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One of my most frequently used techniques when treating anxiety is what I call the Two Questions of Anxiety. It’s a useful thing to try when you’re worried about something specific.

The first question is: What is the probability of the feared event occurring? The reason this question is important is that our fear of an event should be proportional to the chance of it actually happening. If I told you I was afraid of being hit by a meteor, it would be useful to know that the probability is 1 in 840,000,000. If, on the other hand, you’re worried about being fired at work, it would be pretty important for us to figure out how likely that, so you can react accordingly. 

​The second question is: Let’s assume the thing you’re afraid of does happen. What would you do about it? Often, the problem you have is something that is manageable if you had to deal with it. Other times, there’s not really any preparation you can do to deal with it, so there’s much use in trying to prepare for it by worrying. An example of this is clients who have a fear of driving due to the possibility of having an accident. When you think through what happens after most accidents (exchanging insurance, getting your car repaired, etc.), you may recognize that, while these aren’t pleasant to go through, they are manageable.

This is just one technique, but anxiety is definitely a problem that can be improved or cured.