Anxiety counselling, from the body up
For racing thoughts, a chest that will not loosen and the feeling of being permanently ready for something to go wrong. We work with the physiology underneath the worry, not only its content, online, or in person in Stockholm.
When anxiety lives in the body
Anxiety is often described as a thinking problem, too many thoughts, the wrong thoughts, thoughts that will not stop. But by the time you notice the thoughts, your body has usually already decided that something is wrong.
A nervous system braced for danger will keep generating reasons to be braced. That is not irrationality; it is your physiology doing its job with outdated information. So we work at that level: what your body expects, how it prepares and what it needs in order to believe the danger has passed.
How it can show up
- Thoughts that speed up and loop, especially at night
- A chest or stomach that stays tight even on a calm day
- Difficulty sitting still, or restlessness disguised as productivity
- Anticipating the worst and rehearsing it in advance
- Avoiding situations, then feeling smaller for having avoided them
- Sudden waves of panic with no obvious trigger
How we work with anxiety together
We start with capacity, not exposure. Before anything else, we look for what already helps your system settle, even slightly, a place in the body that feels neutral, a movement, an image, a memory. This becomes the ground you return to.
We slow the activation down. Anxiety tends to move faster than awareness. Working in small increments, we learn to notice the build-up earlier, when it is still possible to influence and to let the charge complete instead of getting stuck mid-cycle.
We give the protective part of you some credit. The vigilance developed for a reason. Rather than fighting it, we get curious about what it is guarding, which is usually where the real work is.
We work at a pace you set. Nothing here requires you to push through. Feeling more resourced after a session matters more than covering ground.
Practical details
Format
60-minute individual sessions, online or in person in Stockholm. Most people begin weekly or fortnightly.
First step
A free 15-minute introductory call. Length, fee and cancellation are set out on the Inside a session page.
Languages
English and Serbian. Working in your mother tongue often reaches more than words.
Questions people ask me
Will I have to talk about everything that makes me anxious?
No. Anxiety is often maintained by physiology rather than content and going through every worry can wind the system up further. We work with what your body is doing in the present moment and you choose how much of the story you bring.
Can somatic work help if I have panic attacks?
Yes. Panic is a very fast survival response and much of the work is learning to recognise its early build-up and to help your system discharge activation rather than escalate it. Many people find the frequency and intensity drop as their tolerance grows.
I already understand why I am anxious. Why hasn't that helped?
Insight lives in one part of the system; the alarm lives in another. Understanding rarely reaches the part of you that scans for danger. Somatic work speaks to that layer directly, which is why it can shift things insight alone did not.
Do you work alongside medication?
Yes. Whether or not you take medication is a decision between you and your doctor. Counselling works well alongside it and I do not prescribe or advise on medication.