Online Anxiety Counselling Across Ontario
Anxiety Therapy in Ontario
From the outside you look like you have it together. Inside, your mind won’t stop running, your shoulders never quite come down and you can’t remember the last time you properly relaxed. Work with a therapist matched to you, online and with no waitlist.
- No waitlist
- Secure video sessions, or phone by request
- Reduced-fee sessions available
- Receipts for extended health benefits
Anxiety Doesn’t Always Show on the Outside
Most people who come to us for anxiety aren’t falling apart. They’re getting things done, showing up for everyone and doing well by most measures, while on the inside they can’t switch off.
From the outside it looks like being capable, organized and on top of things. Inside, it feels like constant tension: overthinking every conversation, running through tomorrow’s list at 2am and never quite landing in the moment you’re in. The people around you may have no idea how anxious you actually feel.
Anxiety lives in the body as much as the mind. A tight chest. Shoulders that creep up towards your ears. A jaw you only notice once it aches. Feeling physically “on” all day, and not knowing how to settle even when nothing urgent is happening.
You may have already tried all the things: yoga, breathing exercises, journaling, the apps and the podcasts. They help for a moment, then the hum comes back. That isn’t a sign you’re doing it wrong. Usually it means the pattern underneath hasn’t been worked with yet.
Therapy is not about becoming someone who never feels nervous. It is about understanding what keeps your system on alert, learning how to actually let it come down, and getting back the ease that anxiety has slowly taken.
What Anxiety Therapy Helps With
Anxiety takes a different shape in every person, so therapy starts with the version you are living with. These are the most common reasons people book a consultation.
High functioning
High Functioning Anxiety
For people who hold everything together on the outside while running on worry, perfectionism and a body that never fully relaxes.
Work
Career Stress and Anxiety
Pressure to perform, overthinking every email, the Sunday-evening dread and a workload that follows you home.
Relationships
Relationship Anxiety
Reading into every text, worrying about where you stand and needing reassurance that never quite settles you.
Neurodivergence
Anxiety & ADHD
When overwhelm and masking keep your system on alert. About ADHD therapy
Social
Social Anxiety
Dreading calls, meetings and plans, then replaying every word afterwards. About social anxiety therapy
Low mood
Anxiety With Depression
Anxiety and low mood often travel together. About depression therapy
Thoughts
Intrusive Thoughts & Rumination
Change your relationship with unwanted thoughts and the loops that replay one worry for hours.
Health
Health Anxiety
Step out of the cycle of symptom checking, searching and reassurance that never quite settles the fear.
Panic and fears
Panic Attacks & Specific Fears
When anxiety builds into sudden surges of fear, or centres on one thing like flying, driving or needles.
Anxiety Coping Strategies, and When to Get More Support
Coping strategies won’t delete anxiety, and that isn’t the goal. What they do is give your body a chance to come down far enough that you can think clearly again. Because anxiety lives in the body, the most useful ones between sessions are often physical and practical rather than more thinking.
- Breathe out for longer than you breathe in, a few times in a row, to tell your nervous system it can settle
- Check in with your body during the day: drop your shoulders, unclench your jaw and soften your hands
- Move every day, especially in ways that use up stress energy, like a brisk walk, a run or a workout
- Eat regularly, and notice how caffeine and alcohol affect you, since both can mimic or amplify anxiety
- Give your screens limits: no scrolling first thing in the morning or in bed, and fewer notifications through the day
- Protect a wind-down routine and steady sleep, because anxiety gets louder when you are tired
- Get outside, and give your eyes something far away to rest on
- Catch a spiral early: name it (“I’m overthinking”) and settle your body before you try to solve the worry
- Keep doing the small avoided things so your world stays wide
If you have tried most of that and anxiety is still deciding your week, that is usually the point to reach out. It is worth talking to someone when overthinking is affecting your sleep, your work or your relationships, when your body never seems to fully relax, or when you are avoiding more than you used to. You don’t need to be at your worst to deserve support.
How Anxiety Therapy Works
Getting started is simple, and everything happens online.
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Pick a Time
Choose a free 15 to 20 minute consultation slot and tell us a little about what’s going on.
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We Match You
Behind the scenes, we pair you with a therapist based on what you’re working through, how you like to work and your background, then confirm your appointment by email or text.
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Free Meet & Greet With Your Therapist
Ask your questions and assess fit. Start sessions within days and schedule with them directly.
