Therapy for Anxiety, Self-Doubt & Overthinking - Online & In Person in Sittingbourne, Kent
You're capable. You work hard. By most measures, you're doing well. And yet there's a persistent sense that something isn't quite right - a quiet voice that questions your decisions, second-guesses your judgement, and tells you that you're one mistake away from everything unravelling.
Maybe anxiety has become so familiar it feels like part of who you are. Maybe perfectionism is driving you to exhaustion. Maybe you're stuck in a cycle of overthinking that leaves you drained before the day has properly begun.
You've probably tried to manage it - pushing through, reasoning with yourself, working harder, staying busy. And for a while that works. But the doubt comes back. The pressure builds again. And somewhere underneath all of it is a quieter question: why does it still feel like this?
The answer usually isn't what people expect. And that's often where therapy begins.
RECOGNITION
You might recognise some of this
The people I work with don't always arrive with a clear label for what they're experiencing. They arrive with feelings — and a growing sense that those feelings are getting in the way of the life they want.
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Constantly second-guessing decisions - replaying conversations, reworking emails, questioning choices long after they've been made
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Holding yourself to standards that always feel just out of reach, no matter how much effort you put in
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Avoiding situations that might expose you to judgement or failure - playing it safe in ways that quietly cost you
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Seeking reassurance from others, but finding it never quite lands or lasts
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Overworking as a way of staying one step ahead of being found out
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Struggling to switch off - a mind that stays busy even when the rest of you is exhausted
These aren't character flaws. They're patterns - understandable responses to pressure, uncertainty, and the very human fear of not being enough. And they can change.
UNDERSTANDING THE PATTERNS
Why these patterns make sense - and why they keep going
Anxiety isn't a malfunction. It's the mind doing its job - scanning for threat, trying to keep you safe, preparing you to respond. The problem isn't the anxiety itself. It's that the mind can get stuck in a loop, treating uncertainty and self-doubt as dangers to be eliminated.
So you overthink, trying to reach certainty before you act. You over-prepare. You seek reassurance. You avoid.
Each of these strategies makes perfect sense in the moment. The difficulty is that they tend to keep the cycle going rather than breaking it.
Understanding this isn't just interesting - it tends to be the point where things begin to shift. When you can see the pattern clearly, you can start to respond to it differently.
THE APPROACH
How therapy helps
There's no single route through anxiety and self-doubt - and good therapy doesn't apply a rigid formula. I draw on several approaches that work particularly well together for this kind of work.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Identify the thinking patterns and behaviours maintaining the anxiety cycle - and develop more balanced, realistic ways of responding to the situations that trigger it.
Compassion Focused Therapy
Address the shame and self-criticism at the heart of these patterns - developing a warmer, more compassionate relationship with yourself that isn't contingent on getting everything right.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Develop a different relationship with difficult thoughts and feelings - so they have less power over what you do. Move towards what matters, even when anxiety is present.
EMDR
Where anxiety and self-doubt are rooted in earlier experiences, EMDR helps process those so they lose their emotional charge and their hold on the present.
Where anxiety and self-doubt are rooted in earlier experiences, EMDR helps process those so they lose their emotional charge and their hold on the present.
IMPOSTER SYNDROME
A note on imposter syndrome
WHAT TO EXPECT
What working together looks like
The first session
We'll explore what's brought you to therapy, what you're experiencing day to day, and what you'd like to be different. No pressure to have everything figured out - many people arrive with a sense that something needs to change, without being entirely sure what. That's a completely reasonable place to start.
The early sessions
We build a clear picture of what's happening — the patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaviour keeping you stuck — and begin to make sense of why. This understanding tends to be both relieving and useful. When the problem makes sense, the path forward becomes clearer.
As therapy progresses
We move from understanding into change - developing new ways of responding to the thoughts, feelings, and situations driving the cycle. The work is practical, not just exploratory. The goal is that what you learn in sessions starts to show up in your life outside them.
FURTHER READING
Find out more about the process
What to expect in your first therapy session
Find out about the general aims of the first session and what is normally covered.
What to Expect in the Early Sessions
The initial sessions focus on developing a better understanding of your problems and how they are being maintained.
My Approach to Imposter Syndrome Therapy
Here are some of the steps often involved in learning how to overcome Imposter Syndrome.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Common Questions about therapy
Ready to talk?
If you've been thinking about starting therapy - for imposter syndrome, anxiety, trauma, or something else entirely - the first session is simply a conversation. There's no obligation to continue, and no pressure to have it all figured out before you arrive.
I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation - no obligation, just a conversation