Therapy for Stress & Anxiety in Hamilton & Online Across Ontario
Experienced support to help adults and adolescents find calm
Feeling overwhelmed, anxious or often on edge?
Anxiety is more than occasional worry or discomfort. It’s a state of persistent or severe mental and physical uneasiness, often due to prolonged stress, uncertainty, or emotional overwhelm.
Dr. Jennifer Barbera, PhD, and her team offer compassionate, evidence-based therapy to help adults and adolescents understand anxiety, reduce distress, and regain a sense of calm, clarity, and confidence.
What Is Anxiety Therapy?
Anxiety therapy helps address the emotional, cognitive, & behavioural patterns that maintain anxiety by providing:
- A safe, supportive space to explore fears, worries, & triggers
- Evidence-based strategies to help manage anxious thoughts, and uncomfortable physical symptoms.
- Practical tools to improve emotional regulation, confidence, relationships, daily functioning and more
Therapy is collaborative, paced to your needs, and focused on both short-term relief and long-term resilience.
Sessions are offered in a non-judgmental environment, both in-person in Hamilton and online across Ontario.
We help with everyday stress, as well as anxiety disorders such as:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) – excessive, persistent worry and mental overthinking
- Social Anxiety Disorder – fear of judgment, embarrassment, or social situations
- Panic Disorder – recurrent panic attacks and fear of physical symptoms
- Agoraphobia – fear or avoidance of situations where escape feels difficult
- Specific Phobias – intense fear of specific objects & situations
- Health Anxiety – persistent worry about illness or bodily sensations
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) – intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviours
- Performance or test anxiety
- Anxiety related to trauma, stress, grief, or life transitions
Although we assess and diagnose anxiety disorders, you do not need a formal diagnosis to benefit from therapy.
How We Help With Anxiety
In therapy we address the emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and physiological factors that maintain anxiety, such as:
- Chronic worry, rumination, or catastrophic thinking
- Avoidance of feared situations or experiences
- Panic symptoms (e.g., racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness)
- Hypervigilance, muscle tension & difficulty relaxing
- Low confidence, self-doubt, or fear of making mistakes
- Sleep disruption and mental exhaustion
What to Expect in Anxiety Therapy
Starting therapy can feel uneasy, so we keep it clear & supportive:
- Careful assessment: Understanding your experiences, patterns, triggers, and priorities.
- Personalized therapy: Evidence-based approaches tailored to how anxiety shows up for you.
- Ongoing support: Monitoring progress, refining strategies, and building skills that support lasting well-being.
Anxiety can feel consuming — but support can help restore a sense of balance.
Contact us- We Can help.
FAQ
No. Many people seek therapy because anxiety is interfering with daily life, relationships, sleep, or work — even without a formal diagnosis. Therapy can help whether your anxiety feels situational, long-standing, or hard to name.
The length of therapy varies depending on the type and severity of anxiety, your goals, and the approaches used. Some people notice improvement within a few sessions, while others benefit from longer-term support. Progress is reviewed regularly and therapy is adjusted as needed.
Yes. The Research is clear that Therapy, including ACT & CBT approaches, can help you understand and manage panic symptoms such as racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, or chest tightness. You’ll learn strategies to reduce fear of symptoms and regain a sense of balance and ease.
We use evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), exposure-based strategies, and emotion-focused interventions. Treatment is always tailored to your needs, comfort level, and goals. Learn more about modalities we use.
Yes. Anxiety often develops in response to difficult life experiences. Therapy can help address both anxiety symptoms and the underlying stressors contributing to them. Learn more about our services for trauma.
No. Therapy moves at a pace that feels manageable and supportive. Exposure therapy, is not mandatory, but if appropriate and agreed upon, is introduced gradually and collaboratively — never forced. We are here to support you and work at your pace.
Please see out Anxiety Resources page for more information about anxiety, blog posts we have written on different types of anxiety, videos and website resources.
Contact Us
Taking the first step can feel difficult – we will make it easier. We’re here to guide you with care and professionalism.
905-407-5758
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