Anxiety is one of the most common reasons people seek therapy, and it can affect anyone — whether you’re preparing for a presentation at work, navigating a busy city street, or meeting new people for the first time. It impacts both mind and body, often showing up at the worst possible moments.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective, evidence-based approaches for treating anxiety. Rather than simply talking about your worries, CBT gives you practical skills to change the patterns that keep anxiety going. In this post, I’ll share how CBT works for anxiety and introduce some tools you can start using straight away.
How CBT Helps with Anxiety
CBT is based on the idea that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are interconnected. When anxiety takes hold, our thoughts often become focused on danger or worst-case scenarios, our bodies respond with tension and physical symptoms, and our behaviours may become more avoidant.
For example:
Thought: “If I speak up in the meeting, I’ll embarrass myself.”
Feeling: Anxiety, dread.
Behaviour: Stay quiet and avoid contributing.
The problem is that avoidance provides short-term relief but reinforces the anxiety in the long run. CBT helps you break this cycle by:
Identifying unhelpful thinking patterns.
Testing out new ways of responding.
Gradually facing situations that trigger anxiety.
Practical CBT Tools for Anxiety
Here are some techniques that I regularly use in CBT sessions, which you can begin to try at home.
1. Thought Records
A thought record is a simple worksheet (or even just a notebook entry) where you capture:
The situation that triggered anxiety.
The thoughts that ran through your mind.
How anxious you felt (0–100%).
Evidence for and against those thoughts.
A more balanced or helpful perspective.
Example:
Situation: Presentation at work.
Thought: “Everyone will see I’m nervous.”
Evidence For: My hands sometimes shake.
Evidence Against: People have said I present well; most are focused on the slides.
Balanced Thought: “Even if I feel nervous, I can still deliver my points clearly.”
Doing this regularly helps to spot patterns and train your brain to respond differently.
2. Behavioural Experiments
These are small, planned tests to see if your anxious predictions are accurate. If anxiety tells you, “People will think I’m boring if I start a conversation,” you can design an experiment to test that — for example, chatting briefly with a colleague and noticing their actual response.
The aim is not to “be right” but to gather real-life evidence, which often shows that our fears are exaggerated or unfounded.
3. Graded Exposure
Avoidance keeps anxiety strong. Graded exposure means facing feared situations gradually, starting with something manageable and working your way up.
Example: If you feel anxious in busy places, you might:
Spend 5 minutes in a quiet shop.
Visit a busier café during off-peak hours.
Walk along Patrick Street during lunchtime.
By doing this in small steps, your brain learns that the situation is safe, and the anxiety naturally reduces over time.
4. Grounding and Breathing Techniques
Sometimes anxiety spikes quickly, and you need a tool to bring you back to the present. Two quick methods:
5-4-3-2-1 grounding: Name 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, 1 you can taste.
Box breathing: Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4, repeat.
These techniques don’t “solve” anxiety, but they give you a calmer state from which to use the other CBT tools.
When to Seek Professional Help
While self-help strategies are useful, working with a CBT therapist can help you make faster and more lasting progress. A therapist will guide you in identifying the exact patterns keeping your anxiety going, and tailor strategies to your personal goals.
If you’re looking for CBT for anxiety, whether in Cork or anywhere else in Ireland, I offer evidence-based, structured therapy designed to help you feel more confident and in control. Together, we can create a plan to help you move past avoidance and live more freely.
Ready to start?
You can book a consultation with me here at Ceangail Psychotherapy. CBT is a practical, skills-focused approach that can make a real difference to anxiety, and with the right support, you can start making those changes today.
