If you are in immediate danger or thinking about harming yourself, get help now. Visit a nearby emergency service, hospital, or mental health clinic. If you are in crisis, these helplines can help:
Crisis numbers
- the United States of America:
- the United Kingdom:
- Samaritans: Tel: 116 123 (Free from any phone) | Tel: 0808 164 0123 (Welsh Language Line) | Tel: 18001 44 116 123 (Relay UK). 24 hours. The Welsh Language Line is open every day, 7pm to 11pm.
- Shout, text 85258: Text: 85258. 24 hours.
- India:
- Tele-MANAS: Tel: 14416 | Tel: 1-800 891 4416. 24 hours.
- Vandrevala Foundation Helpline: Tel: +91 9999 666 555 | WhatsApp: +91 9999 666 555. 24 hours.
- Canada:
- 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline, call or text, at any hour: Tel: 9-8-8 | Text: 9-8-8
- Kids Help Phone, for children and young adults: Tel: 1-800-668-6868 | Text: CONNECT to 686868
- South Africa:
- SADAG Suicide Crisis Helpline: Tel: 0800 567 567. 24 hours.
- Cipla Mental Health Helpline: Tel: 0800 456 789 (24 hours) | Text: 31393 | WhatsApp: 076 882 2775 (8am to 5pm). 24 hours.
- the Philippines:
- NCMH Crisis Hotline: Tel: 1553 (Nationwide) | Tel: 1800-1888-1553 (Nationwide) | Tel: 0919-057-1553 (SMART/TNT). 24 hours.
- Hopeline, suicide and emotional crisis line: Tel: 02-8804-4673 | Tel: 0917-558-4673 | Tel: 0918-873-4673. 24 hours.
- Australia:
- Lifeline 13 11 14: Tel: 13 11 14 | Text: 0477 13 11 14. 24 hours.
- Suicide Call Back Service: Tel: 1300 659 467. 24 hours. For ages 15 and over.
- Germany:
- TelefonSeelsorge, for anyone who needs to talk: Tel: 0800 1110111 | Tel: 0800 1110222 | Tel: 116 123. 24 hours.
- MuTeS, Muslim pastoral and crisis line: Tel: 030 443 509 821. 24 hours.
- the United Arab Emirates:
- Itma'en 800506, for readers in Dubai: Tel: 800506
- Saudi Arabia:
- Psychological Consultation Centre: Tel: 920033360
- Ireland:
- SOSAD Ireland: Tel: 1800 901 909 (24-hour national freephone helpline)
- Iran:
- France:
- 3114, the national suicide prevention number: Tel: 3114
- Spain:
- Línea 024, the national suicide line: Tel: 024
- Teléfono de la Esperanza, 717 003 717: Tel, mobile: 717 003 717 | Tel, landline: 914 59 00 55
- New Zealand:
- 1737 Need to Talk, the national line, call or text 1737: Tel: 1737 | Text: 1737 | Tel: 0800 1737 1737, the long form for the same service
- Depression Helpline: Tel: 0800 111 757 | Text: 4202
- Sweden:
- Självmordslinjen (Mind): Tel: 90101 (dialled within Sweden)
- Switzerland:
- Die Dargebotene Hand, La Main Tendue, Telefono Amico, Tel 143: Tel: 143, answered day and night, 365 days a year. | Tel, English line: 0800 143 000, from 6 to 11 pm.
- Croatia:
- The KBC Zagreb crisis line, 24 hours a day: Tel: 01 2376 470
- Japan:
- Inochi no Denwa Suicide Hotline: Tel: 0120-783-556 (freephone) | Tel: 0570-783-556 (Navi Dial, 10:00 to 22:00, call charges apply)
- Poland:
- Centrum Wsparcia, free and answered at any hour: Tel: 800 70 2222
- Kryzysowy Telefon Zaufania, for adults in emotional crisis: Tel: 116 123 | Tel: 22 668 70 00, an alternative to 116 123 for the same advice line
- Pakistan:
- Sehat Tahaffuz 1166, the national health helpline: Tel: 1166
- Nigeria:
- She Writes Woman, toll-free and answered at any hour: Tel: 0800 800 2000
- SURPIN, Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative: Toll-free: +234-8000787746 | Tel: +234-908-021-7555 | Tel: +234-903-440-0009 | Tel: +234-814-224-1007
- Sri Lanka:
- Malaysia:
- Talian HEAL 15555, the Ministry of Health's crisis line: Tel: 15555
- MIASA Crisis Helpline: Tel: 1800 180 066 | WhatsApp: 03-9765 6088, its crisis WhatsApp
- Zimbabwe:
- CONTACT Family Counselling Centre, Bulawayo: Tel: 08010187 — toll-free helpline. | Tel: +263 71 262 9303 | Tel: +263 29-2272400 | Tel: +263 29-2881842
- Bangladesh:
- Kaan Pete Roi, 3 PM to 3 AM every day: Tel: +880 9612-119911
- Lebanon:
- The National Lifeline 1564, answered day and night: Tel: 1564
- Vietnam:
- Đường dây nóng Ngày mai, psychological first aid by phone: Tel: 096 306 1414
- Botswana:
- BOFWA 24 Hour Youth Helpline: Tel: 16658. 24 hours.
