How Does an Anxiety Therapist NOT Get Triggered? | Ep 345

How Does an Anxiety Therapist NOT Get Triggered? | Ep 345

Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? Here, the focus lands on anxiety recovery and what life can look like once fear is no longer running the show. Former panic sufferer and anxiety therapist Drew Linsalata talks about a question he gets all the time: how on earth does someone who used to struggle with panic disorder, agoraphobia, OCD, and depression now talk about anxiety all day long without being dragged back into it?

Drew explains that the key shift in recovery isn’t becoming a calm, emotionless robot. He still has feelings, stress, and even the odd anxious spike. The difference? “When you no longer fear your own body and your own mind… then why would you worry about them coming back?” He highlights how recovery is really about building a new relationship with your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations, so they stop feeling like emergencies and start feeling like part of being human.

He shares real-life examples, from racing hearts in therapy sessions during a stressful time caring for his ageing dog, to old existential fears about death and meaning that once crippled him but now even interest him. The sensations haven’t changed much; how he interprets them has changed completely. This episode will suit anyone in the thick of anxiety, especially those afraid that talking or thinking about anxiety will “re-trigger” them.

Drew gently challenges the idea that recovery is fragile, stressing that the aim isn’t to eliminate anxiety, but to stop seeing your own mind and body as the enemy. As he puts it, “We’re not trying to get rid of your anxiety.

We’re trying to help you build a new relationship with your body, your mind, and your thoughts.” If you’ve ever wondered whether you’ll always be one step away from falling apart, this honest chat might help you ask a different question: what if there’s actually nothing to fear?