When Anxiety Therapy Uncovers Old Wounds: Understanding the Connection Between Anxiety and Trauma

Anxiety therapy is often initiated in response to immediate stressors. Symptoms like racing thoughts, restlessness, and persistent worry can make it difficult to focus or feel at ease, prompting many people to seek help. As therapy deepens, and attention moves beyond the initial reasons for treatment, clients often discover that beneath their anxiety lies unprocessed pain, loss, or fear from earlier experiences. These “old wounds” can be hard to recognize, yet they frequently hold meaningful clues about why anxious patterns have developed and how healing can begin.

How Trauma Shapes Anxiety

Trauma doesn’t only refer to major life-threatening events. It can also come from moments when we felt unsafe, unseen, or unsupported. These experiences can quietly shape how our nervous system develops and learns to protect us. Over time, the body may stay in a state of hypervigilance, scanning for danger, anticipating rejection, or bracing for something to go wrong.

When this happens, we can think of anxiety as the body’s way of communicating that it's not quite sure whether it feels safe. It’s a signal rooted in self-protection, even if it feels overwhelming or confusing in daily life.

In anxiety therapy, uncovering this connection between trauma and anxiety can be both illuminating and emotional. You might notice that certain situations such as being criticized at work or feeling left out socially can evoke a much stronger reaction than seems “logical.” Another way of describing it could be as a reaction that doesn’t appear to fit the current situation. Therapy helps you build insight into those responses given what your body and mind have lived through.

The Healing Process in Anxiety Therapy

As a psychologist providing anxiety therapy in Chicago, I often tell clients that healing anxiety connected to trauma is less about “fixing” and more about integrating. Together, we begin to notice patterns such as what is triggering the anxiety, what’s taking place in the body, and what early experiences might have taught you to expect threat where there may now be safety.

This process can be slow and layered. There are times when people might feel frustrated that their anxiety intensifies when they begin therapy, but this is often a sign that deeper roots are beginning to surface. When the mind finally has a safe place to begin acknowledging what it’s been holding for so long, symptoms can initially and temporarily intensify.

Through grounding techniques, somatic awareness, and relational safety, anxiety therapy helps the nervous system learn a new pattern: that safety is possible, that connection doesn’t always lead to harm, and that you can move through difficult feelings without being consumed by them.

Moving Forward with Compassion

If you’ve begun anxiety therapy and notice that old memories or emotions are coming up, know that this is a meaningful step in your healing journey. Therapy offers a space to explore these experiences gently, without judgment, and with the support of someone trained to help you navigate them safely. Healing from anxiety that’s rooted in trauma takes time and care, but the process often leads to a deeper sense of peace, resilience, and connection with both yourself and others.

At Sejdaras PsyD & Associates in Chicago, I help adults navigate anxiety, trauma, and life transitions through an integrative and compassionate approach that honors both the mind and body. If you’re ready to explore how anxiety therapy can support your healing, I invite you to reach out.

Written By: Deahdra Bowier