Anxiety can feel like an invisible weight pressing on your chest — relentless, exhausting, and often misunderstood. Whether it’s a racing heart during work presentations, a constant sense of dread before social events, or a general unease that lingers all day, anxiety can seriously impact your quality of life. Fortunately, effective anxiety treatment is available, and many proven strategies can help you regain control.
If you live in Northcote or nearby – Brunswick, North Fitzroy, Thornbury, Preston, Clifton Hill, Fairfield, you have access to professional support through Melbourne’s first Acceptance and Commitment Therapy clinic, ACT of Living. At ACT of Living we offer evidence-based therapies for a range of concerns, including social anxiety, panic, grief, low self-esteem, and other mental health conditions.
This guide will walk you through how to identify the right approach for your needs, what treatment options look like, and how to take actionable steps toward recovery.
What Is Social Anxiety—and Why Address It?
Social anxiety is more than shyness. It’s a persistent fear of being judged, embarrassed, or rejected in social or performance situations. For some, it’s a fear of speaking in meetings; for others, it’s avoidance of social gatherings, even with friends. Left untreated, social anxiety can limit career growth, reduce social connections, and lower overall wellbeing.
The good news is that anxiety treatment is highly effective when tailored to individual needs. Research consistently shows that CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), exposure therapy, and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) are among the best-supported approaches.
First-Line Approaches: CBT and Exposure-Based Techniques
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is considered the gold standard for anxiety disorders, including social anxiety. It works by helping you identify unhelpful thought patterns and replace them with more balanced thinking.
Exposure therapy, often integrated into CBT, involves gradually facing the feared situations in a controlled way. This reduces avoidance behaviors and helps retrain the brain’s threat response.
For example:
- A therapist may help you create an exposure hierarchy, starting with mild situations (e.g., asking a shop assistant for help) and building up to more challenging ones (e.g., giving a short speech).
- Each step allows you to practice new coping skills until the anxiety no longer stops you doing what you need to do.
This structured, evidence-based approach will significantly improve most people’s confidence within weeks to months.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT): Living with Anxiety, Not Just Avoiding It
At ACT of Living, therapists primarily use ACT to help clients make space for uncomfortable feelings rather than trying to eliminate them completely.
Key principles include:
- Acceptance: Allowing anxious thoughts and feelings to come and go without getting entangled.
- Defusion: Learning to see thoughts as mental events, not absolute truths.
- Values-driven action: Choosing behaviors aligned with what matters to you, even in the presence of anxiety.
- Present Moment Awareness: Staying present without judgment.
This approach is especially helpful for chronic anxiety, or when previous treatments haven’t fully worked. It leads to living a full life with anxiety, rather than waiting for anxiety to disappear before you start living.
Practical Steps: What You Can Do Now
Even before starting formal therapy, there are steps you can take to reduce anxiety symptoms:
- Track Your Anxiety Patterns
Keep a brief journal of situations that trigger your anxiety, your thoughts, and your physical reactions. This awareness is the first step in making changes and often increases a sense of gaining control even before you start therapy. - Practice Relaxation Techniques
- Diaphragmatic breathing: Slow, deep breaths can calm the nervous system. This effect is magnified if you exhale more slowly than you inhale e.g. count to 4 breathing in, to 6 breathing out.
- Progressive muscle relaxation: Systematically tensing and relaxing muscle groups to release tension.
- Guided imagery: Visualizing calming scenes or safe places.
- Challenge Avoidance
Gently push yourself toward situations you typically avoid, starting with the least intimidating. Pair these experiences with supportive self-talk. This is not an exercise in ‘white knuckling’ or ‘grinning and bearing it’. - Reduce Caffeine and Alcohol
Both can worsen anxiety symptoms by affecting brain chemistry and sleep quality. - Seek Support
Share your experiences with trusted friends, join local support groups, or book an appointment with a psychologist.
Working with Therapists at ACT of Living
ACT of Living is a psychology practice in Northcote offering:
- Anxiety & Panic Counselling
- Grief Counselling
- Self-Esteem Building
- Professional Supervision for psychologists, interns, and registrars
Sessions are tailored to each client’s needs, often combining CBT, ACT, mindfulness, and other evidence-based therapies. The practice’s clinicians, Julian McNally and Byron McCaughey, are experienced in helping individuals navigate anxiety with compassion and skill.
Self-Help Tools & When to Seek Professional Care
While self-help strategies can make a difference, professional intervention is often the key to lasting change—especially if:
- Your anxiety is interfering with work, study, or relationships.
- You’ve been struggling for months or years without improvement.
- You’ve tried self-help strategies but still feel stuck.
Online tools, mental health apps, and guided self-help books can complement therapy but shouldn’t replace it when symptoms are severe.
Ongoing Care: Building Resilience and Maintaining Gains
Recovery from anxiety isn’t about eliminating all fear—it’s about building the skills and confidence to manage it effectively.
Long-term success often involves:
- Regular practice of relaxation and mindfulness.
- Continued exposure to challenging situations.
- Values-based living, where decisions align with personal priorities, not fear.
- Periodic check-ins with your therapist for tune-ups.
Helpful Resources
- Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPi) — aapi.org.au
- Beyond Blue — beyondblue.org.au
- Mindfulness Apps like Smiling Mind or Insight Timer
Take the First Step Today
If anxiety is keeping you from living the life you want, there’s no better time to start than now. Whether your struggle is with social anxiety, panic attacks, or a constant background worry, the right anxiety treatment can make a profound difference.
Call us on 0493753641, email us or complete the form below.