Feeling Overwhelmed? Here’s How Online Anxiety Therapy Can Help You Feel Better!

Introduction

Have you been feeling overwhelmed by feelings of worry and dread? Does your mind seem to get stuck on thoughts that are difficult to get rid of? Anxiety therapy online might be something you want to consider!

Anxiety can also focus on a lot of different areas. It is important to think about what the focus of the fear is, as this can guide your online anxiety therapy. For example, do you worry about finances, the health of yourself and loved ones, and global events? Or do you find yourself experiencing anxiety when you are with others because you worry about being evaluated and judged by them? There are many ways in which anxiety may present. We will explore how anxiety therapy online might be your next best step. 

A recent study has illustrated a rising global increase in anxiety since 1990. In particular, adolescent individuals (10 to 14 years old) showed the highest global increase of 52% from 1990 to 2021. Bullying victimization was cited as a key risk factor. This was particularly true in regions of the world where there was a high anxiety disorder burden.

Research like this points to the need for increasing access to mental health care that is readily available for large portions of the population. A highly accessible form of healthcare is that of online anxiety therapy as well as telepsychology for other presenting issues. By seeking out an online therapist for anxiety, you can access treatment in a manner that can often suit your busy lifestyle as well as that of your loved ones. 

This blog will help readers understand the overwhelming nature of anxiety and how anxiety therapy online can offer them evidence-based support.

Why Anxiety Feels So Overwhelming

When we experience anxiety, we endure a lot of different symptoms. We can often break these down in terms of our thoughts, behaviours, and emotions. This is referred to as the cognitive triad from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

In terms of common thoughts that you might be experiencing with anxiety:

• What if I said the wrong thing?
• Maybe I will lose my way driving to the appointment and be late?
• Maybe my headache is a sign of brain cancer, and I am dying?
• What if my son fails his math exam and never graduates from high school?
• What if we don’t have enough money to pay our bills (even though our careers are successful)?
• What if I fail my exams and don’t get into university?

In terms of common emotions you might be experiencing with anxiety:

• Worry
• Fear
• Stress
• Dread
• Sadness
• Distress

In terms of common behaviours you might be experiencing with anxiety:

• Avoidance
• Reassurance-seeking
• Checking behaviours

Anxiety can also result in a great deal of physical sensations, such as:

• Racing thoughts
• Difficulty concentration
• Sweating
• Heart pounding
• Difficulty sleeping
• Muscle tension

These symptoms will be discussed with an experienced mental health professional when you begin online anxiety therapy. It is important to start therapy with a thorough assessment. Your therapist will collect essential information about your history, life stressors, mental health-related symptoms, and physical health in general. 

There are a lot of reasons why individuals experience increased anxiety.  You might have increased pressures from work or family life. Teens might be facing challenges at school in terms of academics and peer pressure. Couples experience increased conflict and disengagement, which can lead to more stress and anxiety. Some people might have experienced anxiety for a long time and notice it has been more difficult to manage recently. In all of these situations, it is important to feel supported in your experience of anxiety.

How Online Therapy Provides Excellent Support

You likely have heard a lot about online therapy and how it might be helpful. It is different from in-person therapy, but it affords many benefits. Anxiety therapy online provides the same space for you to feel connected with your therapist and learn important tools and strategies to make progress.

Anxiety therapy online can be conducted in different formats. However, it can often be most useful to attend via some type of secure video platform. For example, at Forward Thinking Psychological Services, we use a highly secure, fully encrypted platform called Owl Practice. This platform ensures that all data is secure and encrypted on a Canadian server. 

Let’s review how online anxiety therapy works and how you may benefit from it. When working with an online therapist for anxiety, you will be able to learn about your anxiety and skills for it in the same way as you would in-person. In fact, during online therapy for anxiety, you can engage in exposure therapy in sessions that can be highly beneficial. This is because you might have some triggers that exist in your home, and you can work on becoming comfortable with those during the session with your therapist, coaching you through that exposure. 

There are many other benefits that we are aware of during anxiety therapy online. These include:

• Flexibility in scheduling sessions to meet the demands of busy schedules
• Ease for youth to join sessions soon after school without relying on parents for drop off or pick up at a clinic far from school or home
• Ability for parents to join sessions with their loved ones; easy to participate from within the home or at work
• Expanded access to therapists within a geographical location; finding a therapist within a small radius is no longer necessary
• Shortened commute times as individuals can log in from their office locations or on a break during a work-from-home day
• Increased accessibility for individuals with difficulty transporting themselves to and from appointments independently

People sometimes wonder what it might be like to build a connection with someone online. This is an understandable concern. However, individuals typically do not find differences between anxiety therapy online and in-person support. This means they are able to do meaningful work during virtual therapy sessions.

