If you've tried all the coping strategies, deep breathing, grounding exercises, meditation apps, and your anxiety keeps coming back, it's not because you're doing it wrong. It's because your anxiety likely has roots that go deeper than surface-level stress. Anxiety therapy at Patterson Counselling Services addresses why your nervous system is stuck in overdrive, not just how to manage the symptoms.
When You Need Anxiety Therapy
Anxiety therapy is the right choice when standard counselling or self-help approaches haven't resolved your anxiety. You may have learned useful coping skills but still feel controlled by worry, tension, and fear.
Signs that deeper work is needed include anxiety that has been present for years, anxiety connected to specific past experiences, and anxiety that affects multiple areas of your life despite your best efforts to manage it.
Many people discover that their anxiety is connected to earlier experiences — sometimes going back to childhood. When anxiety has trauma roots, psychotherapy offers the depth of work needed for lasting relief.
The National Institute of Mental Health explains that anxiety disorders go beyond occasional worry and can get worse over time without treatment.
Our Anxiety Therapy Process
We start with a thorough assessment to understand not just your current anxiety symptoms, but where they may have originated. This deeper understanding shapes a more effective treatment plan.
Treatment may include Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) if past experiences are fuelling the anxiety, along with other evidence-based modalities tailored to your needs.
Sessions are 50 minutes, typically weekly. Available in-person in Red Deer and online across Alberta.
Psychiatric Times reports that ART for anxiety and trauma demonstrated a 61% response rate and a 94% completion rate in clinical trials, with most clients needing fewer than four sessions.
Anxiety Therapy Cost in Red Deer
Costs depend on session frequency and treatment duration. We discuss fees upfront so there are no surprises.
Sessions with a Registered Psychologist are covered by most employer benefits plans. We accept Alberta Blue Cross, Manulife, Sun Life, and other major providers.
Why Choose Patterson Counselling Services
We don't just manage anxiety, we investigate what's driving it. Our Registered Psychologist specializes in the connection between trauma and anxiety, providing a level of depth that generic anxiety treatment often misses.
Our practice is women-owned, wheelchair accessible, and offers online sessions across Alberta.
Frequently Asked Questions About Anxiety Therapy
What's the difference between anxiety therapy and anxiety counselling?
Anxiety counselling focuses on understanding your anxiety and building coping strategies. Anxiety therapy goes deeper, exploring the root causes of the anxiety, which often trace back to unresolved experiences or trauma. Therapy aims to change the underlying patterns, not just manage the surface symptoms.
My doctor says my anxiety is just stress. Could it be more than that?
It could be. Anxiety and stress share symptoms, but chronic anxiety that doesn't respond to stress reduction may have deeper roots, including unresolved trauma. A thorough assessment in therapy can help clarify what's actually going on.
Can anxiety therapy help with physical symptoms like chest tightness and stomach problems?
Yes. Many physical anxiety symptoms are driven by a nervous system stuck in alarm mode. When therapy addresses why the nervous system is activated, the physical symptoms often improve too. Many clients report relief from headaches, digestive issues, and muscle tension as their anxiety decreases.
I've been anxious my whole life. Can therapy really change something that's been there so long?
Yes. Lifelong anxiety often points to roots in early life experiences. The fact that it's been there so long doesn't mean it's permanent. It means it was never addressed at the right level. Trauma-informed anxiety therapy works with those deeper patterns and can produce real, lasting change.
How is ART used for anxiety?
If your anxiety is connected to unprocessed traumatic memories or experiences, ART helps your brain release the emotional charge those memories carry. Once the underlying experiences are processed, the anxiety that was being fuelled by them often decreases significantly.