When anxiety appears, our natural reaction is to make it stop.

We try to control our thoughts, calm our body, avoid situations that make us uncomfortable, or find reassurance that everything will be okay.

It makes sense. Nobody enjoys feeling anxious.

But one of the most important things I have learned from working with anxiety disorders is that trying too hard to eliminate anxiety can sometimes keep the anxiety going.

This is especially important when treating panic attacks, OCD, phobias, and generalized anxiety.

The More You Fight Anxiety, the More Important It Becomes

Imagine that you’re having an intrusive thought.

You immediately think:

“I need to get this thought out of my head.”

You try to suppress it, analyze why you had it, reassure yourself that it doesn’t mean anything, or replace it with a different thought.

For a short time, you may feel better.

But your brain has also learned something:

“This thought is important. I need to pay attention to it.”

The same principle can apply to physical sensations during panic attacks.

You notice your heart beating faster and immediately think:

“I need to calm down before this gets worse.”

You monitor your heart, control your breathing, and look for signs that the panic is going away.

Unfortunately, this increased attention can make the sensations feel even stronger.

The attempt to control anxiety can become part of the anxiety cycle.

Avoidance Creates Temporary Relief—but Long-Term Problems

Avoidance is another common way people try to control anxiety.

Someone afraid of flying may avoid airplanes.

Someone with social anxiety may avoid speaking in meetings.

Someone with a phobia may organize their life around avoiding the feared object or situation.

Someone with OCD may repeatedly check, clean, or seek reassurance.

Avoidance usually works immediately.

You feel less anxious because you removed the trigger.

But your brain may learn:

“I was only safe because I avoided it.”

The next time you encounter the situation, the fear can become even stronger.

This creates a cycle:

Fear → avoidance → temporary relief → stronger fear → more avoidance

Breaking this cycle is an important part of effective anxiety treatment.

What CBT Does Differently

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) doesn’t simply teach you how to make anxiety disappear.

Instead, it helps you understand the thoughts, behaviours, and patterns that maintain anxiety—and then change those patterns.

For many anxiety disorders, this means learning to respond differently when anxiety appears.

Rather than asking:

“How can I make this feeling stop?”

we may begin asking:

“Can I allow this feeling to be here without changing what I’m doing?”

That is a very different approach.

Exposure: Learning That You Can Handle Anxiety

Exposure therapy is one of the most powerful tools we use for anxiety.

The goal isn’t to overwhelm you or force you into your worst fear.

Instead, we develop carefully planned exercises that allow you to gradually approach situations, sensations, or thoughts that you have been avoiding.

For someone with panic attacks, this might involve learning to tolerate physical sensations without interpreting them as dangerous.

For OCD, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) may involve experiencing uncertainty or intrusive thoughts without performing the usual compulsion.

For a phobia, exposure may involve gradually approaching the feared situation.

For social anxiety, it may involve participating in situations that previously triggered fear of judgment.

The important learning is not simply:

“I didn’t feel anxious.”

It is:

“I felt anxious, and I was able to handle it.”

That is where genuine confidence begins.

Where Hypnotherapy Can Complement CBT

Hypnotherapy can also be useful for some clients as part of a broader treatment plan.

Clinical hypnosis can help clients develop greater relaxation, focused attention, and awareness of their internal experiences. It may also help reinforce therapeutic suggestions and new patterns of responding to anxiety.

However, I don’t view hypnotherapy as a magic solution or a replacement for evidence-based treatment.

For anxiety disorders, I believe it is most useful when it complements approaches such as CBT and exposure therapy.

The goal is not simply to feel relaxed during therapy.

The goal is to help you function differently outside the therapy room.

You Don’t Need to Eliminate Anxiety to Live Your Life

One of the most important shifts in anxiety treatment is realizing that success doesn’t necessarily mean never feeling anxious again.

Anxiety is a normal human emotion.

The goal is to prevent anxiety from controlling your choices.

You can learn to experience uncomfortable thoughts without engaging with them.

You can experience physical sensations without assuming something is wrong.

You can face situations you’ve been avoiding.

And you can learn that discomfort does not have to determine what you do next.

At IH Psychotherapy, we specialize in helping adults struggling with anxiety, OCD, panic attacks, social anxiety, and phobias using CBT, exposure therapy, and ERP. When appropriate, clinical hypnotherapy can also be incorporated into treatment.

If anxiety has been controlling your life, we offer a free 15-minute consultation to discuss what you’re experiencing and determine whether our approach may be a good fit for you.