Understand the alarm
What anxiety is, what it is protecting, and why avoidance makes it louder.
Services · 05
Anxiety Counselling
Anxiety is a warning system doing its job too well. We turn the volume down and give you the controls.
50-minute sessionsCBT · Mindfulness · ExposureOnline, phone or in person
Per 50-minute session, plus GST. Full fees are on the packages and pricing page. Sessions run online by secure video across Australia and New Zealand, by telephone, or in person in Melbourne by arrangement.
Counselling looks at what keeps the alarm switched on — the avoidance, the reassurance-seeking, the sleep, the caffeine, the thoughts you stopped questioning — and reduces each of them deliberately rather than all at once.
We use evidence-based approaches including cognitive behavioural strategies, mindfulness and graded exposure, chosen to fit how your anxiety actually shows up rather than a textbook version of it.
You might recognise
- Racing thoughts that will not settle at night
- Physical symptoms — chest, stomach, jaw, breath
- Avoiding calls, driving, socialising or decisions
- Constant scanning for what could go wrong
- Panic that arrives without warning
What we work on together
Regulate the body
Breath, grounding and sleep work — the physiology has to settle before the thinking clears.
Face it in steps
Graded, agreed exposure to what you have been avoiding, at a size you can actually manage.
How the work unfolds
CBTGraded exposureMindfulnessSleep and physiology work
01
Map the pattern
What triggers it, what you do to feel safer, and how that short-term relief keeps the anxiety going.
02
Settle the body
Breath, grounding and sleep first. Thinking clearly is not available while the nervous system is at full volume.
03
Test the thoughts
Bringing the predictions out into the open and checking them against evidence rather than argument.
04
Step back in
Graded, agreed exposure to what you have been avoiding, at a size you can do, building week on week.
“The turning point was understanding that avoiding it was the thing feeding it.”
Client · anxiety counselling
Common questions
Will you make me do something terrifying?+
Never without agreement, and never as a first step. Exposure is graded — we start at something you rate as genuinely manageable and move up only when that step has gone flat.
Do I need medication?+
That is a decision for you and your GP or psychiatrist. Counselling works well alongside medication and works well without it. I will say plainly if I think a medical review is worth having.
What about panic attacks specifically?+
We cover what is physically happening during a panic attack, why it cannot harm you, and a short sequence to run when one starts. Most clients see the frequency drop once the fear of the panic itself reduces.
More answers in the general FAQs, or ask Anne directly.
Practical guides for this work
Often works alongside
Stress Management
Burnout is not a personality flaw. It is a load problem with a solvable shape.
Individual Counselling
One-to-one work to understand what is going on and decide what to do about it.
Depression Counselling
When everything takes more effort than it should, the way back is smaller and more specific than you think.
Ready to start with Anxiety Counselling?
Book online in under a minute, or send a question first — Anne answers her own enquiries.