Anxiety therapy in Calgary.
Anxiety is a normal, useful, even essential human experience — until it isn’t. When the worry starts running your decisions, your sleep, or your relationships, therapy gives you a way out that isn’t just “try to stop worrying.”
Anxiety shows up in many forms.
Generalized anxiety (GAD) — persistent, hard-to-control worry across many areas of life.
Panic attacks & panic disorder — sudden, intense episodes of fear with physical symptoms.
Social anxiety — fear of judgement or embarrassment in social or performance situations.
Specific phobias — flying, driving, medical procedures, animals, heights.
Health anxiety — persistent worry about illness or bodily sensations.
OCD — intrusive thoughts and ritualized behaviours to manage them. See our OCD page.
Trauma-related anxiety — including PTSD and complex trauma where anxiety is the surface symptom.
The methods that work, matched to you.
CBT — the most-researched approach for anxiety. Identify the thought patterns and behaviours feeding the cycle, build skills to interrupt them.
Exposure therapy — for phobias, panic, and OCD. Gradual, supported confrontation of feared situations until the anxiety naturally subsides.
ACT — for anxiety that resists direct elimination. Build a different relationship with the anxious thoughts so they have less control over your behaviour.
DBT skills — for high-intensity anxiety where the first job is regulation.
EMDR — when anxiety traces back to a specific traumatic experience.
Mindfulness-based approaches — for the rumination piece, particularly effective alongside CBT.
Anxiety therapy, asked and answered.
How do I know if I need anxiety therapy?
The clearest sign is that anxiety is disrupting your life — sleep, work, relationships, or things you used to enjoy. If it’s shaping decisions you wouldn’t otherwise make, therapy is worth the consult.
How many sessions does anxiety therapy usually take?
It varies a lot. Many people see meaningful improvement within a focused course of CBT; complex or longstanding anxiety usually takes longer, and the work tends to come in phases. Your therapist will talk openly with you about pacing.
Do I need to be on medication?
For mild to moderate anxiety, therapy alone often produces meaningful improvement. For severe panic, OCD, or co-occurring depression, evidence supports combining therapy with medication prescribed by your family doctor or psychiatrist (Cuijpers et al., 2014).
Is online anxiety therapy as effective as in-person?
For most clients and many types of anxiety, meta-analyses of guided online CBT find outcomes broadly comparable to face-to-face delivery (Andersson et al., 2014). Some clients with severe agoraphobia find online easier to start with — getting out the door is part of what the anxiety is preventing. We’ll flag at the consult if in-person seems likely to fit you better.
References
Andersson, G., Cuijpers, P., Carlbring, P., Riper, H., & Hedman, E. (2014). Guided Internet-based vs. face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy for psychiatric and somatic disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Psychiatry, 13(3), 288–295. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20151
Cuijpers, P., Sijbrandij, M., Koole, S. L., Andersson, G., Beekman, A. T., & Reynolds, C. F. (2014). Adding psychotherapy to antidepressant medication in depression and anxiety disorders: A meta-analysis. World Psychiatry, 13(1), 56–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20089
Twenty minutes. On the phone. Free.
Tell us what’s going on and ask anything — insurance, format, fees, what a first session looks like. You’ll be on the call with one of our therapists, and we’ll go from there together. If we’re not the right practice for you, we’ll say so.