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Anxiety
Anxiety can take many shapes — from persistent worry and physical tension to avoidance patterns that have quietly narrowed your world. These evidence-based articles explore what anxiety actually is, why it persists, and what the research says about working with it rather than against it. Written for anyone who wants to understand their anxiety more clearly, not just manage it.
Worry time: Giving worry a place to live
Worry is often the mind’s attempt to create safety, and telling yourself to “stop worrying” rarely works. Worry time is a structured technique for working with worry rather than against it. The goal is not to stop the worrying. It is to give worry a specific place to live, so that the rest of the day does not have to hold it.
Matthew Hallam
Jan 284 min read
The Circle of Control: A clinical adaptation of the perceived-control evidence for managing worry and anxiety
Sorting attention into what you can control, what you can influence, and what sits outside both is not a self-help technique. It is a clinical application of decades of research on perceived control and anxiety.
Matthew Hallam
Nov 27, 20255 min read
Anxiety or intuition: a more accurate question to ask
Self-help culture says anxiety and intuition feel different and the work is to learn to tell them apart. The current research is more honest about the question. A psychologist on what is actually happening in the body, the conditions that make a gut feeling trustworthy, and a more useful question to ask than which signal you are having.
Matthew Hallam
May 13, 20257 min read
How to tell when a protective pattern has started to cost more than it gives
Not every protective pattern is a problem. Some are still doing their job; some have become the thing in the way. A psychologist on how to tell the difference, with four diagnostic questions you can hold a pattern up against.
Matthew Hallam
May 7, 20255 min read
Supporting someone with anxiety: why presence works and rescue doesn't
When someone we love is anxious, the instinct is to fix it. The research suggests the opposite. You cannot make them feel safe in their own nervous system. A psychologist on accommodation, the SPACE framework, and a four-step way to support without rescuing.
Matthew Hallam
Apr 23, 20256 min read
How anxiety patterns actually change: the neuroscience of updating a threat prediction
Anxiety patterns are not just habits — they are protective predictions held in long-term threat memory. They do not weaken from understanding alone. A psychologist on what the system actually needs to update, and a four-step way to work with a persistent pattern.
Matthew Hallam
Apr 16, 20255 min read
Why your comfort zone is bigger than you think and how to grow it gently
The small step is not the warm-up. The small step is the work. A psychologist on the comfort zone, the brain's safety signal, and a four-step way to grow your edge gently.
Matthew Hallam
Apr 9, 20256 min read
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