Case Study: Living with Anxiety for 30 Years & What Finally Worked

Anxiety can feel random and all consuming.

For over three decades, Rachel* had lived with anxiety. Not just the occasional nerves or worry, but a deep, all consuming anxiety that shaped every part of her life. Relationships, work, health; they were all impacted by a silent, persistent undercurrent of fear.

When Rachel came to me, they were desperate. They’d reached a point where the anxiety had returned yet again but this time, with more intensity than ever before. The waves of panic, the feeling of being on edge, the physical symptoms were all overwhelming, and all seemingly without a clear trigger.

This wasn’t her first attempt to seek help. She had seen multiple doctors, had taken anti-anxiety medication, and had even had periods of time where she felt she was coping. But every time Rachel thought she was making progress, the anxiety would "randomly" return leaving her feeling like she was back at square one.

And that’s exactly where the problem had always been.

The Missing Piece

When we began working together, one of the first things I noticed was that despite years of reaching out for help, Rachel had never been taught to understand her experience of anxiety. No one had explained the nervous system, how anxiety works, or what it truly means to regulate it.

Every intervention she had tried had focused on the surface: the symptoms. The racing thoughts. The insomnia. The overwhelm. But none had addressed the cause. There had been no tools, no strategies, no deeper work to build emotional resilience or retrain the brain's response to stress.

Without this foundation, it makes perfect sense that the anxiety kept returning because while the symptoms were managed, the system remained dysregulated.

Lianne has been helping people manage anxiety for over a decade.

What We Did Differently

At Beam Therapy, our approach is different. It’s not about quick fixes or masking symptoms, it’s about giving clients the tools, understanding, and support to change their relationship with anxiety for good.

With this client, we started by demystifying what anxiety actually is. We talked about the nervous system, how anxiety is a natural response that becomes stuck, and why certain techniques work to re-regulate the system.

From there, we used psycho-sensory and somatic tools such as Havening Techniques, functional breathwork, and emotional regulation exercises to calm the body and retrain the mind. We worked with both the conscious and subconscious mind, rewiring beliefs, clearing past emotional imprints, and building new neural pathways for peace and confidence.

We didn’t just manage the anxiety but we helped her to understand it, process it, and feel safe within herself again.

The Transformation

After just a few sessions, Rachel began to notice subtle but profound changes. Her nervous system started to feel calmer. She no longer feared the anxiety returning, because now, she knew what to do. She had tools. She had understanding. She had choices.

For the first time in over 30 years, she felt hopeful, not just about managing anxiety, but about living life with freedom from it.

The Anxiety Toolkit is full of downloadable resources including pdfs, workshop, videos and more!

If You’re Struggling Too…

Please know that real, lasting change is possible. Whether anxiety has been with you for months or a lifetime, you do not have to keep navigating it alone and you don’t have to wait until you're in crisis to start healing.

If you're ready to work 1:1, we offer compassionate, science-backed therapy tailored to you.

And if you’re not quite ready for therapy yet, or you’re looking for extra support you can access anytime, we’ve created the Anxiety Reset Toolkit.

It’s a digital download packed with tools, exercises, and guidance to help you understand and manage anxiety from the root. Think of it as your at-home support system, one you can return to again and again.

If you'd like to chat more about how we can support you, book a free 30-minute call here.