What Therapy for Anxiety Actually Involves
People often picture being told to think positively. In practice it is more practical than that. Your therapist helps you map your own pattern, what sets the alarm off, what you do next and how that response keeps the cycle going, then you work on changing both sides of it, the thinking and the body.
- Understanding what your anxiety is trying to protect you from
- Learning skills for the moments it spikes, and practising them between sessions
- Loosening the grip of worry thoughts instead of arguing with them
- Approaching avoided situations gradually, at a pace you agree on
- Somatic, body-based work to notice tension early and help your nervous system settle
Sessions are one to one over secure video, with phone sessions available by request, and your consultation is free.
How to Support Someone With Anxiety
Watching a partner, parent or friend struggle is hard, especially when reassurance stops working. What helps is often quieter than what we instinctively reach for.
- Ask what actually helps instead of guessing, then remember the answer
- Listen first, and resist the urge to fix the feeling straight away
- Try not to take over what they are avoiding, because that can make avoidance stronger
- Offer something specific, like sitting with them while they make the call
- Stay steady when anxiety comes out as irritability
- Recognize your own limits and keep your own life going
- Mention that our consultation is free, then leave the choice with them
It also helps to know what tends to backfire. Endless reassurance, arguing with the worry or pushing someone into a situation before they are ready usually raises the alarm rather than lowering it. Steady company and small, agreed steps do more than either rescuing or pressure.
Supporting someone anxious can wear you down too. Plenty of people start their own therapy for that reason, often alongside work on boundaries or people pleasing.
Approaches Our Anxiety Therapists Draw On
Every therapist has their own style. Your sessions may draw on one or more of these approaches, adapted to you and grounded in a trauma-informed way of working.
Trauma-informed and goal-oriented. If your family history or past experiences are relevant, your therapist can explore them with you, while keeping sessions focused on the goals you came in with. The work is paced with you, so you are never pushed into feelings that are too overwhelming, or left on your own to figure out how to manage them.
Solution-Focused Therapy
Starts from the times anxiety has less hold on you, and builds the small changes that get you there more often.
Narrative Therapy
Separates you from the anxiety, so it becomes something you are dealing with rather than who you are.
Somatic and Nervous System Work
Works with the body’s side of anxiety, like a tight chest or shoulders that never drop, so you notice the early signals and can settle a system that is stuck on alert.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Gets to know the anxious, protective parts of you with curiosity instead of fighting them, so they can ease off rather than run the show.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Examines the thoughts and habits that keep worry running, and builds responses you can practise in real situations.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Strengthens your ability to let anxious thoughts and sensations be there without obeying them, so you can act on what matters instead.
Emotion-Focused Therapy
Goes underneath the worry to the feelings and needs driving it, which is often where anxiety loses some of its urgency.
No idea what you need? That’s a normal starting point, and you don’t have to work it out before you get help. Book a free consultation and we’ll talk it through — working out what would suit you is part of what the call is for.
Know what you’re looking for? Tell us when you book and we’ll match you with a therapist who works that way.
Therapists Who Work With Anxiety
These therapists work with anxiety as a core part of their practice. During your free consultation, we’ll help you find the right fit.
Our team includes Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Psychotherapists (Qualifying). Want to see everyone? Meet the full team.
What Anxiety Therapy Costs
We offer different price points depending on your needs and your therapist’s qualifications. Every session comes with a receipt for your extended health benefits.
Affordable Care$90Sessions completed with a Masters Level Resident Intern working under supervision. Ideal for clients experiencing hardship.
Sliding Scale$100–$160Sessions completed with a Masters Level Resident Intern or Advanced Therapists offering sliding scale. Ideal for clients with limited health insurance.
Standard & Specialty$170+Sessions completed with therapists with higher levels of experience or with specialized care with different issues. Ideal for clients with health insurance coverage.
Your 15 to 20 minute consultation is free. Fees can vary by therapist, so check their profile for details. OHIP does not cover private psychotherapy. See our affordable care, sliding scale and standard options. Individual sessions are 50 minutes.
Using Your Benefits for Anxiety Therapy
Many extended health benefit plans cover psychotherapy. Check which provider types your plan covers, and keep in mind that a Health Spending Account may cover sessions too. We provide a receipt after every session so you can submit your claim.
Online Anxiety Therapy Anywhere in Ontario
Because every session is online, you can work with the right therapist whether you live downtown, in the suburbs or in a small town. It also removes the part many anxious people dread most: the commute, the waiting room and the small talk.
