Anxiety is a natural response to stress that we all can experience from time to time. You might feel a flutter in your chest, or your breathing become shallower as you approach a situation with heightened uncertainty or pressure. This happens in “fight or flight” situations, when your body releases hormones such as adrenaline to stay alert and respond to any danger.
Experiencing feelings of being anxious is one thing—particularly before nerve-wracking events like auditions or job interviews—but prolonged and intense feelings of anxiety without any real threat can be exhausting, isolating and debilitating. Even though nothing is happening, your mind and body may react as if there is a dangerous threat, which can interfere with your daily life.
Anxiety can be a primary mental health issue, which means the symptoms occur on their own and tend to follow a pattern over time. Primary anxiety disorders are believed to result from a combination of genetic factors and life stressors, creating a vicious cycle. Anxiety can also be a secondary mental health issue, when it arises as a symptom of another mental health condition. In these cases, it’s essential to address the root cause as well as the anxiety symptoms.
Anxiety disorders are more common than you might think, affecting about 10% of Singaporeans. You are not alone in this. The exact cause of anxiety disorders is not fully understood but is often rooted in traumatic personal experiences, like an accident that you were involved in. As a result, it can impair our ability to perform our daily activities and can even affect our relationships with others.
Prolonged anxiety can be debilitating: your mind and body react as if something terrible will happen, even when nothing is happening. It can eventually interfere with your daily life, including relationships with friends and family.
Seeking help from a professional counsellor is a proactive and empowering way to manage your anxiety, especially when there are individual differences from person to person with how disorders affect their lives.
A phobia causes you to become deathly afraid of a particular situation, object, or activity that might not even be dangerous to you or others. This includes a fear of heights (acrophobia), flying (aerophobia) or blood (haemophobia), to name a few. The fear can be intense enough to prevent you from performing daily activities.
This disorder is characterised by recurrent intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and performing specific routines (compulsions). One common example is the obsessive need to wash your hands as frequently as possible to eliminate germs.
You feel excessive fear or anxiety about being separated from attachment figures like your parents or partner. It generally affects infants and young children, though some adults may present with this condition.
This condition is generally characterised by excessive anxiety and worry about a range of concerns, such as your finances, health, and other issues weighing on your mind. You may exhibit symptoms like restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and muscle tension.
Social anxiety is when you fear social situations where you might embarrass yourself. You may feel self-conscious when befriending or interacting with others, causing you to worry about being negatively evaluated by others due to their behaviours or social status.
A panic disorder causes recurrent panic attacks accompanied by symptoms like sweating, shortness of breath, and rapid heartbeats. Panic attacks can happen anytime without warning and last a few minutes or longer. It is hard to identify when another panic attack will occur, resulting in a change in your behaviours or activities.
PTSD occurs after a traumatic event, characterised by persistent, unwanted thoughts and repetitive behaviours or mental acts, as well as haunting nightmares, and affects anyone at any age. The intensity or frequency of PTSD symptoms can depend on factors like the nature of the trauma.
General symptoms of an anxiety attack include:
Coping with anxiety should not be something you go through alone. Alone, you will have a much harder time working through your anxiety. In addition to counselling, the support and comfort of family and close friends can be beneficial, ensuring you can reclaim control over your life.
New Leaf’s anxiety counsellors in Singapore are here to help you understand the ‘why’ behind your anxiety, mitigate the severity of anxiety disorders, create a safe space, and support your long-term recovery from anxiety. Whether you are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or experience anxiety symptoms without a formal diagnosis, our counselling services can provide significant relief and improve your quality of life.
At New Leaf Counselling, we specialise in creating personalised treatment plans for anxiety. Our process involves an initial assessment, followed by regular counselling sessions and periodic reviews to ensure your progress. We integrate counselling, nutritional guidance, and lifestyle adjustments to help you achieve long-term resilience and sustainable well-being. Our holistic talk therapy at our clinic ensures the exceptional care and guidance you need.
New Leaf anxiety counsellors in Singapore can help you develop self-awareness around the “why” behind your feelings of anxiety, effectively mitigate the negative effects of anxiety disorders, create a safe space for you to voice your anxious thoughts and feelings, and support you in taking steps towards long-term recovery from anxiety.
With extensive experience working with clients who experience anxiety — from students navigating pre-exam situational anxiety to adults with chronic social anxiety that inhibits their professional lives — we know how much of a toll anxiety can take on your day-to-day life, and are here to help you reclaim control over your anxiety using evidence-based treatments and strategies.
Anxiety counselling is beneficial for anyone experiencing symptoms of anxiety, including:
Whether you have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or are experiencing anxiety symptoms without a formal diagnosis, counselling can provide significant relief and improvement in your quality of life.
Additionally, individuals dealing with high-stress environments, life transitions, or trauma may find anxiety counselling particularly beneficial.
Anxiety can be a persistent challenge whether you’re having a good day or bad: unfortunately, it doesn’t always discriminate between high-threat and low-stress scenarios. Our holistic approach combines counselling, nutritional support, and lifestyle changes because your anxiety doesn’t exist in a vacuum; with a multi-faceted approach including modalities like yoga, breathwork, and meditation that enriches multiple areas of your life, you can holistically and effectively manage your anxiety for the long-term.
