Starting anxiety counselling is similar to learning how to drive. Each person needs something different, and it may take time to discover which counselling modality feels right for you. In our work together, I sit beside you in the passenger seat ensuring you feel safe, heard, validated, and supported as you navigate your internal world. Some sessions may feel like driving through difficult terrain as you share painful or overwhelming experiences. You can slow down, pull over, or change direction at any time. You are not alone in this process. As we explore your anxiety together, you begin to gain insight, clarity, and a renewed sense of control. Many clients tell me that on their drive home after a session, they notice a shift, a sense of grounding, understanding, and emotional relief.
Hi, my name is Leena Mehta, and I am a registered clinical counsellor in Burnaby (#19428). I’ve worked as a counsellor for over eight years and am dedicated to providing therapy to high achieving women who experience anxiety. You were not born feeling anxious. I support women like you who want to feel less anxious and more in control of their lives. I provide anxiety counselling in Burnaby and online to both women.
I am a Burnaby therapist who works with you to explore your anxious thoughts and feelings. This happens in a safe, compassionate, non-judgmental, and confidential space, both in person and online. You are more than your anxiety, and I focus on your strengths and resilience to help you regain control over your thoughts and feelings.
Tired of feeling anxious? What if I told you your anxiety is trying to communicate and protect you? Let’s work together and find out what your anxiety needs.
Many high‑achieving and professional women appear confident, capable, and composed on the outside yet internally experience:
You may be the person others rely on, the one who “has it all together,” yet you carry the weight of expectations, pressure, and emotional exhaustion. Therapy offers a space where you don’t have to perform, achieve, or hold everything together. You can simply be human.
At Ease Counselling in Burnaby, I work with you to help you achieve your goals and improve your mental health. Starting counselling is not a sign of weakness. It takes strength to reach out, and I understand that opening up is not easy.
High‑functioning anxiety often hides behind success. You may excel at work, school, or caregiving, yet internally feel overwhelmed, tense, or on edge.
Common experiences include:
Together, we explore how high‑functioning anxiety shows up in your life and how you can relate to it with more compassion and clarity.
At Ease Counselling in Burnaby provides a safe space for you to share your story. You are the expert of your life, not me or anyone else. As your counsellor, I support and empower you, but I don’t tell you what to do. Instead, I invite you to listen to and feel your gut. We all have a gut feeling, and I’m interested in learning about what your gut feeling communicates to you.
Let’s make space for your anxiety. As your counsellor in Burnaby, I’m curious to learn about how your anxiety shows up, how it impacts you daily and how you feel about it. Your anxiety doesn’t define you.
Does your anxiety have a shape? What colour is your anxiety? If you could touch your anxiety, what does it feel like? Let’s get really curious about your anxiety together.
Anxiety can manifest on the surface for people in various forms. Some examples include:
High‑achieving women often carry invisible pressures:
These pressures can lead to burnout, emotional exhaustion, and chronic anxiety. Therapy helps you understand these patterns and build a healthier, more compassionate relationship with yourself.
As your Burnaby BIPOC counsellor, I ensure you feel seen, heard, validated, and accepted. Starting your healing journey takes courage, and I am here to support you every step of the way. It’s hard, but you don’t have to do it alone.
Burnaby anxiety counselling provides a non-judgmental, kind, and compassionate space to help you unpack your anxiety. Together, we focus on your needs, which may include the following:
Anxiety counselling can support you in:
Similar to how you can drive different vehicles, there are different counselling modalities that can help. As your counsellor in Burnaby, I use a variety of different counselling modalities to support clients with anxiety. Every client is different, and as a counsellor, I support each client with where they are in their healing journey. Counselling modalities that can help include:
ACT can help women accept their thoughts and feelings without trying to change them. It can also help women change their behaviour so that it aligns more closely with their values. For example, noticing when they feel anxious and how to cope with these feelings.
CBT can help women identify and challenge negative core beliefs and thought patterns. It can also help women notice the connection between their feelings, thoughts and actions. For example, when an woman feels anxious, they may think that other people are judging them, and they may shut down or withdraw.
DBT can help women with emotional regulation and distress tolerance by learning skills and strategies to help them cope. For example, noticing signs of anxiety in the body and learning how to manage these feelings.
Starting counselling may feel overwhelming, but there are resources you can access.
https://www.anxietycanada.com/
https://keltymentalhealth.ca/anxiety
https://www.vch.ca/en/anxiety-resources-children-youth-and-families
BC Crisis Line: 310-6789
Indigenous Crisis and Support Line – KUU-US Crisis Support Line: 1-800-588-8717
Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868
https://lookoutsociety.ca/mdabc/
Suicide prevention hotline: 1-800 784 2433
Burnaby anxiety counselling in Burnaby focuses on the connection between your thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and behaviour. When your anxiety comes to the surface, you may feel it in your chest, and you may panic. You may struggle to breathe and have a panic attack. You may think that you have no control over your anxiety and, consequently, may avoid engaging in specific experiences. You may worry about how others perceive you in these moments, and your negative core beliefs may surface. For example, you may believe that you are unlovable, not good enough or unimportant. As your Burnaby therapist, I support women with anxiety by unpacking their thoughts, feelings, body sensations and behaviour. Some of our work also involves challenging your negative core beliefs and strengthening positive beliefs.
