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.
Common questions
- Research consistently shows that online psychotherapy can be as effective as in-person work for anxiety. Many people also find it easier to speak freely from their own space. What matters most is a regular weekly session and a therapist you can work with over time.
- CBT and similar approaches often focus on managing symptoms — thoughts, behaviours and coping techniques. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is interested in what the anxiety may be connected to: unconscious fears, early experiences and inner conflicts. Both can be useful; depth work tends to suit people whose anxiety has not shifted with shorter-term support.
- There is no fixed timeline. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is typically ongoing weekly work rather than a short course. Some people notice a shift in how they relate to their anxiety within months; lasting change usually takes longer. We review how the work is going as we go.
- No. You do not need a diagnosis of GAD, panic disorder or anything else. If persistent worry, dread or panic is affecting how you live, that is enough reason to get in touch.