Anxiety Therapy: When your mind won’t slow down
Anxiety therapy in Brockville and virtually across Ontario.
Anxiety Therapy in Brockville, ON
Anxiety isn’t just stress. It’s a persistent sense of alarm that can show up in your thoughts, your body, your sleep, and your relationships, sometimes without an obvious reason.
We don’t see anxiety as a flaw. It usually learned its job somewhere, often as a way of staying safe or staying ahead. Therapy is a place to understand where it came from, and what it has been trying to protect, so it doesn’t have to work so hard.
Our clinicians work with worry, panic, social anxiety, health anxiety, and the anxiety that sits underneath perfectionism and people pleasing.
Understanding It
We look at the patterns and history behind your anxiety, using approaches like relational therapy, emotion focused therapy, CBT, and mindfulness, depending on what fits you.
Living With It Differently
Alongside understanding, some people find it helpful to have steadying practices for the moments anxiety runs high. We’ll figure out together what’s useful for you.
What Anxiety Can Look Like
Anxiety shows up in the body, the mind, and behaviour. Some common experiences include:
- Worry or racing thoughts that are hard to switch off
- Tension, restlessness, or trouble sitting still
- Trouble falling or staying asleep
- Difficulty concentrating, or your mind going blank
- A pounding heart or shortness of breath
- Avoiding people, places, or situations
We also work with teens. Read more about teen therapy.
What We Work With
Anxiety Therapy FAQs
Q. How do I know if I need therapy for anxiety?
There’s no threshold you need to meet. If anxiety is shaping your days, your sleep, your work, or your relationships, that’s reason enough to talk to someone.
Q. How long does anxiety therapy take?
It’s different for everyone. Some people come for a few months with a specific focus. Others prefer longer term work. You decide what feels right.
Q. What’s the difference between stress and anxiety?
Stress is usually a response to something in front of you, like a deadline. Anxiety can linger after that thing is gone, or show up without a clear cause, often as a sense of dread about what might happen.
Meet the Clinicians
Each of these clinicians works with this area. If you’re not sure who to choose, we’re happy to help you find a good match.
Meredith Armstrong, MSW, RSW
Owner, Social Worker, Psychotherapist
Meredith Armstrong is a Registered Social Worker and the owner of St. Lawrence Psychotherapy and Wellness. She has been doing this work since 2001, and it has never once felt like just a job to her.
Jim Page, MS, RSW
Social Worker, Psychotherapist
Jim is a Registered Social Worker with a Master of Science in Human Services from Capella University, MN. He has more than 20 years of experience providing individual, couple and family therapy in private practice as well as community agency and hospital outpatient settings.
Genevieve Fincher, MSW, RSW
Social Worker
Genevieve Fincher is a classically trained clinical social worker who graduated from the University of South Carolina and has over 20 years of experience working in adult and children’s mental health.
Charlotte (Charlie) MacDonald, RP (Qualifying)
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Charlotte, also known as Charlie, is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) who recently graduated from Yorkville University and has joined the St. Lawrence Psychotherapy and Wellness Team.
Lia Forma, MSW, RSW
Social Worker, Psychotherapist
Lia is a Social Worker with over 15 years of experience across community and residential settings. She has walked alongside people through mental health struggles, addiction, trauma, intimate partner violence, and women’s health, and she brings that same steady presence to the men who come to her too. She’s especially attuned to the particular pressures and expectations that can shape how men cope, communicate, and carry what they’re going through, often quietly, and often for a long time before they ask for help.
Mandy LeBlanc, MSW, RSW
Social Worker
Mandy is a Registered Social Worker with more than 22 years of experience in the mental health and addictions field, working across both community and institutional settings. Since beginning her Social Work education in 2002, she has completed her Master of Social Work degree along with a variety of additional courses and professional certifications to further support her clinical practice.
Mackenzie Howard, RP (Qualifying)
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Mackenzie works with adolescents and adults who are exhausted from always being the strong one, who overthink conversations, worry about disappointing people, and struggle to put themselves first without guilt. She helps people move out of people-pleasing, perfectionism, anxiety, and self-doubt, and toward healthier boundaries, more trust in their own judgment, and more peace day to day.
Karen Gillis, MSW, MA, RSW
Social Worker
Karen works with teens, students, young adults, and professionals navigating perfectionism, OCD, ADHD, anxiety, and burnout. Many of the people she sees are capable and driven, and used to holding things together even when they’re overwhelmed, overthinking everything, or exhausted from trying to keep up.
Other Areas of Support
Most people come in with more than one thing on their mind.
OCD
When your mind gets stuck on a loop, and the rituals that ease it start running the show.
Depression
Depression often makes sense once the whole story is on the table. We start there, without pressure to feel better faster than you’re ready to.
Burnout and Stress
For people who have been carrying too much, for too long, at work and at home.