Anxiety therapy
Anxiety appears as worry, tension, avoidance. What lies beneath it is usually something more specific, and more workable, than anxiety itself.
Schedule a free consultation →Anxiety is one of the most common reasons people come to therapy, and one of the most misunderstood. On the surface it appears as excessive worry, physical tension, avoidance, catastrophizing, or a sense of impending threat that does not match the actual situation. Underneath, it is almost always a communication: about something that feels threatening, about relational dynamics that feel unsafe, about parts of the self that need protection or containment. Psychodynamic therapy is interested in that communication.
Rather than working with anxiety primarily through techniques, breathing exercises, cognitive restructuring, exposure hierarchies, the approach here involves curiosity about its meaning. What is this anxiety protecting? What would happen if it weren’t present? What relational scenario is it anticipating? What old experience does the current trigger resemble? This is not to say that skills are useless, they are not, but they tend to produce more durable relief when they are paired with genuine understanding of the anxiety’s function.
This practice works with generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, health anxiety, performance anxiety, and the diffuse anxiety that does not fit neatly into categories: the kind that simply colors everything, that makes it hard to be present, that keeps the nervous system in low-grade activation most of the time. The intersection of anxiety with ADHD, autism, and other neurodivergent presentations is a particular area of clinical interest, since anxiety in neurodivergent individuals is often rooted in the chronic stress of operating in environments not designed for them.
Explore individual therapy →What people ask about this work
How does psychodynamic therapy treat anxiety differently from CBT?
CBT targets anxious thoughts and behaviors directly: identifying cognitive distortions, building skills for tolerating distress, and using exposure to reduce avoidance. Psychodynamic therapy is more interested in the meaning of the anxiety, what it is communicating about your inner life and relational world. Both can be effective. Psychodynamic work tends to produce broader, more generalized change over time, including change in patterns beyond the anxiety itself.
Can therapy actually help with social anxiety?
Yes, and often significantly. Social anxiety, the fear of negative evaluation, scrutiny, or humiliation in social situations, typically has roots in early relational experiences and internalized beliefs about one’s acceptability to others. Psychodynamic therapy addresses those roots. The therapeutic relationship itself becomes a model of a relationship in which you are not judged, which can begin to loosen the grip of the core fear.
I've had anxiety my whole life. Is genuine change actually possible?
Yes. Long-standing anxiety is often the result of deeply rooted relational and developmental patterns, which means it will not change overnight, but it does change with sustained, skilled therapeutic work. Many people who came to therapy resigned to managing their anxiety as a permanent feature of their life have found that it genuinely diminished when its underlying causes were addressed.
Do you use breathing techniques or exposure therapy?
Not as a primary modality, though Dr. Claney will discuss grounding and regulation strategies if they seem relevant and useful. The primary work is exploratory and relational. If you are specifically looking for a structured CBT or exposure-based treatment protocol, she is happy to discuss whether her approach is the right fit or help you find a colleague whose approach is a better match.
If this resonated, let’s talk.
A free 15-minute consultation is the first step. It’s a chance to ask questions, share what you’re carrying, and see whether this practice feels like the right fit.
Schedule a free consultation →