Anxiety Therapy in NYC: Understanding the Roots of Anxiety in Manhattan
If you're struggling with anxiety in New York City, you already know that simple relaxation techniques or positive thinking often aren't enough. Anxiety can feel overwhelming, persistent, and confusing—especially when you can't pinpoint exactly what's causing it or why it won't go away.
At Dr. Kull & Associates, our Manhattan therapists offer anxiety therapy that goes beyond symptom management. We believe that lasting relief comes from understanding what your anxiety is trying to tell you—what it protects you from, what it reveals about your deeper fears and needs, and how it connects to patterns from your past.
Understanding Anxiety: More Than Just Stress
Anxiety is one of the most common reasons people seek therapy in NYC, and for good reason. Living in Manhattan—with its constant stimulation, competitive pressures, and relentless pace—can exacerbate anxiety. But anxiety is rarely just about external stress.
Anxiety often signals something deeper: unresolved fears, unmet needs, conflicts you're avoiding, or ways you've learned to protect yourself that no longer serve you. Understanding these roots is key to lasting change.
Types of Anxiety We Work With
Our Manhattan therapists have experience working with many forms of anxiety:
Generalized Anxiety: Persistent worry that feels uncontrollable, often about everyday things like work, relationships, health, or finances
Social Anxiety: Intense fear of judgment, embarrassment, or rejection in social situations—making it hard to connect with others or be yourself
Panic Attacks: Sudden episodes of intense fear with physical symptoms like racing heart, shortness of breath, or feeling like you're losing control
Performance Anxiety: Fear of failure or judgment in professional or academic settings, leading to avoidance or perfectionism
Relationship Anxiety: Worry about whether you're loved, fear of abandonment, or difficulty trusting others
Existential Anxiety: Deep questions about meaning, purpose, identity, or mortality that create ongoing unease
Our Approach to Anxiety Therapy in Manhattan
At Dr. Kull & Associates, we practice insight-oriented anxiety therapy grounded in psychodynamic principles. Rather than simply teaching you techniques to manage anxiety, we help you understand what your anxiety means and where it comes from.
What Makes Our Anxiety Therapy Different?
We explore the "why," not just the "how to cope": Anxiety is often trying to tell you something important. We help you listen to what it's saying.
We look at patterns and history: Your anxiety didn't appear out of nowhere. Understanding how past experiences, relationships, and unconscious conflicts shape your anxiety creates opportunities for real change.
We don't pathologize anxiety: Anxiety is a human response to feeling unsafe, uncertain, or conflicted. We approach it with curiosity rather than judgment.
We address root causes: While we recognize that managing symptoms matters, our focus is on helping you understand and resolve the deeper issues that fuel your anxiety.
What to Expect in Anxiety Therapy Sessions
Anxiety therapy at our Manhattan practice typically involves weekly 45-50 minute individual sessions. The work is collaborative—we're not just giving you coping skills, but helping you understand yourself more deeply.
In sessions, you might explore:
What triggers your anxiety and what patterns emerge
How anxiety served you in the past (even if it no longer helps)
What you're afraid of beneath the surface—rejection, failure, loss of control, not being enough
How your relationships and early experiences shaped your sense of safety in the world
What happens when you make space for feelings you usually avoid
Anxiety Therapy vs. Medication vs. CBT
Anxiety Therapy vs. Medication: Medication can be helpful for managing severe anxiety symptoms, and many of our clients work with a psychiatrist while in therapy. Medication addresses the neurobiological components of anxiety, while therapy addresses the psychological and relational roots.
Insight-Oriented Therapy vs. CBT for Anxiety: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying anxious thoughts and replacing them with more realistic ones. It's effective for symptom reduction but may not address why those thoughts exist or what deeper conflicts drive them.
Insight-oriented therapy explores the meaning and origins of your anxiety, helping you understand patterns that keep you stuck. Research shows that psychodynamic therapy's benefits continue to grow even after therapy ends, while CBT's gains often plateau.
Both approaches have value. The right choice depends on your goals—whether you're seeking quick symptom relief or deeper, lasting transformation.
Common Anxiety Patterns We Explore in Therapy
Perfectionism and Fear of Failure: The belief that you must be perfect to be acceptable, leading to chronic anxiety about making mistakes or falling short.
People-Pleasing and Fear of Rejection: Anxiety about disappointing others or being rejected, leading you to sacrifice your own needs to keep others happy.
Control and Uncertainty: Needing to control outcomes or situations to feel safe, and experiencing intense anxiety when things feel unpredictable.
Avoidance: Using avoidance to manage anxiety in the short term, but finding it expands what you're afraid of over time.
Hypervigilance: Being constantly on alert for threats, real or imagined, making it hard to relax even when you're safe.
Anxiety and Relationships
Anxiety often shows up most intensely in relationships—worry about being abandoned, fear of intimacy, difficulty trusting, or constant need for reassurance. These patterns usually connect to early attachment experiences and how you learned to feel safe (or unsafe) with others.
In therapy, we explore how your anxiety affects your relationships and how your relationships might be reinforcing your anxiety. Understanding these dynamics creates opportunities for both personal growth and healthier connections.
Why Choose Dr. Kull & Associates for Anxiety Therapy in NYC?
Depth-Oriented Care: We don't just help you manage anxiety—we help you understand it, so you can address its roots rather than constantly fighting symptoms.
Experienced Manhattan Therapists: Our associates are trained in working with anxiety from a psychodynamic perspective, bringing both expertise and genuine curiosity to the work.
Convenient Columbus Circle Location: Easily accessible by subway throughout Manhattan, making it simple to attend regular sessions.
Insurance Accepted: We work with major insurance providers including Cigna, Aetna, and United Healthcare, and can provide documentation for out-of-network benefits.
Personalized Treatment: Every person's anxiety is different. We tailor our approach to your unique needs, history, and goals.
Starting Anxiety Therapy in Manhattan
Living with chronic anxiety can be exhausting, and seeking help is an important step. We offer a free 15-minute consultation where you can share what you're experiencing, ask questions about our approach, and see if our therapy feels like the right fit.
There's no pressure to commit—it's simply an opportunity to explore whether insight-oriented therapy might help you find lasting relief.
Moving Beyond Anxiety Management to Lasting Change
If you're tired of just managing anxiety and want to understand what's really driving it—if you're searching for anxiety therapy in NYC that addresses root causes rather than just symptoms—we invite you to reach out.
Our Manhattan associates specialize in helping people explore the deeper patterns, fears, and conflicts that fuel anxiety, creating space for genuine transformation rather than temporary relief.
Ready to begin?