Find calm and confidence with our counselling for anxiety
Our anxiety counselling helps you overcome worries, conquer fears, and regain control. At The Harley Psychology & Therapy Group, our licenced therapists and psychologists can aid you in understanding your triggers, managing overwhelming thoughts, and developing effective coping strategies for lasting relief.
Who our counselling for anxiety can help
If you answer yes to one or more of the following, you may benefit from our counselling to help reduce the uncomfortable symptoms and get back to living your life as you would like to.
- Do you struggle to relax?
- Does your heart frequently race or pound?
- Do you frequently feel dizzy, hot or unsteady?
- Do you often feel breathless when you haven’t exerted yourself?
- Do your hands tremble?
- Do often feel nervous?
- Do you frequently fear that the worst will happen?
- Do you worry about getting anxious?
- Do you avoid things that make you anxious and does this interfere with living your life?
- Do you worry about losing control or fainting?
- Do you worry about becoming ill or dying?
- Do you lie awake at night worrying?
We offer a free, quick, confidential and scientifically validated test that can evaluate your depression and point you in the right direction.
“I began having therapy because I had been struggling with anxiety over a number of years. It had got to the point where I was agoraphobic, tearful and fearful of many everyday situations. Walking down the road to the shops or going for a five-minute drive filled me with dread…. I didn’t confide in my family and friends because I felt ashamed and I even feared I might be going mad!
Deciding to have therapy with Dr Gray is one of the most important decisions I have ever made. Her care, professionalism and insightfulness really have changed my life. I’d recommend therapy to anyone who feels they’re struggling – and the truth is we all do struggle in some way.”
Annabelle, Islington
Supporting You
How our counselling for anxiety can help you
Our counselling service offers:
- A safe space to explore root causes and identify triggers of your anxiety
- Cognitive behavioural techniques (CBT) to challenge negative thinking
- Relaxation methods to help you manage anxiety
- The development of healthier coping mechanisms
- Increased self-confidence and sense of control over emotions
- A reduction in the intensity of anxiety symptoms
- A calmer, more balanced mindset.
Discover How Our Experienced Team Can Help
Common signs of anxiety
Anxiety can present in many ways, including constant worry, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and trouble sleeping. Physical symptoms such as a racing heart, muscle tension, or stomach discomfort are also common.
If you find these feelings are persistent or interfering with your daily life, it may be time to seek therapy for anxiety. Recognising these signs is the first step towards understanding your experience and accessing the support needed to feel more in control.
The impact of anxiety on daily life
Untreated anxiety can affect nearly every part of daily life. It may interfere with work, relationships, and decision-making and often leads to avoidance of situations that trigger fear or worry. Over time, this can limit opportunities and reduce overall wellbeing.
Constant mental strain can also take a toll on physical health. Seeking professional support can help you break this cycle and develop effective ways to manage anxiety and regain balance.
Why choose The Harley Psychology & Therapy Group
At Harley Psychology & Therapy Group, we provide expert anxiety counselling tailored to your unique needs. Our qualified therapists and psychologists use evidence-based techniques in a calm, supportive setting, helping you understand the root of your anxiety and build practical coping strategies.
With a strong reputation for compassionate, personalised care, we’re committed to helping you feel more in control and less overwhelmed, guiding you towards a more confident, fulfilling life.
What does our counselling for anxiety involve?
Step 1
Your anxiety therapist will first understand your personal experience with anxiety by discussing when it started, what you worry about, your physical symptoms, how anxiety affects your daily life, and what makes your anxiety better or worse. They will also ask you about your life, work, leisure, relationships, family to determine the most effective approach and tailor your treatment to your personal needs.
Step 2
Next, your therapist will help reduce your anxiety and build your confidence and self-esteem to help manage your anxiety through techniques such as:
- Assessing and replacing anxious thoughts with more calming, confident ones
- Exercises that encourage your mind and body to stay present rather than ruminating about the past and worrying about the future
- Confidence-building experiments where you successfully handle anxiety-inducing situations.
Step 3
Once in control of your anxiety, you’ll explore the root causes of your anxiety and develop strategies to prevent yourself from these influences and the return of your anxiety symptoms.
Step 4
The final phase helps you consolidate the anxiety management skills you’ve learnt, practice managing anxiety independently, and build confidence for life without therapy.
What is the treatment for anxiety?
