Anxiety Therapy in
Kitchener-Waterloo
Support for high-functioning anxiety, panic, and chronic worry.
You might be here because something needs to shift. This page is a place to recognize patterns, name what you’ve been carrying, and find the path that fits.
Maybe you’ve been functioning for a long time, but the inside of your life feels tense, loud, and relentlessly alert.
Maybe you can “handle” everything, until you can’t. Maybe you’re exhausted from the vigilance, the planning, the way your mind never quite settles.
The patterns that once protected you may now be shrinking your life. Therapy can help you understand what’s underneath, settle your nervous system, and reclaim the parts of yourself that anxiety has been holding hostage.
“Anxiety is not a personal failure. It’s often a nervous system doing its best to keep you safe, even when safety starts to feel like control, overthinking, or constant readiness.”
You might be living with anxiety if
You don’t always call it anxiety. Sometimes it just feels like your personality. Like you’re the organized one. The capable one. The one who stays ahead.
But inside, you’re bracing. Scanning. Managing.
Sometimes it just feels like your personality… high-functioning anxiety.
Anxiety often looks like:
- Overthinking small decisions until they feel impossible
- Physical tension that never fully releases (jaw, chest, stomach)
- Difficulty falling asleep because your mind won’t stop
- Feeling on edge, even during “good” days
- Avoiding situations that might trigger panic or overwhelm
- Needing control to feel okay
- Feeling guilty when you rest
If any of this feels familiar, you’re not imagining it. And you’re not overreacting.
If panic is part of your story, you’re not alone. Read about panic attacks.
If worry feels constant, looping, and hard to turn off, you may recognize yourself in chronic worry and overthinking.
Anxiety is not a flaw.
It’s a pattern.
Anxiety doesn’t mean something is wrong with you.
It often means your nervous system learned to protect you in a particular way, usually for reasons that make sense once we slow down and look.
Sometimes anxiety grows out of unpredictability. Sometimes it comes from responsibility too early, or emotional pressure you had to manage quietly. Sometimes it’s linked to grief, trauma, or a long season of pushing through without enough recovery.
Therapy helps you understand what anxiety is doing, what it’s protecting, and what it costs. Not to “get rid of” anxiety through willpower, but to shift your relationship with it so you have more choice.
Different forms of anxiety
Anxiety doesn’t show up the same way for everyone. Some people feel sudden panic. Others live with a constant hum of worry that never fully powers down. Many experience both.
Below are some of the most common ways anxiety shows up in adults, including patterns, overlaps, and experiences that often get mistaken for something else.
Anxiety vs Stress
Stress is usually tied to something specific and tends to settle when the situation changes. Anxiety can linger and show up even when things are objectively okay. Learning the difference can help you respond with more clarity and less self-judgment.
High-Functioning Anxiety
The anxiety that hides behind productivity. You’re getting things done, but you’re running on tension, control, and self-pressure. From the outside you look steady. Inside, it’s exhausting.
Chronic Worry & Overthinking
A mind that won’t stop scanning. Conversations replaying. Decisions spiraling. The sense that if you think long enough, you’ll finally feel safe. It’s relentless, and it’s not a character flaw.
Panic Attacks
Panic can feel like your body is betraying you. Heart racing, dizziness, breath catching, a sudden sense of danger. It’s terrifying, and it’s also a nervous system alarm that can be understood and softened over time.
Social Anxiety
A fear of being judged, misunderstood, or exposed. It can look like rehearsing what to say, avoiding certain settings, or leaving interactions feeling drained and self-critical. Therapy can help you understand the pattern and loosen its grip.
Perfectionism
The belief that if you do everything right, you’ll finally relax. It can look like high standards and excellence, but inside, it often feels like pressure, fear, and never being finished.
Anxiety & Burnout
Sometimes what looks like anxiety is a body that’s been carrying too much for too long. Recovery isn’t a quick fix. It’s a shift toward what’s sustainable.
Anxiety & Relationships
Anxiety doesn’t stay contained. It can shape how you connect, how you communicate, and how safe closeness feels. Therapy can help you understand the pattern, without blaming yourself.
Health Anxiety
A constant scanning of the body for signs that something is wrong. Sensations become threats. Reassurance brings only brief relief before the worry returns. Therapy can help interrupt the cycle and rebuild trust in your body.
How anxiety lives in the body
Anxiety isn’t just a thought problem. It’s physical. Visceral. Often, your body knows you’re not okay long before your mind catches up.
You might notice it as tightness in your chest, a knot in your stomach, jaw clenching, shoulder tension, restlessness, or a kind of fatigue that doesn’t match how much you’ve actually done.
