Work-related stress and anxiety: how counselling can help

We are spending more and more time in the workplace, whether this is working from home, in the office, or balancing between the two. An average full-time employee in the UK works an estimated 36.4 hours per week (ONS, 2022). Work takes up a significant element of our lives, and its impact on well-being is increasingly becoming visible.

Recent data shows that 964,000 workers experienced work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in 2024/25, making up most of all the work-related health issues (Health and Safety Executive, 2024).

Employees are navigating complex interpersonal dynamics, organisational pressures, financial strain, technological and AI challenges, managerial burnout, blurred hybrid boundaries, competing priorities, and challenges with balancing work with relationships, family life, and personal well-being.

Common employee challenges 

Many employees report feeling overwhelmed or undervalued at work, quietly struggling with stress, burnout, impossible deadlines, or constant pressure to perform.

In the UK, one in five workers report feeling stressed, anxious, or unable to cope on a typical workday (MHFA England, 2023). Others face tension with colleagues or managers or feel unsupported by leadership when they need guidance the most. Some battle with self-doubt, confidence or imposter syndrome, while others feel like they don’t quite fit into the company culture.

Technology, AI and hybrid working have sparked a new form of stress and anxiety. While working from home offers greater flexibility, it can lead to isolation and increased exhaustion by blurring the boundaries between work and personal life, making it harder for people to fully disconnect. At the same time, advances in technology and AI are creating job disruption and fears about job security.

These experiences are experienced every day across various workplaces, with many people keeping them to themselves. They worry that speaking up might make them appear less capable, less resilient, afraid their honesty will be labelled as moaning or complaining or even harm their chances of progression. This results in many employees carrying these challenges alone, trying to cope while still meeting the daily expectations and maintaining a calm professional image, leading them to internalise their struggles.

Understanding stress and anxiety 

Anxiety is the body’s natural response to danger or something it perceives as a threat. It often shows up as feelings of worry, nervousness, or fear, and can be accompanied by physical, emotional, cognitive or behavioural symptoms.

While anxiety is a normal and helpful reaction to stress, it can become problematic if it’s excessive, persistent and begins to interfere with daily life, relationships, or work. When this happens, anxiety is no longer just a temporary response; it becomes something that needs attention and support.

Stress is the body’s natural reaction to pressure, challenge, or demand. It occurs when the pressures placed on a person exceed the resources they feel they have to cope.

Both anxiety and stress often affect people physically, emotionally, cognitively, and behaviourally. And like anxiety, in small amounts, stress can keep you alert and motivated, respond to deadlines or challenges. Chronic, prolonged, intense, or unmanageable stress can lead to mental and physical health difficulties, including anxiety, burnout, and depression.

Work-related stress often builds gradually, influenced by factors such as heavy workloads, tight deadlines, too much responsibility, lack of managerial support or workplace conflict. When faced with these pressures, the hypothalamus in the brain acts as the body’s command centre, triggering a physiological fight-or-flight response. Stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are released, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar to help the body cope with the immediate demands.

Symptoms of work-related stress and anxiety 

While symptoms vary from person to person, they often show up emotionally, cognitively, physically, and behaviourally.

Emotional symptoms

• feelings of overwhelm, tied, drained or unable to cope
• constant worrying and fear or a sense of dread, which could be related to workload, upcoming meetings, presentation, performance or external factors
• feeling frustrated, unprovoked irritability, constant mood swings, increased sensitivity or tearfulness
• increased self-doubt, decreased self-confidence or lack of enthusiasm
• feeling numb, sensitive and detached or disconnected from the role and others

Cognitive symptoms

• constant racing thoughts and overthinking
• struggling to concentrate or having difficulty making decisions
• forgetfulness or reduced attention
• brain fog or unable to switch off

Physical symptoms

• low energy, fatigue or constant tiredness
• difficulty with sleep (falling asleep, poor quality or oversleeping)
• nausea or changes in appetite
• shortness of breath, heart palpitations, sweating, trembling, or stomach upset  
• muscle tension (especially in the neck and shoulders), aches, jew clenching or frequent headaches

Behavioural symptoms

• avoiding interactions, social events or withdrawing from colleagues
• increased errors, missing deadlines or reduced productivity
• difficulty starting a task or procrastination
• changes in eating and drinking habits
• taking more sick days or feeling unable to attend work, arriving late

How can counselling support work-related issues 

When the pressures at work start to affect someone’s well-being, counselling can offer a structured, safe, confidential space to gain clarity and understanding. It also helps to validate a person's experience and helps them understand their reactions.