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), the government body which evaluates the effectiveness of treatments in healthcare recommends the following treatment for anxiety:
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Evidence suggests that CBT has the longest lasting effect and so where possible this should be offered to individuals experiencing anxiety. CBT focuses on changing a person’s anxious thoughts to reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety and teaching individuals a set of skills so that they are gradually able to face the experiences that they are avoiding thus building their confidence in their capacity to deal with challenges and improving their overall quality of life. For this reason, it helps to search for “anxiety therapist near me” online to find experts offering CBT for anxiety.
Medication
- SSRIs (antidepressants) can be used to treat anxiety but the longer terms effects are not as good as CBT. This is possibly because anxious thoughts are not addressed and coping skills not taught.
- Benzodiazepines should not be prescribed for longer than 2 to 4 weeks for generalised anxiety disorder.
FAQs
What is anxiety?
Anxiety can be a very normal and necessary response to life events. It allows you to be alert to threats, motivates you to act and improves your performance e.g. revising before an exam or preparing before an important meeting.
Sometimes anxiety occurs in the absence of an impending event that would generally be considered ‘anxiety provoking’. It can then start to interfere with your ability to do the things that you should or would like to be doing.
What are the causes of Anxiety?
There is no single cause of anxiety. The following factors or combination of them may increase your vulnerability:
Stress – High levels of stress, particularly over a prolonged period of time can deplete your ability to cope with everyday challenges. This leaves you vulnerable to the development of anxiety.
Catastrophic thinking – A tendency to overestimate the possibility of something bad happening and underestimate ability to cope when it does leaves you vulnerable to symptoms of anxiety. Once you begin to feel anxious, you are more able to access catastrophic thoughts which will further increase anxious feelings. Eventually, this can result in either a panic attack or a less intense but more chronic experience of anxiety.
Early experiences – Experiences as a child that have led to the development of beliefs that the world is unsafe, that others cannot be trusted, and that you are fragile either psychologically, physically or both can contribute to the onset of anxiety.
There are 5 main types of anxiety disorder:
Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
Specific phobias
This page covers generalised anxiety disorder and specific phobias. Follow the links above for more information about the other types of anxiety disorder.
What is a phobia?
A phobia is where anxiety symptoms are triggered by something specific, these then lead you to avoid that thing. For example:
Specific phobia is the fear of a specific item e.g. fear of confined space (claustrophobia), fear of clowns (coulrophobia), fear of flying (aerophobia), fear of animals (zoophobia), fear of spiders (arachnophobia), fear of needles (aichmophobia).
Agoraphobia is triggered when you are away from what you perceive as a safe place e.g. home.
Social phobia is a fear of being negatively evaluated in social situation.
Do children require counselling if they have a phobia?
Phobias are a normal part of development for children. We naturally fear what is unfamiliar and what we believe we cannot deal with. Common phobias include dogs, insects and bugs, the dark, loud noises, and monsters.
They are more common in children than in adults. The prevalence of phobias in this age group is due to the fact that children have a limited experience of the world and so they more often find themselves in the position of facing something new or strange without the back catalogue of how to cope with this. Children are also more likely to mix up what is real with what is imagined making situations feels much more unpredictable and therefore dangerous. Imagine what it would be like if you were never sure when a monster was suddenly going to appear!
Phobias are generally something that children grow out of as their confidence in the safety of the world and their ability to cope within it grows. Professional help is usually only indicated if a child is experiencing a level of distress or avoidance of the fear object/situation that is beginning to interfere with their day-to-day life. In this case it is advisable to see a psychologist who will be able to determine whether the phobia is a normal part of growing up of a symptom of another more complex problem that needs attention e.g. at home or at school.
How common is anxiety?
The 2022 Public Opinions and Social Trends Census for Great Britain found that around one in three (34%) adults experienced high levels of anxiety; this proportion was slightly higher among younger adults aged 16 to 29 years (42%) and women (37%). The most common type of anxiety is Generalised Anxiety Disorder.
Prices
Explore our anxiety therapy prices and registered private health insurance providers.
Information and self-help for anxiety
Get valuable insights, tips, and guidance in our award-winning blogs to support your anxiety.
A free online therapy course delivered by one of our clinical psychologists to help guide your anxiety recovery.
This real story video shares some therapy-learnt tools that help anxiety sufferer Chris to cope.