Psychotherapy for Generalised Anxiety Disorder

​

Generalised Anxiety Disorder, often known as GAD, can feel like living with a constant sense of worry, unease or anticipation that something may go wrong. The worry may move from one area of life to another, such as health, family, work, relationships, finances or everyday responsibilities, and it can feel difficult to switch off or control.

​

For many people, GAD is not simply “worrying too much”. It can affect how you think, feel, sleep, make decisions and move through daily life. You may find yourself overthinking conversations, seeking reassurance, imagining worst-case scenarios, feeling tense in your body, struggling to concentrate or feeling emotionally exhausted by the amount of mental energy anxiety takes up.

​

Psychotherapy provides a safe, calm and non-judgemental space to explore your anxiety, understand where it may come from, and begin developing healthier ways of responding to worry.

 

How Generalised Anxiety May Show Up

​

Generalised anxiety can affect people in different ways. You may notice:

​

• Persistent or excessive worry

• Difficulty controlling anxious thoughts

• Overthinking and “what if” thinking

• Reassurance-seeking

• Feeling restless, tense or on edge

• Difficulty sleeping or switching off

• Irritability or emotional overwhelm

• Trouble concentrating

• Avoidance of situations or decisions

• Physical symptoms such as muscle tension, tiredness, stomach discomfort or a racing heart.

​​

These symptoms can feel draining and isolating, especially when others may not see how much anxiety is affecting you internally.

​

How Therapy Can Help

​

In therapy, we work together to understand the patterns that may be keeping anxiety active. This may include exploring anxious thoughts, beliefs, emotional triggers, body sensations, avoidance patterns and the need for certainty or reassurance.

Using psychotherapy and CBT-informed approaches, therapy can help you to:

​

• Understand the cycle of anxiety and worry

• Recognise unhelpful thinking patterns

• Explore the deeper fears beneath the worry

• Develop grounding and emotional regulation tools

• Reduce avoidance and build confidence

• Strengthen your ability to tolerate uncertainty

• Create healthier responses to anxious thoughts

• Reconnect with a greater sense of calm and control

​​

The aim is not to remove anxiety completely, but to help reduce the hold it has over your life, so you can feel more present, steady and able to cope.

​

A Compassionate Approach

​

Generalised anxiety can often leave people feeling frustrated with themselves, as though they should be able to “just stop worrying”. In therapy, we approach anxiety with compassion rather than criticism.

​

Together, we explore what your anxiety may be trying to protect you from, how it developed, and how you can begin to respond to yourself in a calmer and more supportive way.

​

You do not have to manage the worry alone. Therapy can offer a space to feel heard, understood and supported as you begin to make sense of your anxiety and move forward with greater confidence.

​

Sessions

Individual psychotherapy sessions are 50 minutes at a cost of £70 per session.

​