Burnaby anxiety counselling in Burnaby explores how your anxiety impacts your life. For example, some clients stop driving or avoid large crowds due to their feelings of anxiety. Other clients report experiencing panic attacks when delivering presentations. As a counsellor in Burnaby, I remain curious to learn more about your triggers and where your anxiety stems from. For some clients, it stems from childhood, as one or both parents were absent during their upbringing. For other clients, it may stem from a past trauma, for example, one of their parents was taken ill and hence unavailable. Some of our work is unpacking and processing past traumas. Some of our work may also focus on your attachment style, needs and fears. Unresolved issues or unmet needs may affect your present-day experience, particularly in romantic relationships.
Burnaby anxiety counselling works with you to heal from experiences that result in you feeling anxious. Some of your anxiety may stem from your childhood, for example, feeling abandoned by a parent. As your Burnaby therapist, I work with you to process and heal from these experiences through inner child work. We also unpack and explore your attachment needs and fears, and how these impact your relationships. For example, some women have an anxious attachment and fear that their partner will leave them, even though their partner may never have talked about leaving. Together, we explore where in your body you feel anxious and how you cope with these feelings. Finally, I am curious to learn about your coping mechanisms, and I share techniques to help you manage your anxiety.
Feelings of anxiety can stem from various places. For some people, their anxiety is rooted in their childhood or adolescence, for others, it is rooted in their family of origin. Childhood abuse or trauma, traumatic life experiences, and attachment styles may also explain why someone feels anxious. At Ease Counselling in Burnaby helps clients unpack the origins of their anxiety in a safe, non-judgmental space. Many people feel anxious in life, and as your counsellor, I’m interested in learning more about what your anxiety is trying to communicate to you. What if I told you many of the clients I support experience some form of anxiety?
There are several different types of anxiety disorders, including generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety, specific phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. As your Burnaby therapist, I am not able to diagnose an anxiety disorder, but I support clients with these disorders. Counselling modalities like Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing can help women process distressing or traumatic experiences.
This depends on the woman and their unique experience. Clients who have struggled with anxiety since they were teenagers may have more experiences to unpack and process. I support clients whose grandparents or caregivers raised them because their parents were working, and some of these clients share having an anxious attachment to their partner or spouse. At Ease Counselling in Burnaby, I support clients with anxious attachment styles and unpack how this is impacting their interpersonal relationships. Sometimes, after four to six sessions, clients start to notice change, but their counselling journey may last ten to twenty sessions. I’m curious to learn where in your body you feel anxious.
Some people worry that something bad is going to happen, and they start to feel a tightness in their chest. They may struggle to breathe, their heart beats faster, and they notice that they are sweating. In some cases, people worry that they are having a heart attack. A panic attack may last less than five minutes, but it can feel overwhelming and concerning. As your Burnaby therapist, I support clients who are experiencing a panic attack, and I’m curious to explore triggers. What if we changed the narrative you have around panic attacks?
Counselling can help women manage their anxiety, but it does not eliminate feelings of anxiety. Some clients feel trapped and overwhelmed when their anxiety comes to the surface, and it prevents them from engaging in activities. As your Burnaby therapist, I work with clients so they feel more in control, even when they feel anxious or have a panic attack. Together, we ensure that clients can engage in experiences and live their best lives. Anxiety helps us feel safe and is part of our internal compass. I support women in becoming curious about their anxiety and learning to soothe their anxious feelings. Can we befriend your anxiety?
Client‑led anxiety counselling for high‑achieving women offers a space where you can slow down, breathe, and reconnect with yourself. You set the pace, and together we explore the stress, perfectionism, and self‑doubt that often hide behind success. This is your time to be supported, not to perform, a space where your needs, emotions, and inner voice finally come first.
Evidence‑based anxiety counselling for high‑achieving women blends proven therapeutic modalities with a client‑led approach. Together, we use ACT, CBT, DBT, and EMDR to explore perfectionism, burnout, and high‑functioning anxiety at a pace that feels right for you. These modalities help you understand your thoughts, regulate your emotions, and build a more grounded, confident relationship with yourself.
Anti‑oppressive anxiety counselling for high‑achieving women creates a space where your lived experiences, identities, and cultural context are honoured. You lead the process, and together we explore how anxiety, perfectionism, and burnout show up in your life without judgment or assumptions. Your voice, values, and autonomy guide every step of our work.
