anxiety & panic therapy support

Instead of trying to “fix” anxiety or panic, we explore the roots of your experience, helping you reconnect with yourself in the present moment.

An open hand, showing the compassionate, collaborate space offered in Gestalt therapy for anxiety and panic.
 

Embodied, relational Gestalt therapy for anxiety, panic, overwhelm, and dissociation

Anxiety and panic can feel all-consuming. They can shape your thoughts, intensify your sensations, disrupt sleep, and leave you feeling scattered, foggy, or alone in your experience. Panic can feel like something is “wrong” with you; anxiety can feel endless, like you’re bracing for something you can’t quite name.

You don’t have to navigate this alone.
Therapy can offer a grounded, relational space to slow down, understand your experience, and reconnect with your sense of choice and agency.

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Hands gently placed on the body, to show how anxiety lives in the body and can be addressed through somatic, relational Gestalt therapy.
 

How Anxiety and Panic Affect Your Whole Self

Anxiety and panic are not just “in your head.”
They often show up through:

  • racing heart or shortness of breath

  • dizziness or feeling unsteady

  • muscle tension or restlessness

  • churning stomach or nausea

  • difficulty concentrating

  • dissociation or feeling “far away”

  • fear of the sensations themselves

Many people try to manage or suppress these experiences, hoping to control the symptoms rather than understand what they’re communicating.

In embodied, relational Gestalt therapy, we take a different approach.

An inviting, peaceful riverbank. creating an open, expansive space in which to be your full self as you explore anxiety and panic in therapy.
 

Therapy as a Space to Understand - Not Fix - Yourself

My approach is not about diagnosing, pathologizing, or trying to make unwanted sensations disappear.
Instead, we explore:

  • how anxiety and panic developed as creative survival strategies

  • what situations, relationships, or histories may be activating your system

  • how you learned to respond in the ways you do

  • how your body communicates stress, need, fear, or overwhelm

  • what helps you feel supported, grounded, and connected

Rather than treating anxiety as a problem to eliminate, we explore it as meaningful information. We can explore what is arising in you as a response to the situation you are in.

Two people with a hand on their own body, symbolizing how we work collaboratively to support your anxiety in therapy.
 

Working With Sensations, Thoughts, and Dissociation

In our sessions, we may gently explore:

  • the specific sensations that signal anxiety or panic (and the meaning you make about them)

  • moments where you feel disconnected from yourself or others (and why this may have been useful)

  • the experience of feeling scattered, hyperalert, or overstimulated (and why this was important)

  • the thoughts and stories that arise alongside sensations

  • how your body tries to protect you, even when it doesn’t feel that way

We move at your pace.
While exploring these experiences can be uncomfortable, you’re never asked to do anything outside of your window of tolerance. Our work is collaborative, co-created, and centred around what feels supportive for you.

Hands open in a natural setting, evoking self-soothing, emotional regulation, and mindful support for anxiety and panic.
 

Reconnecting With Yourself in the Present Moment

Anxiety can pull you out of yourself. Panic can make the world feel unsafe.
Therapy can support you to:

  • build awareness (which is the key to change)

  • feel more grounded in your sensations

  • reconnect with your body wisdom

  • understand your reactions and patterns

  • stay with yourself through discomfort

  • develop choice, flexibility, and resilience

  • feel less alone in your experience

The goal is not to eliminate anxiety, but to change how you relate to it. Awareness can help you move from fear and avoidance toward curiosity, understanding, and self-support.

Two snails softly on a branch, symbolizing relational support, collaboration, and non-judgemental presence in Gestalt therapy.
 

Why Gestalt Therapy for Anxiety?

Gestalt therapy honours your whole self — sensations, thoughts, emotions, relationships, and environment.
It is:

  • relational (we make sense of your experience together)

  • embodied (your sensations and body wisdom matter)

  • non-pathologizing (you make sense as you are)

  • present-focused (we begin with what is happening now)

  • collaborative (we co-create our work)

This approach supports you in expanding your awareness and reconnecting with the parts of yourself that anxiety has pushed into the background.

A person resting on a sofa with a blanket around their shoulders, representing overwhelm, emotional sensitivity, and the need for gentle therapeutic support.
 

