Anxiety Counselling & Treatment Sydney

Almost all human beings have experienced anxiety - characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure or muscle tension.

People with anxiety disorders however have a very different experience.  They have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or a rapid heartbeat.  For example, a Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is much more than the normal anxiety people experience day to day. It is chronic and sufferers experience severe worry and tension, often without provocation. This disorder involves anticipating disaster, often worrying excessively about health, money, family, or work. It had a relentless quality that is difficult to turn off.

My intention in therapy with someone with chronic feelings of anxiety is to work together to assess the factors that are contributing to your anxiety.  This will include identifying and understanding current day stressors, difficult childhood (or other) experiences, as well as your ability manage your emotional life (essentially understanding how you feel your feelings). I will help you to understand how your nervous system works and to see that the functioning of your nervous system can keep your anxiety going.  We will develop strategies to slow down your nervous system. 

My expertise in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, hypnosis, EMDR and Somatic Experiencing will determine how I intervene with you to reduce your anxiety symptoms.

Similar to the treatment of depression, I understand what is occurring in anxiety from a “top-down” as well as a “bottom-up” perspective. “Top-down” therapies operate from the idea that if a person thinks the right way, or reflects on their experience, they will be able to sort out their problems.   “Bottom-up therapies” (like hypnosis, EMDR and Somatic Experiencing) operate from the general principal that our emotions are regulated not so much by thinking, but instead through unconscious processes that occur in our bodies. 

Generally, a mixture of bottom up and top down approaches is the most effective course of treatment. With input from the client, I take integrative approach.