Real Life: Anxiety
Understanding triggers and building your anxiety toolkit
What causes anxiety, and how can you manage it effectively? In this episode, presenter Venessa Scott speaks with Molly, YouTuber, and Justin Stephenson, Clinical Psychologist, about understanding anxiety triggers and building a toolkit that can help.
Avoidance, reassurance and other safety behaviours
Why do people with anxiety avoid certain situations, seek reassurance, or rely on habits that help them feel safe? In this episode, presenter Venessa Scott speaks with Tim, Mind Coach and Anxiety Therapist, and Dr Rittick Mukherjee, Consultant Psychiatrist, about the safety behaviours people often develop when experiencing anxiety.
Meet the participants
Venessa Scott
Venessa presents these Real Life episodes, guiding the conversation between our lived experience experts and specialist clinicians, asking the questions that often don't get answered.
Molly
Molly is a content creator and lived-experience advocate who speaks openly about anxiety, ADHD and the realities of everyday life. She has a warm, genuine style and a natural ability to build a sense of community with her audience. We chose her because she can explain what anxiety actually feels like with unusual clarity, helping people recognise their own experiences without feeling judged. Her practical insights also give the audience something realistic and useful to take away.
Justin Stephenson
Justin Stephenson is a Clinical Psychologist working with adults. He is an HCPC-registered Practitioner Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS), with extensive experience across both NHS and private healthcare settings.
Tim
Tim brings warmth, honesty and a strong sense of hope to conversations about anxiety. Drawing on his own experiences, he speaks openly about avoidance, safety behaviours, catastrophic thinking, shame and social anxiety. We chose him because he makes difficult experiences feel accessible and talks about them in a way that helps people feel understood. His contribution acknowledges how significantly anxiety can affect someone’s life while offering a genuine sense that it is possible to find a way forward.
Dr Rittick Mukherjee
Dr Rittick Mukherjee is a compassionate and highly experienced Consultant Psychiatrist who specialises in working with autistic individuals and those with ADHD, intellectual disabilities, and complex mental health needs. He is passionate about providing thoughtful, personalised care and values working collaboratively with each individual to ensure their needs are fully understood and supported.
More Real Life episodes
Lived experience. Clinical insight. Practical support. We have episodes about ADHD, anxiety, depression, trauma, OCD, and eating disorders.
Anxiety test
This free 10 question test can help you reflect on common symptoms of anxiety and how much they are affecting you day to day.
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