Anxiety Starts To Take Over

Anxiety can look very different from person to person. You may appear calm and capable on the outside while internally you are constantly anticipating problems, replaying conversations or trying to control what might happen next. You might recognise:

Persistent worry or overthinking
Difficulty switching your mind off
Feeling constantly on edge or tense
Replaying conversations or situations
Fear of making mistakes or being judged
Avoiding situations because they feel overwhelming
Physical symptoms such as racing heart, tight chest or unsettled stomach
Difficulty sleeping because your mind won’t switch off
Feeling mentally exhausted from constantly analysing or anticipating

If you recognise yourself in this, therapy can help you understand what is keeping the cycle going and begin to change it.

Anxiety Therapy, How I can help

There is no single approach that works for everyone. I integrate different therapeutic approaches depending on the individual and the patterns underlying their anxiety.

CBT Therapy For Anxiety

CBT Cognitive Behaviour Therapy can help you recognise and change unhelpful thinking patterns that can contribute to anxiety ,worry and overthinking. We look at how thoughts, emotions and behaviours interact, and develop more helpful ways of responding to difficult situations.

Hypnotherapy For Anxiety

Hypnotherapy can help you work with the automatic emotional responses and patterns that can be difficult to change through conscious thinking alone. Hypnotherapy can be useful when anxious thoughts have become deeply embedded and automatic.

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy For Anxiety

Mindfulness can help you become more aware of anxious thoughts without automatically becoming caught up in them. To be able to stand back from anxious thinking, reduce rumination and to develop a different relationship with your thoughts.

Used together , these approaches allow us to work with anxiety at different levels- how you think, how you respond and how your mind and body react.

The aim is not to eliminate every anxious thought. It is to change your relationship with anxiety so that is no longer dictates how you think, behave, feel or live your life

Why Anxiety Can Be So Difficult To Switch off

Anxiety isn’t always caused by what is happening in the present moment. Often the mind has learnt to anticipate, analyse and prepare for what might happen next. You may know that your worries aren’t necessarily rational, yet you still find yourself running through possible outcomes, replaying conversations or trying to work out how to prevent something going wrong. This can create a cycle in which thinking is used to try to create certainty, but the more you analyse, the more questions your mind produces. Overtime, this can leave you mentally exhausted and make it difficult to switch off, even when there is no immediate problem to solve.

Anxiety can also become an automatic response. Your body may react with tension, restlessness or a heightened sense of alertness before you have consciously identified what you are worried about.

This is why simply telling yourself to stop worrying rarely works.

Effective therapy needs to look at the patterns maintaining the anxiety, rather than simply asking you to think positively or to try harder to relax.

Anxiety and fear can protect you from danger. When you feel under threat, anxiety and fear trigger the release of hormones, such as adrenalin this causes your heart to beat faster to carry blood where it’s most needed. You breathe faster to provide the extra oxygen required for energy. You sweat to prevent overheating. Your mouth may feel dry, as your digestive system slows down to allow more blood to be sent to your muscles. Your senses become heightened and your brain becomes more alert.

These changes make your body able to take action and protect you in a dangerous situation either by running away or fighting. It is known as the ‘fight or flight’ reflex. Once the danger has passed, other hormones are released,which may cause you to shake as your muscles start to relax.

This response is useful for protecting you against physical dangers; for example, it can help you run away from wild animals, attackers, fires etc. very quickly. The response is not so useful if you want to run away from exams, public speaking, a driving test, or having an injection. This is because, if there is no physical threat, and you have no need to physically run away or fight, the effects of adrenaline subside more slowly, and you may go on feeling agitated for a long time.

What is a panic attack?

A panic attack is an exaggeration of the body’s normal response to fear, stress or excitement. It is the rapid build-up of overwhelming sensations, such as a pounding heartbeat, feeling faint, sweating, nausea, chest pains, breathing discomfort, feelings of losing control, shaky limbs and legs turning to jelly. If you experience this, you may fear that you are going mad, blacking out, or having a heart attack. You may be convinced you are going to die in the course of the attack making this a terrifying experience.Panic attacks come on very quickly, symptoms usually peaking within 10 minutes. They can last for between 5 and 20 minutes.

Panic attacks can also come in the night and wake you up. These attacks occur if your brain is on ‘high alert’ (due to anxiety) and can detect small changes in your body which it then interprets as a sign of danger. Attacks during the night may be particularly frightening, as you may feel confused and are helpless to do anything to spot them coming.

Yes, some people do feel more anxious than others.

If you worry more than others, it may be because of your personality, current circumstances and stressors, your past or childhood experience; it could be a mixture of these. Perhaps you worry about the future, you may feel anxious about events beyond your control, you possibly have thoughts of becoming ill or about dying, or of losing your job or home.

Over time you can begin to fear the symptoms of anxiety, especially the feeling of being out of control. This can set up a vicious cycle of anxiety. You feel anxious because you dread feeling the symptoms of anxiety, and then you experience those symptoms because you are having anxious thoughts.But sometimes it seems that the feeling is there first and the negative thought follows causing yet more anxiety. The whole cycle becomes overwhelming and your whole life can seem to be over taken with anxiety and worry. Sometimes this can lead to a phobia developing, problems within personal relationships can occur and difficulties at work may also be present.

