Gorgonia Wróbel-Sucharska
Anxiety
Diagnosis and Regulation
About this training
This training introduces the concept of unconscious anxiety, one of the foundational pillars of the ISTDP approach. The ability to assess the level of anxiety, determine the patient’s tolerance threshold and recognise defence mechanisms that interfere with anxiety regulation is essential when guiding the patient towards unlocking the unconscious. The course provides an in-depth analysis of ways to diagnose and regulate both conscious and unconscious anxiety.
“Anxiety is always a response to a stimulus.”
Anxiety is one of the basic signals the brain uses to recognise threat. Physiologically, there is no difference between anxiety caused by external threats and anxiety caused by internal threats: in both cases, the body responds in a similar way.
In ISTDP, it is important to understand that the patient’s own feelings, impulses and desires may become a source of threat. Anxiety then arises as a response to this internal stimulus. Anxiety is therefore not only a reaction to external events, but also to aspects of the self that the patient perceives as dangerous.
A key therapeutic task is learning to recognise how the patient regulates anxiety: adaptively, in a way that supports further development, or in an unhealthy way that may lead to psychological and somatic disturbances. If unhealthy anxiety regulation continues for too long, it may contribute to damage to internal organs, which highlights the importance of attentive and conscious therapeutic work.
Diagnostic errors can interfere with effective treatment. It is therefore essential that the therapist learns not only to observe subtle signs of anxiety, such as sighing or changes in the body, but also to support the patient in developing mindful awareness and tolerance of this difficult emotional state.
In this training, Gorgonia Wróbel-Sucharska emphasises that the patient must learn not only to observe anxiety, but above all to actively engage the “attentive ego”: the conscious part of the self that is able to tolerate and regulate tension. The therapist models this process, demonstrating how anxiety tolerance can be increased gradually under safe conditions.
Understanding and working with anxiety are indispensable elements of effective therapy. Skills in this area can support profound transformation and improve patients’ quality of life.
Course content
- The place of anxiety in human nature
- Pathways of anxiety discharge
- Neurobiological regulation of anxiety
- The influence of defence mechanisms on anxiety processing
- Assessment of the capacity to regulate anxiety: healthy and unhealthy regulation
- Patient and therapist errors in coping with anxiety
- Somatic problems resulting from chronic anxiety
A fragment of this training
A short excerpt from the recording itself. It is here so you can see how the material is taught, and what to expect, before you decide.
Your teacher
Gorgonia Wróbel-Sucharska
Psychologist, certified psychotherapist, trainer and psychotherapy supervisor. She holds psychotherapy certifications from the Polish Psychological Association, the European Association for Psychotherapy and the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association. She is also a trainer recommended at Levels I and II by the Polish Psychological Association and a certified psychotherapy supervisor of the Polish Psychological Association.
She completed the first Polish edition of ISTDP training, an ISTDP teacher-training course at the Psychotherapy Laboratory, and an advanced ISTDP core training programme in Berlin under the direction of Josette ten Have-de Labije.
From 2021 to 2025, she served as a member of the Board of the Psychotherapy Section of the Polish Psychological Association. She co-founded and co-directs the EMPIRO School of Psychotherapy in Bydgoszcz and the DELTA Centre for Psychological Support and Education in Bydgoszcz.
Why choose this training?
- Experienced ISTDP teachersOur teachers are practising clinicians with many years of experience.
- Practical methods you can use immediatelyAfter completing the material, you will return to your practice with ready-to-use methods that will help you conduct more effective therapeutic interventions with your patients.
- Knowledge that stays with youYou can revisit our online courses whenever you wish and as many times as you need. Your purchase includes unlimited access, allowing you to consolidate and refresh your knowledge effectively.
Ready to start
Anxiety
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