At New Leaf Counselling, we specialise in creating personalised treatment plans that cater to your unique experience of anxiety, because no two people experience it in the same way. We integrate counselling, nutritional guidance, and lifestyle adjustments to build long-term resilience and create a recipe for sustainable well-being. Feeling supported and on the road to recovery shouldn’t start and end with talk therapy at our clinics; we are all about ensuring that you receive exceptional holistic care and guidance, even when you’re not seeing your counsellor.
If you’re seeking a holistic strategy to manage anxiety, consulting with our team can set you on the path to recovery and balance. At New Leaf, we are dedicated to supporting your mental wellness journey with comprehensive, integrative treatments that encompass all aspects of your wellbeing.
At New Leaf Counselling, you are in safe, qualified, and compassionate hands.
At New Leaf, we offer 60-minute and 90-minute counselling sessions at fixed rates based on your choice of counsellor or psychologist. We understand that finding the right therapist is crucial, and we have a thorough process to match you with the most suitable professional. Rates are based on whether you book an appointment during or after office hours, so we advise planning for your convenience. We also provide several assessments to help you understand your mental health needs, allowing you to make better decisions to enhance your well-being. Our counselling fees range from $170 to $465, depending on the counsellor’s level and session duration. Visit our fees and terms page for more information.
| Counsellor Level | Practitioner | Duration | Office Hours Fees | Outside Office Hours Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Lead Counsellor |
60 Minutes |
SGD 310 |
SGD 340 |
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Lead Counsellor |
90 Minutes |
SGD 465 |
SGD 510 |
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Senior Counsellor |
60 Minutes |
SGD 240 |
SGD 270 |
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|
Senior Counsellor |
90 Minutes |
SGD 360 |
SGD 405 |
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|
Counsellor |
60 Minutes |
SGD 200 |
SGD 230 |
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|
Counsellor |
90 Minutes |
SGD 300 |
SGD 345 |
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Associate Counsellor |
60 Minutes |
SGD 170 |
SGD 200 |
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Associate Counsellor |
90 Minutes |
SGD 255 |
SGD 300 |
Our counselling and therapy services are available in English, Mandarin, Korean, Marathi, Hindi, and German.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help you address anxiety, depression, and stress-related concerns. Through CBT, you learn to identify and change unhelpful thinking patterns (cognitive distortions), develop practical coping strategies, and enhance your emotional well-being in daily life.
EMDR therapy in Singapore offers an effective, evidence-based way to process trauma, PTSD, and more. With EMDR, you can reduce the emotional intensity of distressing memories and support your brain’s natural processing system. Experience improved emotional regulation and relief from trauma, anxiety, overwhelming stress, and other feelings.
Brainspotting therapy is an advanced, trauma-informed approach for processing unresolved trauma, PTSD, and more. This therapy accesses deep brain-body connections to support emotional processing, enhance emotional regulation, and reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, chronic stress, and others. This can help support long-term healing and resilience.
A: Anxiety is a normal part of our life; when it gets out of control, care and support are needed to help you take back control of your life. Seek proper professional help to determine if you do have anxiety and receive the appropriate care and attention to treat it. Self-diagnosing or believing what you read online will only cause more harm than good.
A: GAD is a persistent, excessive, and unrealistic fear or worry over everyday things, so much so that it interferes with your daily activities, while general anxiety (or simply anxiety) is a short-term emotional reaction to stress and uncertainties. When your anxiety impacts your ability to function normally, that is a sign you may have GAD and should seek professional help to treat it.
A: We collaborate with highly recommended psychiatrists to whom we can refer our clients for further assistance if needed. We do not provide clients with any form of medication.
APA Dictionary of Psychology (no date) American Psychological Association. Available at: https://dictionary.apa.org/ (Accessed: Summer 2024).
How psychologists help with anxiety disorders (2016) American Psychological Association. Available at: https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/disorders (Accessed: Summer 2024).
https://brainspotting.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Anderegg-2015-Effective-treatments-for-generalized-anxiety-disorder.pdf
American Psychological Association. (n.d.) APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved 27th November 2024 from https://dictionary.apa.org/anxiety-disorder
American Psychological Association. (2016). How psychologists help with anxiety disorders. Retrieved 27th November 2024 from https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/disorders
Anderegg, J. (2016). Effective treatments for generalized anxiety disorder. Retrieved 27th November 2024 from https://web.archive.org/web/20210814214510/https://brainspotting.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Anderegg-2015-Effective-treatments-for-generalized-anxiety-disorder.pdf
Mayo Clinic. (2024). Separation anxiety disorder – Symptoms and causes. Retrieved 27th November 2024 from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/separation-anxiety-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20377455
Meek, W. (2020). The Difference Between Normal Anxiety and GAD. Retrieved 27th November 2024 from https://www.verywellmind.com/the-difference-between-normal-anxiety-and-gad-1393143
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