These aren’t “random symptoms.” They’re signals. Your system is responding to threat, real or perceived, and doing its job.
In therapy, we pay attention to those signals with curiosity instead of judgment. Over time, that changes things. You stop treating your body like an enemy. You start learning its language.
How therapy helps
Therapy for anxiety isn’t about “thinking positive” or forcing calm.
It’s about understanding your patterns, how they formed, and what helps your system feel safe enough to loosen its grip.
We slow down. We track what anxiety feels like in your body, what situations activate it, what stories it tells you, and what it asks you to do. We look at protection strategies that once helped, and what they’re costing you now.
And we build capacity. Not perfection. Not a new personality. More room inside you.
This page is here to help you recognize what anxiety looks like for you, and choose what support makes the most sense next. If you want direct care options, explore the service pages and programs linked below.
Relational, Trauma-Informed Therapy for anxiety
My approach is trauma-informed, nervous-system-aware, and relational. I don’t use a one-size-fits-all protocol. I’m not here to hand you a generic toolkit and send you on your way.
Standard talk therapy often focuses on "top-down" processing - trying to think your way out of feelings. But anxiety lives in the body. That is why I work "bottom-up," helping you access the wisdom of your nervous system so you can feel safe, not just think safe.
More than just symptom management
We don't just try to silence the alarm. We look for what tripped the wire. By understanding the root of your reactivity - whether it is past trauma, unmet needs, or sensory overwhelm - we can change the pattern at its source.
Pacing matters
I care about your pacing. Pushing too hard, too fast can actually increase anxiety. We practice "titration" - moving in small, manageable steps that respect your window of tolerance. This builds lasting capacity rather than temporary relief.
A space to unmask
Many of my clients are capable, high-functioning adults who have been holding everything together for a long time. Therapy becomes a place where you don’t have to perform. You can bring the messy, unsure parts of yourself, and they will be met with steady, non-judgmental presence.
Paths forward
If you want support now
If you’re ready to talk, you can book a consultation. If you’re not ready yet, you can still begin with something gentle and structured.
If you want to keep reading
Sometimes clarity comes in layers. If you want more structure without pressure, the library is a good place to land.
Visit the Digital LibraryPractical details
Online and in-person options
I offer anxiety therapy both online and in person. Online sessions are available across Ontario and work well for those with busy schedules or who prefer the comfort of their own space.
In-person sessions are available in Kitchener for those who prefer face-to-face connection. We can discuss which format makes sense for you.
Fees and insurance
Psychotherapy services are often covered by extended health benefits. I recommend checking with your provider to see what your plan includes.
For full details on fees and payment, visit my Fees & Insurance page.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is completely normal to have questions before reaching out. Here are a few common ones to help you feel more comfortable.
Stress is often tied to a specific situation and eases when the situation changes. Anxiety tends to linger. It shows up even when things are objectively okay, and it often pulls you into a constant state of readiness. If you’re wondering about the difference, therapy can help you sort it out gently.
Stress usually has a clear trigger. Anxiety can stay even when the trigger is gone. It can feel like your mind is scanning for what might go wrong, or your body is bracing before anything has even happened. Both deserve care, and both can shift when your system learns more safety.
Yes. Many people live with anxiety that never becomes a full panic attack. It can look like chronic worry, overthinking, restlessness, perfectionism, people-pleasing, or a constant sense that you should be doing more. Quiet anxiety is still anxiety.
You don’t need a diagnosis to start therapy. If your mind feels loud, your body feels tense, or you feel stuck in patterns that are shrinking your life, that’s enough to explore.
Yes. Long-standing anxiety often has deep roots, and shifting it takes time. But even anxiety that has been with you for most of your life can change in meaningful ways.
Yes. Virtual therapy is available to clients anywhere in Ontario.
Many people start weekly for consistency and momentum, then move to biweekly once things feel more steady. We’ll decide together based on what you need and what feels sustainable.
Not all therapy is the same, and fit matters. If your previous experience felt too clinical, too surface-level, or too focused on symptom management, this may feel different. We move at a pace that respects your nervous system.
No. I’m a Registered Psychotherapist, not a physician. If medication is part of your care, I’m happy to work alongside your doctor or psychiatrist.
Very often, yes. Sometimes anxiety is the most visible layer of something deeper. We don’t force that exploration, but we also don’t ignore it when it’s part of the picture.
You don’t have to keep managing this alone
Anxiety convinces you that you’re supposed to handle it privately. That needing support means you’re failing. That you should be able to think your way out of it.
But anxiety doesn’t shift through willpower. It shifts when you understand what’s driving it, when your nervous system learns safety again, and when you have a steady relationship where you don’t have to perform.
If you’re ready to start, I’m here.