General Anxiety Therapy

How General Anxiety Can Affect You

General anxiety (often referred to as generalised anxiety) is a type of anxiety that involves ongoing worry across multiple areas of your life. Unlike other forms of anxiety — such as social anxiety, phobias, or OCD — it is not limited to a specific situation and is wide-reaching.

Generalised anxiety is driven by excessive and persistent worry about a range of concerns, such as upcoming events, social situations, relationships, health, or work.

This worry can feel difficult to control. You may want to switch off or take a break from your thoughts, but find that they continue to intrude, even when you try to distract yourself. At times, you may recognise that your worries are unlikely or exaggerated, yet still feel consumed by them.

Anxiety Can Affect Many Areas of Your Life

Over time, general anxiety can begin to affect many areas of your life, including:

• Reassurance-seeking and avoidance: You may find yourself frequently seeking reassurance from others, or taking extra precautions to prevent things from going wrong. This can also include avoiding situations altogether or procrastinating on tasks such as work, study, or everyday responsibilities.
• Impact on daily functioning and goals: Anxiety can hold you back from engaging fully in life, making it harder to complete tasks or move toward your longer-term goals.
• Sleep difficulties: You may struggle to fall asleep due to ongoing rumination, or find yourself sleeping more during the day as a way of avoiding anxious thoughts. This can leave you feeling fatigued and depleted.
• Difficulty concentrating: Anxiety can make it harder to focus, stay present, or engage in activities. This can affect your performance at work or study, as well as your ability to enjoy everyday moments.
• Changes in mood: You may feel on edge, tense, or irritable. In more severe or prolonged cases, generalised anxiety can also contribute to low mood or depression.

At Peaceful Mind Psychology, our AHPRA-registered Melbourne psychologists are experienced in evidence-based therapies for generalised anxiety. We tailor therapy to your individual needs, helping you better understand and manage anxiety in a way that feels practical and sustainable.

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The Types of Anxieties We Help With

At Peaceful Mind Psychology, our AHPRA-registered Melbourne psychologists support a wide range of anxiety presentations, in addition to generalised anxiety.

These include:

• Social anxiety: A fear of being judged, embarrassed, or negatively evaluated in social or performance situations. This can make everyday interactions — such as conversations, meetings, or social events — feel overwhelming or difficult to manage.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A form of anxiety characterised by unwanted, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviours or mental acts (compulsions) that are carried out to reduce distress.
• Phobias: An intense fear of a specific object or situation — such as flying, heights, or certain animals — which can lead to avoidance and significant distress.
• Health anxiety: Ongoing worry about your health, often involving fears of serious illness despite medical reassurance. This can include frequent checking of symptoms or seeking reassurance.
• Relationship anxiety: While not a formal anxiety disorder, relationship anxiety can involve persistent worry about your relationship, which can be connected to fears of rejection, feelings of insecurity, or attachment wounds.

We are also seeing an increase in other forms of anxiety that may not be formally classified as disorders, but can still have a significant impact:

• Climate anxiety: Distress related to environmental concerns and uncertainty about the future. This can leave you feeling overwhelmed, helpless, or uncertain about what actions to take.
• High-functioning anxiety: A pattern where someone appears to cope well externally, but internally experiences ongoing anxiety, pressure, or chronic stress. While it may drive productivity, it can also lead to burnout over time.

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How Anxiety Counselling Can Help

Anxiety counselling focuses on helping you understand and change the patterns that keep anxiety going, while building practical skills to feel more in control.

In therapy, your psychologist will typically support you in the following ways:

• Developing a shared understanding of your anxiety: Your psychologist will work with you to identify the factors maintaining your anxiety. For example, you may be avoiding certain situations, which can keep anxiety going by not allowing you to learn that the feared outcome may not occur. You may also notice unhelpful thought patterns — such as fears about yourself, your future, or the safety of loved ones — that intensify your anxiety. Understanding these patterns is the first step toward meaningful change.
• Building practical strategies and confidence: You will learn evidence-based strategies to help reduce anxiety and manage it more effectively day to day. This often involves setting realistic, gradual goals to help you face feared situations in a supported and manageable way, building confidence over time.
• Shifting unhelpful thinking patterns: Therapy will help you develop more flexible and balanced ways of thinking. This may include understanding where your anxiety patterns developed from, and what they’re function is, so you can begin to respond to them differently rather than feeling controlled by them.
• Supporting long-term change: Over time, working with a psychologist can help reduce overall anxiety, decrease avoidance, and improve your confidence in managing challenging situations. Most people also experience a greater sense of calm, control, and ease in their daily lives.

If you would like to get started with some immediate strategies, you may find it helpful to read our article “Anxiety, Help I’m drowning”.

Our Approach to Anxiety Treatment

There are a number of evidence-based approaches for anxiety treatment, and specifically for generalised anxiety. At Peaceful Mind Psychology, our Melbourne psychologists draw on a range of therapeutic models and tailor treatment to your individual needs, preferences, and goals.