- the Republic of Cyprus:
- Cyprus Samaritans: Tel: 8000 7773
- Portugal:
- Linha Nacional de Prevenção do Suicídio, the national line: Tel: 1411
- SNS 24 psychological counselling, 808 24 24 24, option 4: Tel: 808 24 24 24, then select option 4
- Egypt:
- The national psychological support hotline: Tel: 16328
- Oman:
- Al Masarra Hospital, the psychiatric emergency line: Tel: 24873268
- Uganda:
- Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital, 0800 211 306: Tel: 0800 211 306, toll free.
- Namibia:
- LifeLine/ChildLine Namibia, the adult and gender-based violence line: Tel: 106 | SMS: 081 398 5510, the counselling centre's SMS channel
- Tanzania:
- Wizara ya Afya, the Ministry of Health call centre on 199: Tel: 199 | SMS: 15061
- Singapore:
- national mindline 1771, the national mental health helpline: Tel: 1771 | WhatsApp: +65-6669-1771
- HealthServe crisis helpline, for migrant workers: Tel: +65 3129 5000
How to find the right anxiety therapist
This page lists practitioners near you who name anxiety among what they work with and have appointments open. Filter the list, then read the profiles.
Look for the exact title the person is registered under. Look for anxiety named specifically rather than general practice, and for a method the person can describe.
Read the exact title on the profile, then check that title on the register the practitioner is listed with.
Before you contact an anxiety therapist
Anxiety therapy is talking therapy for fear and worry that has become too big for the thing it is about. Everyone worries. It becomes a condition when the worry is hard to control, lasts for months, brings the body into it, and starts to shrink what a person will do.
It is for someone avoiding things they used to manage: a phone call, a drive, a meeting, a room full of people, leaving the house. It is also for someone whose worry has no single subject and simply runs. Physical symptoms are part of it, not separate from it, and they are not imagined.
Most anxiety therapy is structured. Expect an early session that maps what you are anxious about and what you have started to avoid, and expect the work to involve approaching those things in an order you agree, at a pace you set, rather than only discussing them. Practice between sessions is usually part of it. Treatment is often planned as a set number of sessions with a review.
Avoidance is the part to say out loud. It brings relief now and makes the anxiety stronger later, and it is the part people most often leave out of the first appointment.
Browse Therapists - Listed from Nearest to You: Depression therapist, teen therapist, child therapist, marriage counsellor, couples therapist, affordable therapist, family therapist, psychologist, trauma therapist, counsellor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does therapy for anxiety do?
It works on the worry itself and on what the worry has made you stop doing.
Anxiety keeps itself going through avoidance. You avoid the call, the drive, the room. The relief is immediate, and it teaches you that the thing you avoided was dangerous.
Therapy turns that around. You approach what you avoid in steps you agree, at a pace you set, and find out what happens. Practitioners call that exposure.
The list of steps is a fear ladder, which you build together, starting low. Alongside that, you work on the thinking that feeds it.
Two names come up on profiles. Cognitive-behavioural therapy is structured and sets tasks between sessions. Acceptance and commitment therapy works on accepting the anxiety rather than arguing with it. Ask which one they use, and why.
How do I know whether I need therapy for it?
When worry or fear is limiting what you do. When it is costing you sleep or concentration. When it is distressing enough on its own that you want it to stop.
The signs are physical as well as mental. Physically: a racing heart, tight chest, trouble breathing, tension that does not let go, poor sleep. Mentally: worry you cannot switch off, worst-case thinking, difficulty deciding.
You do not have to be in crisis to go.
What should I look for?
Someone whose training covers treating anxiety, and who can tell you how. Ask whether they use exposure, and what the first month would look like.
Look for someone who does something with you rather than only talks about it. They agree goals, give you things to practise, and check whether it is working. Be wary of anyone who cannot say what their approach is.
Will I have to face what frightens me?
Usually yes, and in steps.
You start with something that makes you only mildly anxious and work up. Nothing happens that you have not agreed to, and you can stop. Approaching what you avoid is the part that does the work.
Can it be done online?
Anxiety therapy works well online and many practitioners offer it, which the profile says.
The one limit is that some of the practice has to happen out in the world. A practitioner working online will set those up as tasks between sessions instead of doing them beside you.
What does it cost?
The fee is on the practitioner's own profile. Ask whether a reduced fee is available. A community service or a university training clinic near you may see people for less.
Self-help workbooks and structured online courses cost little or nothing. They are worth starting while you wait.
If cost is the obstacle, read how to find affordable therapy.
Related pages
Real choice. Authentic, independent, clinician-led care.
TherapyRoute is a clinician-led directory that champions independent practitioners who answer to you and their professional ethics. We don't take commissions, sell your data, or assign therapists by algorithm. You browse, compare, and choose.
Vincenzo (Enzo) Sinisi, Clinical Psychologist (HPCSA), Psychoanalyst (IPA/SAPA), Group Analyst (IGA)
TherapyRoute is not for emergencies and does not provide medical advice. All of our content is informational and cannot replace professional healthcare. In an emergency, contact a local emergency service. For immediate support, consider a local helpline.
