Counselling for
anxiety & OCD
If worry, intrusive thoughts or compulsions are taking over your day, I can help you understand what keeps the pattern going. We can work together on ways to respond differently, at a pace you can manage.
What anxiety and OCD can feel like
Experiences vary from person to person. You may recognise some of these, or your experience may look quite different.
Constant worry & overthinking
Physical tension, restlessness or panic
Difficulty sleeping or relaxing
Intrusive thoughts or mental images
Compulsions, checking or avoidance
Impact on work, relationships or daily life
The avoidance cycle
When something makes you anxious, wanting to get away from it is understandable. You might cancel a plan, put off a conversation or keep busy so you do not have to notice a difficult feeling. The relief can be immediate, which makes the same response more tempting next time.
The difficulty is what you miss the chance to discover: whether the feared outcome would happen, whether you could manage it, or whether an anxious feeling can be present without deciding what you do. Relief can begin to feel like proof that avoiding was necessary.
Over time, more situations may feel difficult. You may spend longer preparing, distracting yourself or finding reasons not to do things. Confidence can shrink as life becomes organised around keeping anxiety away.
Distraction is not always a problem. A break, grounding or something enjoyable can help you recover. It is worth exploring when distraction becomes something you feel you must do every time anxiety appears, and it repeatedly prevents you returning to what matters.
- TriggerA thought, feeling or situation
- Anxiety risesWorry and bodily alarm
- Avoid or distractEscape the situation or feeling
- Brief reliefDiscomfort eases for a while
- Fear stays untestedLess chance to learn you can cope
One common pattern, rather than an explanation for every anxious experience. Avoiding genuine danger and respecting your limits remain important.
How we can recognise the cycle together
Avoidance can be easy to miss because it often feels sensible in the moment. We can look at a recent experience without judging how you coped, and ask what happened before, during and afterwards.
What do you do to feel safer?
We can notice obvious avoidance, such as staying home, and less obvious defence mechanisms: keeping conversations superficial, checking repeatedly, seeking reassurance or constantly filling silence. The question is what the response helps you escape, and what it costs you.
What happens later?
We can compare how you feel immediately with how you feel the next day. For example, cancelling a meeting may bring relief now, while making the next invitation harder to accept. You might also notice more time spent worrying or a growing belief that you cannot cope.
What small step feels manageable?
Together, we can agree a realistic step, notice the urge to escape and review what you learn. That could mean staying in a conversation a little longer or reducing one repeated check. The aim is more choice, at a pace we agree, with support rather than pressure.
We will consider your circumstances and needs before changing a response. Taking a sensory break, leaving an unsafe situation or asking for an adjustment is not something you need to give up. For OCD, reducing rituals and reassurance may involve carefully planned Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).
Understanding, experimenting and changing
Understanding the cycle
We can identify triggers, interpretations, body responses and the defence mechanisms you use to feel safer. Together, we can explore which responses protect you in the moment but may keep anxiety going.
Working with uncertainty
For OCD and some anxiety difficulties, this may include principles from Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), used collaboratively and at a manageable pace.
Emotional regulation
Grounding, attention and nervous-system regulation can help you respond to activation without needing to eliminate every uncomfortable feeling.
Looking beneath the pattern
An integrative approach also makes room for relationships, shame, past experiences, identity and the personal meaning of anxiety.
Intrusive thoughts are not the same as intentions
OCD can involve unwanted thoughts, images, doubts or urges that feel deeply significant. Compulsions may be visible behaviours, such as checking, or internal processes such as reviewing, neutralising or seeking certainty.
The difficulty is often not the presence of the thought itself, but the meaning attached to it and the repeated attempts to remove uncertainty.
More room for everyday life
Less ruled by avoidance
Gradually doing more of what matters, even when uncertainty is present.
A different response to thoughts
Thoughts can still arrive without automatically needing an answer, ritual or reassurance.
Greater tolerance of uncertainty
Building confidence in your ability to cope without having to make everything feel certain.
More choice in how you respond
Noticing the cycle earlier and creating a pause between anxiety and action.
Understanding anxiety
in more depth
Take a little time with the topics that feel relevant to you. These links open different sections of my anxiety guide, with explanations and practical ideas to explore at your own pace.
What causes anxiety
Understand the pressures, experiences and patterns that can contribute to anxiety.
Explore this topic ↗
How can therapy help
Explore how understanding and practical work can support change.
Explore this topic ↗
Exposure and Response Prevention
How carefully paced practice can help loosen OCD’s grip.
Explore this topic ↗
Relaxation Techniques
Find ways to rest and release tension that feel comfortable for you.
Explore this topic ↗Breathing Techniques
Explore gentle breathing practices without forcing a particular rhythm.
Explore this topic ↗Grounding Techniques
Ways to reconnect with the present when feelings become intense.
Explore this topic ↗Anxiety and the Nervous System
Why anxiety can feel so physical, and how emotional regulation can help.
Explore this topic ↗Information and support
between sessions
These independent organisations offer further information and different kinds of support. You can check their websites for current services and availability.
Anxiety Care UK
Information and recovery support for people experiencing anxiety.
Anxiety UK
Information and support for people living with anxiety.
Infoline: 03444 775 774
Text: 07537 416 905
NHS Inform
Information about anxiety, symptoms and treatment options.
No More Panic
Information and peer support for anxiety, panic, phobias and OCD.
No Panic
Support for people affected by anxiety, panic and related difficulties.
Helpline: 0300 772 9844
nopanic.org.uk ↗Triumph Over Phobia (TOP UK)
Provides self-help therapy groups and support for those with OCD, phobias and related anxiety disorders.
You do not need to have everything worked out before getting in touch.
In person in North London or online across the UK · 50-minute sessions
Explore connected experiences
Self-worth, shame and the pressure of everyday demands can be part of the wider picture. These pages offer different ways to understand what is happening.