These approaches may include:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): CBT is one of the most well-researched treatments for anxiety. It focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours that maintain anxiety, while building practical coping strategies. You can read more about CBT for anxiety here. CBT is also commonly used in the treatment of social anxiety, among other anxiety types.
• Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: This approach explores underlying emotional patterns and past experiences that may be contributing to anxiety. It can help you develop a deeper understanding of yourself and how these patterns influence your current responses.
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT): MBCT combines elements of CBT with mindfulness practices, helping you develop greater awareness of your thoughts and emotions, and respond to them in a more balanced and less reactive way.
• Self-help strategies: Your psychologist may incorporate practical strategies you can use between sessions, supporting you to build skills and confidence in managing anxiety in your day-to-day life.
• Medication (where appropriate): In some cases, medication may be recommended as part of a broader treatment plan. This is typically discussed with your GP or psychiatrist and can be used alongside psychological therapy where appropriate.

Our psychologist’s approach to general anxiety treatment is flexible and personalised. We focus not only on reducing symptoms, but on helping you build long-term skills and insight so you can manage anxiety more effectively over time.

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What to Expect in Your First Session

Your psychologist will begin to work with you to explore the factors that may be maintaining your anxiety, as well as any earlier experiences or patterns that may have contributed to how it developed. Many people find that this process brings a greater sense of clarity and understanding.

Together, you will begin to identify goals for therapy — focusing on the patterns and mechanisms that can be addressed to help reduce your anxiety over time.

Just as importantly, the first session is an opportunity to get a sense of your psychologist. You should feel listened to, understood, and comfortable, without feeling judged. Establishing a sense of trust and connection is an important part of effective therapy.

If you are seeking psychology support for the first time, it can be helpful to understand about what to expect and if you are feeling dissatisfied with the experience, how you can find a good psychologist.

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Ongoing Therapy: What Progress Looks Like

In ongoing therapy, you and your psychologist will work through goals that address the patterns keeping your anxiety going.

This often involves:

• Targeting key drivers of anxiety: Beginning with areas that can provide some early relief, while also working toward longer-term change
• Learning practical skills: Developing strategies to manage anxiety in moments of distress, so you feel more equipped day to day
• Understanding underlying patterns: Exploring beliefs about yourself or the world that may be contributing to your anxiety
• Shifting unhelpful thoughts: Learning to step back from anxious thoughts and respond to them in a more balanced and flexible way
• Reducing rumination: Working proactively to interrupt repetitive thinking patterns, which are a key driver of general anxiety
• Making sense of your anxiety: Understanding how your anxiety or rumination may have developed, and how it may have served a purpose at some point in your life

Over time, progress in therapy often looks like:

• A reduction in overall anxiety
• Less time spent worrying or ruminating
• Increased confidence in managing challenging situations
• Improved ability to function day to day, including at work, study, and in relationships

Fees, Medicare Rebates and Mental Healthcare Plan

We aim to keep our fees accessible and below the recommended rates set by the Australian Psychological Society. Fees vary depending on the experience of the psychologist and whether you are seeing a clinical psychologist or a registered psychologist. You can find more detailed information on our fees in our FAQs.

If you have a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your GP, you may be eligible for a Medicare rebate under the Better Access initiative. To access this, you will typically need to book a longer appointment with your GP to discuss your mental health and obtain a referral.

Medicare rebates differ depending on whether you see a clinical psychologist or a registered psychologist. You can read more about current rebate amounts here.

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Why Choose Our Melbourne Anxiety Psychologists

At Peaceful Mind Psychology, we are highly selective in the psychologists we choose to work with. Alongside strong clinical training, we place particular emphasis on finding psychologists who are warm, with the ability to build meaningful therapeutic relationships.

We also look for psychologists who are conscientious and reflective in their work — those who take care to think deeply about their clients, pay attention to detail, and are committed to providing thoughtful, high-quality care.

Importantly, we also offer our clients a personalised matching process. Our support team takes the time to understand your individual preferences, including the type of personality you may connect best with, as well as any preferences around age or gender. This approach helps you find a psychologist who feels like the right fit from the outset, supporting a stronger therapeutic connection and more effective outcomes in therapy.

If you’re ready to seek psychological support for anxiety, you can contact our support team at Peaceful Mind Psychology to be matched to one of our psychologists who are warm and professional. Or, you may like to address your anxiety using self help methods, including via valuable online modules in myCompass created by the Black Dog Institute.

FAQs for Generalised Anxiety

How to manage anxiety?

Managing general anxiety often involves a combination of practical strategies and a better understanding of the patterns that keep anxiety going.

A helpful starting point is to focus on calming the body. Slow, steady breathing can help reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety and signal to your nervous system that you are safe. Even a few minutes of slower breathing each day can make a noticeable difference. The calm app can be great for practising and implementing slow breathing.

