Anxiety Counselling
Understanding what is happening beneath the anxiety
Anxiety can take many forms.
You may find yourself worrying constantly, overthinking conversations, anticipating what might go wrong, struggling to relax, or feeling that your mind never quite switches off.
Sometimes there is an obvious reason for the anxiety. Sometimes there isn't.
You may also understand perfectly well that your thoughts are disproportionate to the situation — and still find that your body and mind respond as though something is wrong.
Counselling can provide a place to slow this down and become curious about what is actually happening.
When anxiety becomes a pattern
You might notice:
persistent worry or overthinking
difficulty switching off
feeling tense or on edge
becoming preoccupied with what might happen
difficulty being present because your attention is elsewhere
becoming easily overwhelmed
avoiding situations because they create anxiety
recurring fears or reactions that seem difficult to change
You don't have to arrive with a diagnosis or a clear explanation.
We can begin with what you are experiencing now.
Looking beneath the anxiety
We can talk about what you are thinking and what has been happening in your life.
But we may also become interested in what happens just before the anxiety takes hold.
What do you notice?
What are you anticipating?
What happens in your body?
What do you do when the feeling appears?
What happens when you try to make the feeling go away?
Sometimes understanding the pattern is the beginning of being able to relate to it differently.
Counselling with Wendy
My work begins with conversation.
At times, I may invite you to slow down and pay attention to your immediate experience — your thoughts, feelings, breathing or bodily sensations.
Breathwork may sometimes be used as one tool within counselling, but it is not required.
The aim is not to force anxiety away. It is to become more aware of what is happening and to develop a different relationship with your experience.
Online Anxiety Counselling
I offer counselling online across New Zealand and, where appropriate, to clients internationally.
Online counselling can make it easier to access support without travelling and can allow sessions to fit more easily around work, family and other commitments.
If you're wondering whether counselling might be useful, you don't need to have everything worked out first.
We can start with a conversation.