When your nervous system won't rest
Anxiety therapy in Toronto that addresses the roots of overwhelm, not just the symptoms
What anxiety feels like
Your mind won't stop. Thoughts race from one worry to the next about work, relationships, your health, the future, what you said in that conversation three days ago. Even when there's no clear threat, your body acts like there is. Your heart pounds. Your chest tightens. Your breath becomes shallow.
You might wake up already anxious, your nervous system activated before you've even opened your eyes. Or anxiety strikes in waves throughout the day a sudden tightness in your throat, a rush of panic seemingly out of nowhere, a sense of impending doom you can't name.
Simple decisions feel monumental. You second-guess everything. You ruminate, catastrophize, imagine worst-case scenarios in vivid detail. The inner critic is relentless: You're not doing enough. You're going to fail. Everyone can see you're struggling.
Maybe you avoid situations that trigger anxiety social gatherings, unfamiliar places, anything that feels unpredictable. Or maybe you push through, white-knuckling your way through life while your nervous system screams for rest.
Sleep becomes difficult. Your body won't settle. Even when you're exhausted, you lie awake, mind spinning. And the next day, the cycle continues, leaving you depleted and overwhelmed.
Anxiety isn't weakness or overthinking it's your nervous system stuck in a state of high alert. And that can change.
What anxiety is
Anxiety is your nervous system's alarm bell and when it works properly, it's protective. It helps you respond to real threats. But for many of us, the alarm has become overly sensitive. It goes off in response to everyday stress, uncertainty, or even the anticipation of stress.
From a polyvagal perspective, anxiety often means your nervous system is stuck in sympathetic activation the fight-or-flight response. Your body is preparing for danger even when there's none present. This can result from past trauma, chronic stress, developmental experiences where you didn't feel safe, or living in conditions that constantly tax your nervous system.
Sometimes anxiety is about unprocessed emotions anger, grief, or fear that have nowhere to go. Sometimes it's about trying to control what can't be controlled, because uncertainty feels intolerable. Sometimes it's existential a response to the fragility and unpredictability of life itself.
The racing thoughts, the physical symptoms, the hypervigilance these aren't character flaws. They're your system trying to protect you in the only way it knows how. The work isn't to eliminate anxiety entirely, but to help your nervous system learn that it can relax, that you can tolerate uncertainty, and that you have capacity to meet what comes.
How we work with anxiety together
Nervous system regulation
The most direct path to working with anxiety is through the nervous system itself. Using somatic experiencing and polyvagal-informed practices, we help your body learn to downregulate to move from high-alert states back to calm. This includes tracking sensations, working with breath and movement, and building your window of tolerance for activation.
Understanding patterns and triggers
Psychodynamic exploration helps us understand what activates your anxiety and why. We look at patterns in your relationships, situations that trigger you, and the deeper fears beneath the surface worry. Sometimes anxiety masks other feelings anger you can't express, grief you haven't processed, needs you're afraid to voice.
Building capacity for uncertainty
Much of anxiety is about trying to eliminate uncertainty. We can't actually control the future, but we can build your capacity to tolerate not knowing. This involves practices that help you stay present, work with ambiguity, and trust yourself to handle what comes rather than trying to prevent everything that might happen.
Working with the inner critic
For many people, anxiety is fueled by harsh self-judgment. We develop more compassion for yourself, challenge the narratives that keep you in loops of worry, and create inner space that's supportive rather than punishing.
What might gradually change
You start to notice when anxiety is building, earlier than before. You have tools to work with it ways to calm your nervous system, to interrupt the spiral before it takes over completely.
Your body begins to feel safer. The chronic tension in your shoulders, jaw, or stomach starts to ease. You sleep better. You can take deeper breaths. Moments of calm become more frequent and last longer.
The racing thoughts slow down. You're still aware of risks and concerns, but you're not consumed by them. You can make decisions without endless rumination. You trust yourself more.
You become more able to be present in your life instead of always bracing for the next thing. Relationships feel less fraught. You can enjoy moments without your mind immediately jumping to what could go wrong.
Anxiety might still show up it's part of being human, especially in uncertain times but it doesn't control you the way it used to. You have a different relationship with it. You know how to meet it, work with it, and let it pass.
Questions to sit with
What would it feel like to trust that you can handle uncertainty, even when you don't have all the answers?
What might your anxiety be trying to protect you from? What would happen if you listened to it with curiosity instead of resistance?
What would become possible if your nervous system felt truly safe to rest?
Common questions about anxiety therapy
Will therapy cure my anxiety?
The goal isn't to eliminate anxiety entirely some degree of anxiety is normal and even useful. The goal is to shift your relationship with it so it's no longer overwhelming or disabling. Most people find significant relief and develop tools that make anxiety manageable instead of all-consuming.
What if I have panic attacks?
We can absolutely work with panic. Panic attacks are intense but they're also a nervous system response that can be understood and worked with. We'll help you learn what's happening in your body during panic, develop ways to work with it in the moment, and address the underlying patterns that make you vulnerable to panic.
I'm worried therapy itself will make me more anxious.
That's a valid concern. We work at a pace that feels manageable for you. The goal is to build safety and capacity, not to flood you with intensity. If something feels too activating, we slow down or shift approaches. You're always in control of the pace.
Your nervous system can learn to rest
If anxiety has taken over your life, there's a way through. We'll start with a 50-minute consultation to explore what's possible.