Can Counseling Help With Anxiety Attacks?
6/15/26
Jared Torbet, M.Ed., LPC, Clinical Director & Owner
If you've ever experienced an anxiety attack, you know how overwhelming it can be. Your heart races, your thoughts spiral, your body feels like it's sounding an alarm, and it can seem as though you've lost control.
Many people come to counseling hoping to find a way to make anxiety disappear. While that's understandable, it often isn't the most effective path forward. In my experience, the people who make the most progress are not the ones who learn how to eliminate anxiety. They're the ones who learn how to respond to it differently.
The short answer is yes, counseling can help with anxiety attacks. But perhaps not in the way you might expect.
What Anxiety Attacks Often Get Wrongly Blamed On
One of the most common misconceptions I hear is that anxiety is something that should be controlled moment by moment.
There is some truth to this. There are strategies that can help when anxiety becomes overwhelming. Grounding exercises, focusing on your breathing, and redirecting your attention to the present moment can all be useful tools.
However, many people become trapped in a constant battle with their anxiety. They spend so much energy trying to stop anxious thoughts, suppress uncomfortable feelings, or prevent anxiety attacks from happening that anxiety becomes the center of their lives.
The reality is that anxiety is often fueled by fear, worry, dread, and endless "what if" scenarios. When your attention becomes consumed by those concerns, your body stays prepared for danger. Your nervous system remains activated, which creates even more anxiety.
Anxiety is your body's way of preparing for a threat. The problem is that many of the threats people worry about are not actually present. They are imagined possibilities, future uncertainties, or worst-case scenarios.
Counseling can help you recognize when you're responding to a real threat versus a perceived threat and learn healthier ways of responding.
Why Trying Harder Often Doesn't Work
Many people have already tried everything they can think of before they come to counseling.
They may have tried:
Avoiding situations that make them anxious
Distracting themselves constantly
Using alcohol or other substances to cope
Seeking reassurance repeatedly
Trying to think their way out of anxiety
Attempting to control every possible outcome
While these strategies can provide temporary relief, they often create additional stress and reinforce the idea that anxiety is dangerous and must be eliminated.
One of the lessons I frequently teach is that you often cannot think your way out of anxiety.
Although worrying happens in your mind, many of the solutions are behavioral. In other words, you often need to do your way out of anxiety rather than think your way out of it.
That might mean making changes in your daily life, facing fears you've been avoiding, practicing new coping skills, or learning how to remain present even when anxiety shows up.
How Counseling Helps
Counseling provides more than just a place to talk.
A good therapist can help you identify the people, situations, habits, and stressors that may be contributing to your anxiety. Together, you can examine what is working, what is not working, and what changes might improve your overall quality of life.
Sometimes the goal is learning practical skills.
Sometimes the goal is processing difficult experiences.
Sometimes the goal is helping you develop a healthier relationship with your thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations.
Often, it is some combination of all three.
The specific approach depends on the person sitting in front of me.
A Case Example: Learning to Relate to Anxiety Differently
One client, whom I'll call Camie, initially came to counseling presenting with symptoms that looked very much like depression. She described feeling unmotivated, indecisive, insecure, and stuck. She also had a habit of minimizing her feelings and using humor whenever conversations became emotionally uncomfortable.
As we worked together, it became clear that avoidance was playing a major role in her struggles.
I chose to use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which focuses on helping people develop a different relationship with their internal experiences rather than trying to eliminate them.
One of the first skills we practiced was helping her notice and name her thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations as they occurred in the present moment.
As her awareness increased, we discovered something important: she had become fused with her anxiety, fears, and insecurities. She wasn't simply experiencing those things. She believed they defined her.
During one exercise, I asked her to imagine her depression, fears, and insecurities as a physical object.
She described it as a large, heavy, lava-red sphere sitting on her chest.
We spent time interacting with this imagined object. At one point, I had her place it on a table across the room and step away from it.
I asked, "If this is sitting over there, and you're standing over here, what does that tell us?"
Without hesitation, she replied:
"I'm not that stuff."
That realization became a turning point.
As we continued our work, she began accepting that fear and anxiety could exist without dictating her choices. Instead of spending all of her energy trying to get rid of anxiety, she started focusing on the things that mattered most to her.
One of her long-standing dreams was teaching English overseas.
Previously, her anxiety convinced her she couldn't do it.
Eventually, she stopped waiting for fear to disappear and started moving toward her goals anyway.
She ultimately achieved that dream.
The anxiety didn't have to vanish first.
What Separates People Who Improve From Those Who Stay Stuck
Over the years, I've noticed a common pattern. People who remain stuck often continue trying to force anxiety to go away. They wait until they feel brave enough. They wait until they feel confident enough.They wait until they feel calm enough. Unfortunately, that day often never arrives.
The clients who make significant progress usually become willing to do something different. Instead of treating anxiety as an enemy that must be defeated, they learn to face it, explore it, and understand it. They become curious about it. They make room for it. They stop organizing their lives around avoiding it. That shift creates space for meaningful therapeutic work to happen.
What Counseling Can and Cannot Do
One of the most important things I wish more people understood is this:
A therapist cannot take your anxiety away.
There is no magic technique, secret insight, or perfect intervention that permanently eliminates anxiety from a person's life. Therapy is not a fix. It is a process.
Part of that process involves discovering what works for you as an individual. Some people benefit greatly from counseling alone. Others benefit from medication. Many people benefit from a combination of approaches.
The most important factor is often willingness. A person doesn't need to believe every technique will work. They don't need to feel excited about every exercise. But they do need to remain open to trying new things. Without willingness, progress becomes difficult. With willingness, significant change becomes possible.
So, Can Counseling Help With Anxiety Attacks?
Yes. I believe counseling can help if you're willing to try some things you may not have tried before and trust the therapeutic process.
That doesn't mean everything will feel comfortable. In fact, some of the most helpful exercises may involve intentionally visiting your anxiety instead of running from it. Together, you may learn to approach anxiety with curiosity rather than fear. You may learn how to communicate with the fearful parts of yourself, understand what they are trying to accomplish, and help them settle down.
If medication becomes part of the conversation, we can discuss that too. Whatever approach makes sense for your situation, that's the direction we'll explore.
Most importantly, you don't have to face anxiety alone.
I've seen many people move from feeling trapped by anxiety attacks to living fuller, more meaningful lives. Not because their anxiety magically disappeared, but because they learned how to stop letting anxiety make all of their decisions.
If you're struggling with anxiety attacks, counseling may not remove every anxious feeling you experience. What it can do is help you develop the skills, perspective, and confidence needed to move forward even when anxiety shows up.
And that can change everything.
If you’re ready to take the next step, explore our counseling services for anxiety to get personalized support from our team.