Anxiety
Online Anxiety Therapy
Psychotherapy for chronic worry, overthinking, avoidance and panic symptoms, held online in English or Arabic.
Psy. Moustafa Kamel, Psychotherapist. Online sessions of 50 minutes in English and Arabic.
What anxiety looks like from the inside
Anxiety is rarely dramatic. More often it is a background process that never quite switches off: rehearsing conversations before they happen, rereading a message for tone, checking that something is locked, planning for outcomes that have not arrived. It is tiring in a way that is hard to justify to anyone who has not experienced it.
The body keeps its own record. Shallow breathing, a tight chest, jaw and shoulders that will not release, a stomach that reacts before you consciously register the threat, sleep that arrives late and breaks early. People often see a doctor about the physical symptoms long before they consider that the problem might be anxiety.
How it maintains itself
Avoidance is the engine. Every time you sidestep something that frightens you, the relief is immediate and the fear grows slightly larger. Reassurance works the same way: it settles the moment and shortens the interval before the next question. This is why anxiety can intensify even when nothing in your life has got worse.
Understanding the mechanism is not a cure, but it changes the target. We are not trying to argue you out of a feeling. We are working on what keeps the feeling in circulation.
Difficulties people bring
- Persistent worry that moves from one subject to the next
- Overthinking and difficulty making ordinary decisions
- Panic symptoms: racing heart, breathlessness, a sense of losing control
- Social anxiety and fear of being judged or exposed
- Health anxiety and repeated checking of the body
- Performance and work-related anxiety, and the perfectionism underneath it
- Insomnia and a mind that becomes loud at night
- Avoidance that has quietly narrowed daily life
What therapy can help with
We begin with a careful assessment: when the anxiety began, what sustains it, what you already do to manage it, and how it interacts with your work, your relationships and your sleep. From there I propose an individualised plan rather than a standard protocol.
The work usually combines structured, evidence-based techniques for the immediate symptoms with a slower examination of the patterns underneath: standards you hold yourself to, early experiences that made vigilance sensible, the cost of never being able to stop scanning. Symptom relief that is not accompanied by understanding tends not to last.
I do not promise that anxiety will disappear. A realistic aim is that it becomes proportionate, recognisable early, and no longer the thing organising your decisions.
What to expect from sessions
Anxiety and depression frequently travel together, and if low mood is also part of the picture we address both rather than treating one and hoping the other follows. Where anxiety takes the specific shape of intrusive thoughts and compulsions, a different approach applies.
- A first session focused on listening and building a clear picture
- A shared formulation explaining why the anxiety persists
- Practical work between sessions, sized so that it is actually done
- Regular review of what is helping and what is not
- 50-minute sessions by secure video, usually weekly at the start
Language, location and getting started
Sessions are held in English or Arabic. Sessions are held online. Whether I can work with you depends on where you are living at the time of the sessions and on the professional and legal requirements that apply there, so it is worth telling me your location when you first write.
You can write with a short description of what is happening, or book a first session directly. Therapy is planned work, not emergency care. If you are in immediate danger, or you are thinking about ending your life and feel unable to keep yourself safe, contact your local emergency number or your nearest emergency department. Ongoing therapy can begin once you are safe.
Start with one conversation
A first session is enough to understand what is happening and what would actually help.