Counselling for anxiety & overthinking
When your mind won't switch off, even when you desperately want it to.
You might find yourself going over conversations again and again, worrying about things that haven't happened yet, or feeling as though your mind is constantly searching for the next thing that could go wrong.
Perhaps you second guess your decisions, imagine the worst case scenario, or spend so much time thinking about what you should do that you end up feeling stuck.
Anxiety doesn't always look like panic. Sometimes it's lying awake with a busy mind, needing reassurance, avoiding things because they feel too much, feeling tense or on edge, or appearing completely fine to everyone else while there's a constant stream of worry underneath.
Over time, that can be exhausting. Counselling can give you somewhere to slow things down, understand what may be driving the worry and begin relating to your thoughts and feelings differently, without expecting you to simply “stop overthinking”.
Anxiety and overthinking can show up in lots of different ways. You might know you're anxious, or you might simply feel exhausted, tense or unable to properly relax.
You might recognise:
Replaying conversations and worrying that you said or did the wrong thing
Thinking through every possible outcome before making even small decisions
Imagining worst-case scenarios and finding it difficult to reassure yourself
Feeling responsible for preventing things from going wrong
Needing reassurance from other people, but finding the relief doesn't last
Struggling to switch your mind off when you're trying to sleep or relax
Feeling tense, restless, irritable or constantly on edge
Avoiding situations, decisions or conversations because they feel overwhelming
Putting things off because you're frightened of making the wrong choice
Being very hard on yourself when you make a mistake
Finding uncertainty particularly difficult to sit with
Feeling physically drained from constantly thinking and worrying
Looking as though you're coping on the outside while feeling completely overwhelmed inside
You don't need to experience all of these things, or even think of yourself as an anxious person, for counselling to be helpful. If worry or overthinking is taking up more of your time and energy than you'd like, it's something we can explore together.
When overthinking feels like a way of staying safe
Overthinking often comes from a very understandable place. When something feels uncertain, your mind may try to protect you by thinking through every possibility, looking for answers or trying to make sure you don't get things wrong.
You might tell yourself that if you think about something for long enough, prepare enough or consider every possible outcome, you'll eventually feel certain. But often the opposite happens, the more you think, the less sure you feel.
You may start questioning your own judgement, seeking reassurance, checking things repeatedly or avoiding decisions altogether because you're worried about making a mistake.
Counselling isn't about telling you to “just stop worrying” or trying to get rid of every anxious thought. We can begin to explore what sits underneath the worry, understand the patterns you've developed and look at how you might respond to yourself with more trust and less pressure.
How counselling can help
Counselling can give you space to explore your anxiety without feeling that you need to get rid of it, explain it perfectly or have all the answers.
Together, we can begin to notice the thoughts, feelings and patterns that keep you caught in cycles of worry and overthinking. We might explore where some of those patterns have come from, what tends to trigger them, and the ways you've learned to cope when things feel uncertain or overwhelming.
Over time, counselling can help you understand yourself with more compassion, feel more confident in your own judgement and find ways of responding to worry that feel less exhausting.
My role isn't to tell you what to do or promise that you'll never feel anxious again. It's to work alongside you, at your pace, as you begin to understand what's happening and what might help things feel more manageable.
When it feels safer to be in control
When you're feeling anxious, having a sense of control can feel reassuring. You might plan ahead, prepare for every possibility, double check things or find it difficult when something doesn't go the way you expected.
Perhaps uncertainty makes you uncomfortable, so you try to predict what might happen before it does. You may find yourself wanting to know exactly where you stand with people, worrying when someone behaves differently than usual, or trying to make the ‘right’ decision so you can avoid regret or things going wrong.
Sometimes this can extend to your emotions too. You might try to keep difficult feelings contained, stay composed or push them aside because letting yourself really feel them seems frightening or overwhelming.
These ways of coping can make a lot of sense, particularly if feeling prepared or in control has helped you manage difficult or uncertain situations in the past. But when the need for certainty starts taking up more and more energy, it can leave you feeling trapped by the very things that were meant to help you feel safer.
Counselling can offer somewhere to gently explore that need for control, not to take it away from you, but to understand what might be underneath it and help you feel more able to cope when life can't give you certainty.
Thinking about counselling?
You don't need to have your anxiety or overthinking figured out before coming to counselling.
If worry, overthinking or the need for control are affecting your day-to-day life, you're welcome to get in touch.
We can start by exploring what's happening for you and what you would like from counselling, at a pace that feels manageable for you.