Why am I anxious?
Have you ever asked yourself, “Why am I anxious?” Anxiety can arise suddenly or build gradually, but its roots often run deeper than surface-level stress. In psychoanalytic psychotherapy in Dundalk, we don’t just manage symptoms, we explore the emotional foundations that fuel anxious thoughts and feelings. Based in Dundalk and Online, I offer a space where your anxiety can be listened to and worked through.
What does it mean to feel anxious?
Anxiety is one of the most frequently discussed presentations in my clinic. Speaking with a counsellor or a psychotherapist in Dundalk is often where individuals begin to unravel what it means to be anxious for them. However, when individuals enter the work of psychotherapy, they indicate that it is difficult to know where to begin and they feel overwhelmed by and stuck in the questions: ‘what is it that will get rid of my anxiety?’, and ‘can you help me with my anxiety?’
These are understandable questions. Anxiety often feels immediate and urgent, and it can seem as though it appears without a clear reason. Yet, when we begin to speak about it, anxiety often emerges at particular moments, before a decision, when something is changing, when something feels close but difficult to name.
In this way, anxiety is not always about something missing, but about something present, something that concerns you, but which has not yet taken clear form.
Can psychotherapy help with anxiety in Dundalk?
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy recognises the singularity of each individual and therefore my approach is specifically tailored to you and in light of this psychoanalytic psychotherapy poses that there should be a reframing of these questions that are overwhelming you and keeping you in your anxiety. Instead of the question ‘what is it that will get rid of my anxiety?’ the reframed question becomes, ‘why am I anxious?’ While this may seem counterintuitive, moving toward this question rather than away from it often brings you closer to what is at the centre of your anxiety, and in doing so can allow for a reducing, easing, and loosening of the anxious hold.
This shift is important. Rather than focusing only on removing anxiety, we begin to approach it as something that appears in particular situations and in relation to what is happening in your life. Anxiety often arises when something feels uncertain, when something is being asked of you, or when a new position is beginning to take shape.
While anxiety can relate to social situations, relationships, work, money and so on it is you that is at the centre of all these instances, it is you who is struggling and suffering with anxiety or worry. Therefore, we look to what lies at the heart of your own experience of anxiety.
How does psychoanalytic psychotherapy work for anxiety?
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy is very valuable and effective as it offers a space for you to navigate your question: ‘why am I anxious?’, it is a question that will be unique to you with an answer that is unique to you.
In this space, attention is given to when anxiety appears, what surrounds it, and what seems to be emerging at those moments. Often, what initially feels overwhelming begins to take shape through speaking.
By offering a space where you can navigate this question over time and fully there can be a loosening of what is binding you so tightly to these anxious feelings you are experiencing. When something of your experience becomes clearer, anxiety can loosen its grip. What once felt like pressure can become something that can be approached, thought about, and gradually worked through.
Anxiety counselling in Dundalk and Online places an emphasis on working through what is at the centre of your anxiety so that you can overcome your anxiety. Rather than simply trying to eliminate anxiety, psychoanalytic psychotherapy allows you to explore what is present when anxiety appears, what feels close, what is uncertain, and what may be beginning to take shape. From there, change can occur in a way that is meaningful and specific to you.
Are you struggling with anxiety?
I offer a place where you can be guided towards being reflective and self-aware in your discovery of the reasons underlying the anxiety you are experiencing and for the grip anxiety has on you to loosen. You can get in touch today to begin anxiety counselling in Dundalk or Online sessions by contacting me here.
While exploring the roots of anxiety is crucial, understanding the unique role of a psychoanalytic psychotherapist can offer further insights. My article on ‘The Function of the Psychotherapist in the Age of Self-Help’ delves into this topic.