- TorontoOnline therapy
- OttawaOnline therapy
- MississaugaOnline therapy
- HamiltonOnline therapy
Getting the Most From Online Sessions
- Find a private space where you won’t be overheard or interrupted
- Test your camera, microphone and internet connection beforehand
- Keep something grounding nearby, like a blanket or a warm drink
- Silence notifications and put other screens away
- Leave yourself a few quiet minutes afterwards
- If video doesn’t feel comfortable, phone sessions are available by request
See all the places we work with clients.
Frequently Asked Questions About Anxiety Therapy
What is high functioning anxiety?
High functioning anxiety is not a formal diagnosis. It describes people who look capable, calm and successful from the outside while inside they feel constant tension, overthink everything and struggle to relax, even when nothing urgent is happening. Other people often have no idea how anxious they feel. Several of our therapists list it among their main areas of focus.
Why can’t I relax, even when nothing is wrong?
When your nervous system has been on alert for a long time, calm can feel unfamiliar, even uncomfortable, so your body keeps bracing out of habit. That is why breathing exercises or a yoga class can help for an hour and then wear off. Therapy, including somatic and nervous system work, helps you notice that bracing and teaches your body that it is safe to come down.
How much does anxiety therapy cost?
Sessions are $90 through Affordable Care with our Masters Level Resident Interns, who work under supervision, $100 to $160 on our Sliding Scale, and $170+ for Standard & Specialty sessions with our most experienced therapists. Your 15 to 20 minute consultation is free, fees can vary by therapist, and every session comes with a receipt for your extended health benefits provider.
Does OHIP cover anxiety therapy?
OHIP does not cover private psychotherapy. Many extended health benefit plans include psychotherapy coverage, and a Health Spending Account may cover sessions too. We provide receipts after each session for you to submit.
Do you offer direct billing to my insurance?
Not yet. We don’t currently offer direct billing, but we’re working on it. For now, you pay for each session and we send a receipt you can submit to your extended health plan for reimbursement.
Is there a waitlist for anxiety therapy?
No. True Self Counselling has no waitlist. Most people can book a free consultation and begin therapy within days.
How does online anxiety therapy work?
Sessions take place over secure video, so you can attend from anywhere in Ontario, and phone sessions are available by request if video doesn’t feel comfortable. You book a free 15 to 20 minute consultation, we match you behind the scenes with a therapist who fits what you’re working through, and you meet them for a free meet & greet before starting sessions.
What coping strategies actually help with anxiety?
Most people need a mix, and many of the most useful ones work through the body: lengthening your exhale, releasing tension from your shoulders and jaw, moving every day, eating regularly, watching caffeine and alcohol, setting limits on screens and protecting sleep. It also helps to catch overthinking early instead of trying to solve every worry. Strategies work best when they are chosen for your pattern, which is much of what therapy sorts out with you.
How do you stop intrusive thoughts and rumination?
Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts or images that arrive on their own, and rumination is going over the same worry again and again without reaching an answer. Forcing either to stop usually makes it louder. In therapy you practise letting the thought pass without arguing with it or seeking reassurance, and interrupting the rumination loop earlier so it takes up less of your day.
Do I need a diagnosis or a referral to start anxiety therapy?
No to both. In Ontario a formal diagnosis comes from a physician, psychiatrist or psychologist, and our therapists do not provide assessments or diagnoses, so therapy can help whether or not you have one. Some extended health benefit plans ask for a referral before they reimburse psychotherapy, so it is worth checking your plan.
How can I help someone with anxiety?
Ask what actually helps rather than guessing, listen without rushing to fix the feeling, and try not to take over the things they are avoiding, because that can quietly make the avoidance stronger. Offer something specific, stay steady when they are irritable, and look after your own limits too. You can tell them our consultation is free and there is no waitlist.
Can therapy help with panic attacks and phobias?
Yes. A phobia is an intense fear of a specific thing or situation that is out of proportion to the actual risk, and a panic attack is a sudden surge of fear with symptoms such as a racing heart, tight chest or dizziness. Therapy helps you understand what sets the alarm off, settle your body when it fires, and rebuild confidence in what you have been avoiding, at a pace you agree on.
Related Services
Anxiety rarely arrives on its own. These pages cover what most often sits alongside it.
Ready to Start Anxiety Therapy?
Book a free 15 to 20 minute video consultation with a therapist matched to you.
or call / text 289‑270‑1220
True Self Counselling is not a crisis service. If you are in crisis, call or text 9‑8‑8 any time, or call 911 in an emergency.