Who This Work Supports

This approach may speak to you if you’re experiencing:

  • chronic anxiety or generalized worry

  • panic attacks or fear of panic

  • overwhelm or overstimulation

  • difficulty trusting your own perceptions

  • dissociation or feeling disconnected from your body

  • people-pleasing, hypervigilance, or high sensitivity

  • relational anxiety or fear of being misunderstood

  • a sense of disconnection from your purpose, meaning, or self

If any of this feels familiar, you are not alone. You are not “too much.”
Your experience is deeply human, and it can be explored with care.

Begin From Exactly Where You Are

Therapy is not about becoming someone different.
It’s about coming home to yourself — with awareness, support, and compassion.

Together, we can explore your full range of experience and develop a more grounded, empowered relationship with your experience of anxiety and panic.

Book a consultation or send me an email to explore what therapy can make possible.

FAQs

  • The embodied experience that we call “anxiety” is a natural human response to stress, uncertainty, or perceived threat. It can show up emotionally, mentally, and physically — through worry, restlessness, racing heart, tension, or difficulty concentrating. In therapy, we explore how your experience of anxiety makes sense in the context of your history, relationships, and environment.

  • The common experience that is often called a “panic attack” can feel like an intense surge of fear or discomfort, often accompanied by physical sensations like shortness of breath, dizziness, shaking, chest tightness, or feeling unreal or detached. Panic attacks are not signs of weakness — they are your body’s alert system responding to something overwhelming to you, even if you can’t identify the cause. Therapy can help you understand this response and feel safer in your body, environment, and situation by creating conditions where you can be with discomfort with support and groundedness.

  • Therapy offers a supportive, collaborative space to:

    • slow down and notice what’s happening inside you

    • understand the roots of your anxiety

    • explore sensations, thoughts, and patterns with curiosity

    • shift from managing symptoms to building awareness and presence

    • develop grounding and relational support

    • feel less isolated in your experience

    Gestalt therapy emphasizes the present moment and helps you reconnect with your sensations, choices, and sense of agency.

  • Many approaches focus on reducing or controlling symptoms. In embodied, relational Gestalt therapy, we look at why anxiety is showing up and what it’s trying to communicate.
    Instead of asking, “How do I get rid of this?” we ask, “What is happening in me right now? And why does it make sense that I am having this response?” Awareness itself creates the possibility for choice.
    This shift supports clarity, self-trust, and long-term change.

  • Only if and when you want to.
    We begin with what’s happening now, in your body and experience. Sometimes the past becomes relevant; sometimes it doesn’t. We move at your pace, guided by your curiosity, comfort, and readiness.

  • Yes. What is often called “dissociation” can be a protective response that developed for good reasons. In therapy, we approach dissociation - or the feeling of leaving, going away - gently, helping you:

    • feel more grounded in the present

    • reconnect with your sensations at a manageable pace

    • understand why dissociation arises for you

    • build trust in your body’s capacity to support you

    There is no pressure to “stay present.” There is only an invitation to notice what is possible in each moment, which could mean being present with NOT feeling present.

  • Many people do.
    Therapy doesn’t require you to articulate everything clearly or perfectly. We can begin with whatever is accessible: a word, a sensation, a gesture, or even silence. Your pace is the right pace.

  • Gestalt therapy supports anxiety by helping you:

    • stay connected to yourself instead of fighting your sensations

    • understand patterns that were once protective, with the support of an attuned other (therapist)

    • explore how anxiety functions in your relationships and daily life

    • develop flexibility, presence, and self-awareness

    Many people find this approach deeply grounding and transformative because it honours the whole person, not just symptoms.

  • Yes. I offer virtual therapy across Ontario and in-person sessions in East York (Toronto).
    Online sessions can be just as effective, especially for people who feel more comfortable in their own environment.

  • The best way to know is to meet for a free consultation. A consultation gives you a sense of:

    • whether you feel comfortable with me

    • whether my approach resonates, and is the right support for you right now

    • what you’re hoping for in therapy

    There’s no obligation to continue — it’s simply a chance to see how it feels to be together.

  • We’ll talk about what brings you to therapy, what you’re experiencing now, and what you hope for.
    We’ll also explore sensations, thoughts, and emotions in a gentle, collaborative way. You set the pace; I follow your lead.

book a free consultation