Anxiety Counselling
When worry occupies much of your attention, everyday decisions and activities can begin to feel difficult. You may spend time anticipating what could go wrong, replaying conversations or seeking reassurance that only helps briefly. Anxiety can also involve physical tension, restlessness and difficulty settling your thoughts.
At Maria Schmid & Partners, we offer anxiety counselling to help you understand these experiences and consider ways to respond. The work begins with how anxiety affects your life, including the situations you find difficult and the things it may be keeping you from doing.
You may have a specific concern or a more persistent sense of unease. Your counsellor can help you explore the pattern, clarify your needs and develop goals that reflect what you want to be able to do more comfortably.
If worry makes it hard to make a phone call or go somewhere unfamiliar, you can talk through what happens before you decide to put it off. Together you and your counsellor can choose a manageable step to try. If the pressure is coming from several parts of life at once, you can also explore stress counselling.
Book an appointment or call 403-801-4839 for help choosing a counsellor.
When anxiety counselling may help
It may be useful to seek support when worry is difficult to set aside, when fear leads you to avoid situations or when anxiety is affecting sleep, relationships or concentration. You might feel particularly anxious about social interactions, performance, health, uncertainty or a change in your circumstances.
Some people notice anxiety becoming more intrusive during stressful periods; others recognise a longstanding pattern. Counselling provides an opportunity to understand the concern without having to arrive with a diagnosis. Your counsellor can also consider whether further assessment or support from another health professional would be appropriate.
How we work with anxiety
Your counsellor will explore the situations, thoughts and responses associated with your anxiety. Together, you can consider what brings short-term relief, what leaves the concern unresolved and which responses you would like to change. Understanding this pattern can help establish a practical starting point.
Depending on your needs and your counsellor's approach, the work may include examining interpretations of difficult situations, responding to physical tension and developing more flexible ways of managing uncertainty. You may also work towards activities you have been avoiding, with steps agreed at a manageable pace.
Your goals guide the work. These might involve participating more fully in relationships, making decisions with less repeated checking or returning attention to activities that matter to you. You and your counsellor can review what is changing and adjust the approach when needed.
What to expect at your first appointment
The first appointment focuses on what anxiety feels like for you and how it affects your day. Your counsellor may ask when it tends to arise, how you respond, what you have already tried and whether there have been recent changes in your health or circumstances.
You can identify a particular situation you want help with or explain the broader effect anxiety is having on your life. Together, you can discuss an initial plan, the methods your counsellor proposes and how progress might be reviewed. There is also time to ask about confidentiality and the practical arrangements for sessions.
Meet the counsellors who offer Anxiety Counselling
Maria Schmid
Registered Psychologist
Maria is a registered psychologist who works with clients experiencing anxiety, including during periods of significant change. She helps clients explore how worry affects their choices and relationships and consider responses that fit the situations they face.
Danielle Smith
Registered Psychologist
Dr. Smith is a registered psychologist with experience working with anxiety and training in cognitive behavioural therapy. Her approach considers how worry affects everyday activities and how relationships or family routines may shape the support a client needs.
Tricia Thomas
Registered Psychologist
Tricia is a registered psychologist with experience counselling people with anxiety, including children and adolescents. She works collaboratively to understand which situations are difficult and chooses methods that fit the client’s stage of development and goals.
Nicole Berggren
Registered Psychologist
Nicole is a registered psychologist whose practice interests include anxiety and caregiver mental health. Her developmental perspective can help parents explore how worry interacts with the uncertainty, responsibilities and relationship changes of early parenthood.
Renata Logan
Registered Psychologist
Renata is a registered psychologist who works with adults experiencing stress and uses approaches that attend to both thoughts and physical experience. Her training in mindfulness-based and cognitive behavioural approaches informs how she explores patterns of tension and the situations that bring them up.
Jason Stein
Registered Social Worker
Jason is a registered social worker with experience counselling people with anxiety. He draws on cognitive and behavioural approaches to help clients understand how they respond when worry builds and identify changes they can put into practice.
Sheri Sadowick
Counseling Therapist (AB), Registered Therapeutic Counsellor (BC)
Sheri is a counselling therapist whose work includes anxiety, overwhelm and relationship pressures. Her approach gives clients space to notice what makes them feel on edge and consider responses that fit their circumstances.