That being said, when working with an online therapist for anxiety, it will be essential to feel well supported and understood. It is important to ask your therapist any questions about online therapy support. This may include: what platform is being used, how your data is being kept secure, and their experience delivering therapy through online services.  You want to work with someone who can help you to understand why you are experiencing anxiety and how you can develop balanced perspectives so that you can decrease any avoidant behaviours. From our experience at Forward Thinking Psychological Services, this can all be accomplished when you work with a therapist during anxiety therapy online.

What happens During Online Anxiety Therapy?

During virtual therapy for anxiety disorders, therapists will ensure that you feel safe and connected in each session. For example, psychologists and many other healthcare professionals will start sessions with a thorough assessment so they can understand your symptoms, your relationships, your background, and anything else important for you to share. This will ensure that your therapist understands your current issues and will be able to make a treatment plan that is tailored for you.

Following this, you will be able to speak to your therapist about what treatment will look like each session. Following this, you will be able to meet for sessions and collaboratively set agendas to ensure that you are speaking about issues and learning skills that are relevant for you. 

Materials can also be screen shared during anxiety therapy online, and this can help people to understand new skills and strategies. It also provides resources that can be shared after a session so that you can review all the information on your own and ask follow-up questions during a future session. Your therapist will also ensure that you are attending sessions in a confidential and comfortable space to ensure that you feel able to share information that is important to you. 

You might have times when you want family members to join online anxiety therapy. This is another important benefit of teletherapy sessions. The experience of anxiety is impactful for anyone. And it can be especially challenging for families to navigate. Having family members join sessions is extremely impactful.

Family members can learn helpful language to use when your anxiety shows up. They can also learn how to coach you during any exposure therapy work that you might do. And they can easily join a session from their home without needing to commute to a far-away location. Family members will often join sessions, with consent, for youth or for loved ones when they are adults. It can be very beneficial for the entire family system.

Our team at Forward Thinking Psychological Services ® has been working with individuals with a wide variety of anxiety disorders for several years through online platforms. When conducting anxiety therapy online we use evidence-based assessment and intervention approaches to ensure that individuals receive the best standard of care for their concerns. We have found that many individuals enjoy and benefit from our services delivered virtually. We also often use measures at the beginning of treatment and throughout online therapy to ensure that progress is occurring. If you want to learn more about our services and approaches, reach out to us!

Practical Steps to Start Therapy from the Comfort of Home

Step 1: Recognize when it is time to Seek Help

In this blog we discussed many symptoms that people experience when they are feeling anxious. It is normal to experience anxiety to some extent throughout our whole lives. However, it can become debilitating and start to interfere with your daily functioning. When that happens, it is time to find a professional who can work with you. 

Step 2: Research Your Options

Of course, you want to find a therapist who has the right training and experience with anxiety to be able to offer you evidence-based services. Our team has tremendous training and experience in providing online anxiety therapy. Our approaches include Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and many others. It is important to research your options and consider what you would like when starting to work with an online therapist for anxiety. 

Step 3: Prepare for Your First Session

Many clinics offer a free meet-and-greet session to allow you to ensure the best fit therapist for your needs. That is our approach at Forward Thinking; we want to make sure you work with someone with whom you feel a great connection.. It is important to ask about whether you can meet with different people to ensure you are comfortable. You might also want to bring questions with you and ensure that you are properly set up for a productive first session (i.e., having a quiet space, stable internet connection, etc.)

Step 4: Engage and Evaluate

Once you find the best fit therapist, you can then discuss setting up regular sessions and understanding what your treatment plan will look like. This should be a collaborative process with your therapist so that you play a role in determining what therapy will focus on. This will also allow you and your therapist to discuss how to determine progress through sessions. In these ways, you can feel confident that you have made the right choice for your journey through online anxiety therapy. 

If you find that you are experiencing problematic anxiety and want to learn more, then reach out to us at Forward Thinking Psychological Services®; our team offers anxiety therapy online as well as therapy for a variety of other services, including OCD and OCD related disorders (i.e., hair pulling and skin picking). We offer assessment and therapy services for teens, adults, and couples. We also offer services across Canada in Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and New Brunswick. Contact us to learn more!

References

Bie F, Yan X, Xing J, Wang L, Xu Y, Wang G, Wang Q, Guo J, Qiao J, Rao Z. Rising global burden of anxiety disorders among adolescents and young adults: trends, risk factors, and the impact of socioeconomic disparities and COVID-19 from 1990 to 2021. Front Psychiatry. 2024 Nov 26;15:1489427. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1489427. PMID: 39691785; PMCID: PMC11651023.

CBT Triangle. https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheet/cbt-triangle