By Andrea Laznik Amit, RP — registered psychotherapist and clinical psychologist with 25+ years’ experience in psychodynamic and ISTDP therapy
Do you find yourself constantly on edge, overthinking, or bracing for what might go wrong? Anxiety can feel overwhelming, especially when you cannot explain why it is happening.
What you do know is how it feels to live with it.
For some people, anxiety shows up as thoughts that will not slow down. For others, it feels like tension in the body or a sense of pressure that is always there in the background. It can affect your work, your relationships, and your ability to feel present in your own life.
Even when anxiety is described in general terms, your experience of it is personal. In therapy, we begin by understanding what anxiety feels like for you.
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When anxiety starts to take over
Anxiety often becomes harder to manage when it begins shaping the way you move through your day. It can affect what you avoid, how you make decisions, and how safe you feel in ordinary situations.
You might notice:
- Intrusive or repetitive thoughts that are hard to shake
- A sense of urgency, even when nothing is immediately wrong
- Difficulty relaxing or switching off
- Physical tension, restlessness, or trouble sleeping
- Avoiding situations that feel uncertain or overwhelming
- Worrying about how others see you or what they might think
Anxiety does not look the same for everyone. For one person, it shows up in relationships. For another, it appears around performance, control, social situations, or uncertainty. Sometimes it is connected to past experiences, and sometimes the connection is not clear yet.
There isn't one explanation for anxiety
Anxiety is often explained through symptoms, causes, or diagnoses. Those can be useful, but they do not tell the whole story.
Your anxiety has its own shape. It is connected to your history, your relationships, your body, and the ways you have learned to protect yourself.
Two people can describe similar anxiety and still be experiencing something very different underneath. That is why therapy needs to leave room for your individual experience, rather than forcing your anxiety into a general explanation.
How therapy can help you navigate anxiety
Anxiety often feels confusing because it can seem to come out of nowhere. In therapy, we begin to notice the patterns around it.
We can explore what happens before anxiety rises, what feelings come with it, and what you do to manage it. We can also look at the relationships and past experiences that shaped how you respond now.
As these connections become clearer, anxiety can feel less overwhelming. You begin to have more room to think, feel, and choose how you want to respond.
Moving toward something different
Living with anxiety for a long time can make it hard to imagine feeling another way. The patterns become familiar, even when they are painful.
In therapy, we work toward understanding those patterns from the inside. We look at what anxiety is connected to and how it has shaped the way you protect yourself.
As this becomes clearer, you can begin to feel less controlled by anxiety and more connected to your own choices, relationships, and sense of self.
Find relief from anxiety that won’t let up
If anxiety is keeping you stuck in your thoughts or affecting your relationships, you do not have to keep trying to figure it out alone.
We can begin with a conversation about what has been happening, how anxiety shows up for you, and what kind of support would feel most helpful. Reach out to book a consultation and begin a process focused on understanding you as a whole person.
By Andrea Laznik Amit, MA, RP
Her training includes psychodynamic psychotherapy and Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), with advanced clinical training at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on anxiety, depression, trauma, and relational patterns through depth-oriented psychotherapy.