Anxiety can have an effect on both your bodyand your mind.

Physical effects of anxiety that you may experience include:

Persistent Headaches including chronic throbbing pain or intense sharp stabbing pains.
When you feel anxious you may feel light-headed and shaky and that you are going to faint.
Anxiety can make you feel your heart racing sometimes as though it is pounding.
You may feel nauseous and even vomit when anxious.
Anxiety may cause ” butterflies” in your stomach with you having a sense of dread or impending doom.
You may feel an urgent need to visit the toilet when highly anxious.
Anxiety can cause disturbed sleep, with you having difficulty in getting off to sleep or waking during the night worrying.
You may experience digestive difficulties, indigestion and heartburn when suffering with anxiety.

People with chronic anxiety often feel depressed as well.

Psychological and emotional effects of Anxiety include:

Feelings of increasing irritability, along with restlessness and agitation.

When Anxious you may have difficulty in concentrating and focusing on work or everyday conversations.
Anxiety may make you feel unable to relax and enjoy yourself.
When suffering with anxiety you may feel lonely and isolated with an increasing sense of feeling out of touch with your friends and family.
Eating too much or too little can also become an issue with anxiety, fluctuations in weight can make you even more anxious.
A loss self esteem and lack of confidence are common problems with anxiety.
Sometimes people turn to alcohol or drugs to help them manage their symptoms and this can lead to yet more problems in everyday living causing yet more anxiety.
A number of people may develop obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours such as checking locks and doors or excessive hand washing or cleaning this pattern becomes circular as you seek more and more reassurance so you become more and more anxious.

Who is Anxiety Therapy For ?

Anxiety therapy can be helpful if you are functioning well on the outside but finding that anxiety, worry or overthinking is taking up too much space in your life. You may be successful in your career, capable and used to managing everything yourself, yet privately feel overwhelmed by your thoughts or constantly on alert.

You might be looking for support if you:

Constantly overthink decisions or conversations
Find it difficult to switch your mind off
Worry about what other people think of you
Put pressure on yourself to get things right
Struggle with perfectionism or fear of failure
Feel anxious about work, relationships or particular situations
Experience physical symptoms of anxiety
Avoid things because they feel. overwhelming
Feel mentally exhausted from constantly anticipating what might go wrong
Know your anxiety is holding you back but haven’t been able to change the pattern on your own.

You don’t have to feel overwhelmed in every area of your life for anxiety to be worth addressing. Sometimes the most noticeable sign is simply that you no longer feel able to switch off and enjoy things the way the used to.

What Can Anxiety Therapy Help With?

Anxiety can take many different forms. You may experience generalised worry and overthinking, or anxiety may be connected to particular situations or concerns.

Anxiety therapy can help with:

Persistent worry and overthinking- finding it difficult to switch off or constantly analysing situations
Panic and heightened anxiety-understanding and changing the patterns that can contribute to panic and intense physical anxiety
Social anxiety- worrying about being judged, criticised or embarrassed, or avoiding social situations because of anxiety
Performance anxiety- anxiety around presentations , meetings, interviews or exams or where you feel under pressure to perform
Fear of failure and perfectionism- putting excessive pressure on yourself and feeling that mistakes aren’t acceptable.
Fear of flying or driving- working with anxiety connected to particular situations or activities
Health anxiety- becoming preoccupied with physical sensations or worrying that something maybe seriously wrong
Work related anxiety and pressure- feeling constantly switched on, overwhelmed or unable to leave work mentally at the end of the day.
Anxiety affecting sleep- finding your mind becomes particularly active when you try to switch off
Anxiety affecting confidence-becoming increasingly self critical , hesitant of unsure of yourself.

You don’t need to have formal diagnosis of anxiety to benefit from therapy. If anxiety, worry or overthinking is interfering with your ability to feel settle and to enjoy your life , it may be worth exploring what is driving the pattern.

A Personalised Approach

Your anxiety is personal to you, and therapy should be too.

Some people come because they have been struggling with anxiety for years. Others seek help when anxiety has gradually begun to affect their work and relationships, sleep or enjoyment of life. We will focus on the patterns that are relevant to you rather than working through a standard list of symptoms or techniques.

You don’t have to have everything figured out before you start.

Why Choose Anxiety Therapy With Me

Choosing a therapist is an important decision. You need to feel that the person you work with understands what you are experiencing and can offer an approach that feels appropriate for you.

I have many years experience working with anxiety, overthinking, emotional overwhelm and the patterns that keep people feeling stuck.

My approach combines hypnotherapy, CBT and mindfulness, allowing us to look at anxiety from perspectives rather than relying on one technique.

I work with adults who are often highly capable and accustomed to managing things themselves but have reached point where anxiety, worry or overthinking is becoming difficult to manage alone. Therapy is collaborative and practical. I will help you understand what is happening, identify the patterns that are maintaining the problem and develop ways of responding that are more helpful and sustainable.

You don’t have to become a different person to feel less controlled by anxiety . The aim is to help you feel more able to respond to life with clarity, confidence and choice.