Anxiety takes many forms — from phobias and social anxiety to a constant low-level hum, a background sense that something is wrong even when nothing specific seems to be happening. For others it's more acute: panic, dread, physical symptoms, panic attacks, insomnia, an inability to switch off.
Sometimes anxiety has an obvious source — a difficult relationship, a demanding job, a recent loss. Sometimes it doesn't, which can be even more unsettling — whether it shows up as social anxiety, generalised worry, or something harder to name. You might have tried to rationalise your way out of it, or been told there's nothing to worry about, and found that doesn't help.
How psychoanalytic therapy approaches anxiety
Short-term approaches to anxiety often focus on managing symptoms — breathing exercises, cognitive techniques, distraction. These can be genuinely useful, but they don't always address what's driving the anxiety in the first place.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is interested in that deeper layer: the unconscious fears, early experiences and inner conflicts that anxiety is often trying to communicate. Understanding this can change your relationship to it — and to yourself.
Online anxiety therapy across the UK
I work with adults across the UK who are functioning but carrying anxiety that hasn't shifted with time or short-term support. You don't need a diagnosis. You do need to be willing to look beneath the surface.
Sessions are 50 minutes, held weekly online, at £75 per session.