It can also be useful to gently shift how you respond to anxious thoughts. While worry can feel overwhelming, it is important to remember that anxiety itself is a feeling — not a loss of control. Learning to step back from your thoughts, rather than getting caught up in them, can reduce their intensity over time.

Another key part of managing anxiety is reducing avoidance. Avoiding situations that feel uncomfortable can bring short-term relief, but often keeps anxiety going in the long term. Gradually and safely facing situations, in small and manageable steps, can help rebuild confidence and reduce anxiety over time .

Supporting your overall wellbeing is also important. This includes maintaining regular routines such as eating well, getting outside, staying connected with supportive people, and making time for activities you enjoy.

Finally, many people find it helpful to talk things through — whether that’s with a trusted person in their life or with a psychologist. If anxiety feels ongoing or difficult to manage on your own, professional support can help you develop personalised strategies and feel more in control.

If you’d like more practical strategies to get started, you can read our article “Anxiety, Help I’m drowning”.

What are the causes of Generalised Anxiety?

General anxiety is usually caused by a combination of factors, rather than a single cause.

Some people may be more vulnerable to anxiety due to genetic factors, meaning a family history of anxiety or other mental health difficulties. Others may develop anxiety in response to life experiences, such as ongoing stress, significant life events, or challenging environments.

For many people, it is a combination of both — where life experiences interact with a natural predisposition toward anxiety.

It’s also important to understand that anxiety is part of the body’s natural stress and survival response. In many situations, anxiety can be helpful — it can motivate you, keep you alert, and help you respond to potential challenges.

However, when anxiety becomes persistent, difficult to control, or disproportionate to the situation, it can start to feel overwhelming and interfere with your day-to-day life.

What makes anxiety worse?

Anxiety can be unintentionally reinforced by certain habits and patterns, even when you are trying your best to cope.

Some of the most common factors that make anxiety worse include:

• Avoidance: Avoiding situations that make you feel anxious can bring short-term relief, but over time it teaches your brain that those situations are unsafe. This can cause anxiety to grow and spread into more areas of your life.
• Reassurance-seeking and checking: Repeatedly seeking reassurance from others or the internet, or checking things to feel “certain”, may feel comforting in the moment — but it often reinforces doubt and keeps anxiety going.
• Worry and rumination: Spending a lot of time thinking through “what if” scenarios can feel like problem-solving, but it tends to keep your mind stuck in anxiety rather than helping you move forward.
• Safety behaviours: Doing things to prevent anxiety (such as always having an “escape plan” or relying on certain objects or habits) can reinforce the belief that you can’t cope without them.
• Focusing too much on anxiety itself: When you become highly focused on your anxiety and try to get rid of it at all costs, it can actually amplify the experience and make it feel more intense.
• Unhelpful expectations and self-criticism: Expecting yourself to feel calm or “in control” at all times can create additional pressure. When these expectations aren’t met, it can lead to self-judgement, which increases anxiety further.
• Physical patterns such as rapid breathing:Fast, shallow breathing can signal to your body that something is wrong, increasing adrenaline and intensifying anxiety symptoms.

Understanding these patterns is an important first step. With the right support, you can begin to change how you respond to anxiety, which helps reduce its intensity over time.

How do I support someone with anxiety?

Supporting someone with anxiety can feel challenging, especially when you can see they are struggling but aren’t sure how to help.

A helpful starting point is to understand that anxiety is not simply “worrying too much” — it is a real physiological and emotional response, where the body is in a heightened state of alert. Approaching your loved one with empathy, rather than trying to fix the problem, can make a meaningful difference.

We offer some helpful ways to support someone with anxiety in an article here, but below are some tips to get started:

• Be present and listen without trying to fix it:Rather than offering solutions or reassurance, focus on listening and acknowledging how they feel. Feeling understood is often more helpful than being told everything is okay.
• Help them feel safe and grounded:Gentle, calming support — such as sitting with them, encouraging slow breathing, or going for a walk together — can help regulate their nervous system in the moment.
• Avoid reinforcing anxiety unintentionally:While it’s natural to want to reassure or protect someone, repeatedly providing reassurance or helping them avoid situations can sometimes keep anxiety going over time.
• Offer steady, reliable support:Being consistent, calm, and non-judgemental helps create a sense of safety. Small things — like spending time together or checking in — can go a long way.
• Maintain healthy boundaries:It’s important to support your loved one without taking on full responsibility for their anxiety. Looking after your own wellbeing allows you to offer more sustainable support.
• Encourage professional support when needed:If anxiety is significantly impacting their life, gently encouraging them to seek help from a GP or psychologist can be beneficial. Offering to help them take the first step can make this feel less overwhelming.

Supporting someone with anxiety isn’t about having the perfect words — it’s about being there in a consistent, kind, and understanding way.