Anxiety
A gentle, body-based approach to anxiety
Anxiety can affect many areas of life — your body, your thoughts, your sleep, and your sense of safety in the world. For many people, it’s not just “worrying too much”, but a persistent feeling of tension, fear, or unease that doesn’t seem to switch off, even when life looks fine on the outside.
I work with anxiety using clinical hypnotherapy and mindfulness, supporting the nervous system to settle so change can happen at a deeper, more embodied level.
What anxiety can feel like
Anxiety shows up differently for everyone, but common experiences include:
Constant worry or overthinking
A sense of dread or fear without a clear cause
Physical symptoms such as tightness in the chest, shallow breathing, nausea, dizziness, or muscle tension
Difficulty sleeping or switching off
Feeling on edge, irritable, or overwhelmed
Avoiding situations because they feel unsafe or too much
Many people with anxiety have already tried to “think their way out of it” — reading, analysing, reassuring themselves — yet still feel stuck.
Why anxiety doesn’t respond to logic alone
Anxiety is closely linked to the nervous system, not just the thinking mind.
Often, anxiety develops after the body has learned — sometimes through past experiences — that certain situations are unsafe. Even when there is no real danger, the nervous system continues to respond as if there is.
This is why anxiety can feel irrational, frustrating, or out of proportion — and why insight alone doesn’t always bring relief.
How hypnotherapy can help with anxiety
Hypnotherapy for anxiety works by supporting the subconscious patterns that keep the body in a state of threat.
Rather than forcing change or pushing through fear, we work gently and collaboratively to:
Reduce chronic fight-or-flight activation
Help the nervous system feel safer
Identify and soften unconscious triggers
Create new, calmer responses to situations that currently feel threatening
Many people find hypnotherapy a calming and restorative experience, and you remain fully aware and in control throughout.
What sessions are like
Sessions are tailored to you and your experience of anxiety.
Depending on what’s needed, I may draw on:
Clinical hypnotherapy
Mindfulness-based approaches
Nervous-system-informed techniques
EMDR-informed work
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)
We move at a pace that feels safe and manageable, with an emphasis on consent, regulation, and practical change.
The number of sessions varies. Some people notice shifts relatively quickly, while longer-standing anxiety may take more time. There is no fixed formula — we respond to what your system needs.
Anxiety, stress, and panic — what’s the difference?
While these experiences often overlap, they are not the same.
Anxiety is usually an ongoing state of fear or vigilance
Stress tends to be situational and linked to external pressures
Panic attacks involve sudden, intense surges of fear and physical symptoms
If you’d like to explore these in more detail, you may find these pages helpful:
Stress & overwhelm
Panic attacks
Online and in-person support
I work with clients online worldwide, and in person in Chichester and West Sussex.
Online sessions are effective for many people and offer flexibility and continuity, wherever you’re based.
Considering working together?
If anxiety is affecting your quality of life, support is available.
I offer a free initial consultation so you can ask questions and get a sense of whether this approach feels right for you.