Private Anxiety Therapy in London

Feeling anxious in difficult situations like exams and job interviews is completely normal. And if we end up in a dangerous situation or facing a big challenge, our body triggers our stress response to give us more focus and help us manage. 

But if you have an anxiety problem your mind always finds something to panic about, even if it's illogical. Unlike worry, even if you think of a solution to an issue, your fearful thinking doesn't stop, it just finds something else to focus on. Your stress response triggers at the slightest thing, leaving you distressed and dealing with uncomfortable physical symptoms like a racing heart. 

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is currently the most common treatment for anxiety disorders. It is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder, and is shown by research to help even a year post treatment.1 

CBT therapy for anxiety helps you recognise and manage your anxiety triggers, and turn negative triggering thoughts into balanced, helpful ones that see you move forward. Some CBT therapists also use 'exposure therapy', helping you face things you are afraid of step by step. 

These include: 

• wild, racing, and illogical thoughts you can't stop
• feelings of fear and dread
• constantly scanning for danger
• worries about losing control
• dissociation (feeling out of body) 
• depersonalisation (feeling like your body isn't yours) 
• irritability, being on edge, mood swings
• planning your life in order to avoid perceived dangers 
• a constant feeling that something bad is going to happen. 

• a racing or irregular heartbeat, chest pain 
• physical trembling, tingling or numbness in hands/feet  
• hot and cold flashes leading to sweatiness or claminess 
• shortness of breath and feeling you are choking   
• muscle tension and unexplained aches and pains 
• feeling lightheaded and dizzy 
• headaches, nausea, an upset stomach 
• sleep disturbances and changes to eating patterns. 

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most common diagnosis, given if your anxiety has gone on for six months or more. It sees you constantly living with excessive and uncontrollable worry over certain activities and/or events, and managing other anxiety symptoms like illogical and fearful thinking.  

Other anxiety disorders include: 

• acute stress disorder 
• panic disorder  
• postpartum anxiety 
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 
• specific phobias 
• separation anxiety disorder
• social anxiety (with or without agoraphobia). 

Anxiety attacks are very strong experiences of anxiety that have a trigger. We might worry we are having a heart attack, but afterwards can calm down and make sense of things. Panic attacks, on the other hand, are more likely to occur out of the blue, and feel so severe you can be convinced you will faint or die. 

After a panic attack you can struggle to relax or end up having several more attacks. If this becomes a constant issue for you, and you live in fear of another such experience, you might be diagnosed with 'panic attack disorder'.

Anxiety tends to become a pattern your brain turns to because of an experience that overwhelmed you. This could have been a recent shock, like a bereavement, loss of a way of life, or very difficult breakup. 

It more often has its roots in childhood, and an environment where you were neglected, couldn't feel safe, or experienced trauma in. Child abuse leaves many suffering anxiety for the rest of their lives unless they seek support.  

Worry can go away if we deal with the issue that is bothering us. Clinical anxiety, on the other hand, is an addictive pattern of negative thinking that doesn't tend to just vanish. We need to face our anxiety, learn coping mechanisms, retrain our thinking, and, ideally, seek professional support and treatments that help.

Medication alone will not change your anxiety long-term as it doesn't change root causes, so it is best used in conjunction with talk therapy. 

Unexpected attacks of anxiety that don't happen very often ('acute, episodic anxiety' e.g. infrequent panic attacks) can be treated with benzodiazepines. These are very effective, but have many potential downsides that need to be reviewed and carefully considered with a knowledgeable, experienced doctor.

Anxiety that bothers you on a daily or nearly-daily basis for a long time ('chronic, persistent anxiety'; e.g., excessive worrying or most diagnosable anxiety-related illnesses) is best addressed with anxiolytic antidepressants, most commonly the selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).

A third type is characterised as foreseeable anxiety that is triggered by specific, identifiable, predictable circumstances. This kind of situational anxiety is commonly known as "performance" anxiety and can be treated with low, preemptive doses of norepinephrine-blocking medications  called beta-blockers. Interestingly, beta-blockers are primarily used to treat high blood pressure, but were also found to help reduce the physiological manifestations of situational anxiety.

Anxiety can be different for each individual. For some it is severe enough they are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, for others it's just a milder case that nevertheless is affecting their coping. And it can have different roots. 

If anxiety is connected to childhood trauma, for example, it can take longer to get under control as it can be a habitual way of being. In summary, therapy can go a long way to diminishing your anxiety, but that depends on your unique situation and also how committed you are to the therapeutic journey. 

Accredited therapists: All practitioners are highly trained and have over 10 years of experience supporting clients through complex emotional challenges.

Tailored to you: Your therapist their approach to fit your unique needs and may draw from multiple helpful approaches.

A supportive approach: The therapists provide a safe, compassionate space to help you achieve lasting change.