Counselling is not about telling someone what to do; it’s a collaborative process that helps individuals understand what they are experiencing and guides them to find healthier ways to manage and cope.

For someone struggling with work issues, counselling can offer:

A confidential space to talk freely

Many employees feel they can’t speak openly at work. Counselling provides a private environment where they can express frustration, confusion, or fear without consequences.

Clarity about what’s really going on 

Work stress and anxiety can often feel tangled. A counsellor helps break this down, whether it’s an unmanageable workload, unrealistic expectations, conflict with colleagues, lack of support, perfectionism or identifying triggers, patterns or underlying emotions. Clarity is often the first step towards change and can be a huge relief.

Reducing overwhelm and anxiety 

Counselling can help individuals with practical strategies for managing stress and anxiety, such as grounding techniques, cognitive reframing, emotional regulation, boundary setting, communication skills and time-management techniques to support both immediate relief and long-term resilience.

Building confidence and self-esteem 

Counselling helps individuals reconnect with their strengths, values, and sense of capability. It helps process self-doubt, negative self-talk or imposter syndrome to allow rebuilding healthier ways of self-talk and a sense of self-worth to develop a stronger sense of personal agency.

Improving communication and boundaries 

Many people struggle to say “no”, ask for help, express concerns or have people-pleasing tendencies. Counselling can help understand the root cause and help develop healthier boundaries, communication skills, and build strategies for navigating conversations both assertively and addressing conflict and difficult workplace conversations.

Processing workplace conflict 

If you are dealing with difficult colleagues, managers, or workplace dynamics, counselling can help you explore communication styles, assertiveness, and navigate conflicts more effectively.

Work-life balance

Counselling helps you identify patterns that lead to imbalance and support you in creating healthier routines that honour both your professional and personal needs.

Career transitions and decision making 

Whether you’re considering a job change, promotion, return to work after a break or a difficult conversation, counselling offers a space to reflect, explore options and goals to make empowered decisions.

Preventing burnout 

Counselling can help individuals avoid reaching a crisis point by recognising early warning signs and developing healthier coping strategies, challenging negative thought patterns and ways to restore balance.

Coping with bullying and harassment 

Counselling offers emotional support and guidance to protect your well-being and explore your options safely if you are experiencing mistreatment at work.

Identity and purpose 

Sometimes work issues stem from deeper questions about meaning, values, or identity. Counselling can help you reconnect with what truly matters to you.

What a counselling session might look like

If you are new to counselling, the process can feel uncertain. Most counsellors offer an initial 20-minute session to explore what’s happening at work and how it is affecting you. This is also a space to identify your goals and what you would like to change, for example, reducing stress, improving communication, building confidence, or setting clearer boundaries.

During counselling sessions, you will work through challenges, learn coping strategies, and reflect on your progress. In most cases, the pace and direction of the sessions are guided by you and what you feel ready to explore.

Counselling can help employees step back, breathe, and see their situation with fresh eyes. With the right support, people often rediscover their confidence, strengthen their workplace relationships, and move toward a healthier working life.

References 

Health and Safety Executive (2024). Statistics - about HSE Statistics. [online] www.hse.gov.uk. Available at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overview.htm.

HSE. (2024). Work-related stress, depression or anxiety statistics in Great Britain, 2024. [online] Available at: https://unionsafety.eu/ELibrary/media/elibrarymedia/WorkRelatedStressDepressionOrAnxietyInGreatBritainStats2024.pdf.

‌MHFA England (2023). Ten Workplace Mental Health Statistics for 2023. [online] MHFA Portal. Available at: https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/blog/ten-workplace-mental-health-statistics-for-2023/.

Ons.gov.uk. (2022). Average hours worked and economic growth, UK: 1998 to 2022 - Office for National Statistics. [online] Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/averagehoursworkedandeconomicgrowth [Accessed 13 Jun. 2026].