Anxiety therapy  ·  Gold Coast

Anxiety that hasn’t
shifted despite everything
you’ve already tried.

Individual therapy for anxiety, panic, and the relational patterns that keep them in place. In-person in Miami, Gold Coast. Telehealth available Australia-wide.

Book a session Medicare rebates →
Quick answer

Anxiety therapy on the Gold Coast involves working with a clinical psychologist to understand and address the roots of anxiety, not just manage the symptoms. At Jackson Hill Psychology in Miami, Gold Coast, sessions are $234, or $85 out of pocket with a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP.

What does anxiety actually feel like?

Anxiety is almost always about the future. Not the present moment, which is often manageable. What might be coming, what could go wrong before there is time to prevent it, what someone will think when they find out. The nervous system has learned to live slightly ahead of real time.

For some people this is loud: a racing mind, physical tension, panic that arrives without warning. For others it is quieter and harder to name: a background readiness, an efficiency that comes from always having a plan, a sense that relaxing is something other people can afford.

What many people share is a sense that they’ve managed it for a long time, that they know what it is, and that knowing hasn’t been enough to shift it.

Persistent worry Panic attacks Social anxiety Overthinking Physical tension Avoidance Health anxiety Performance anxiety Relationship anxiety

Life organised around preparation.

When anxiety becomes the operating system, people often build their days around reducing it: avoiding situations that might trigger it, anticipating problems before they arrive, reviewing what happened afterwards to understand what went wrong. The preparation is exhausting, and the relief it produces is temporary.

Some people manage this so effectively that they appear to those around them as highly capable and well-organised. Underneath, they are working very hard to prevent something they cannot quite name. The efficiency is real. So is the cost.

The anxiety has, over time, shaped not just individual moments but the larger structure of a life: what kinds of situations are avoided, what kinds of relationships are permitted to get close, what kind of person it feels safe to be. The question is not only how to reduce the anxiety but what built the architecture around it.

What the anxiety is protecting.

Most people who arrive here understand their anxiety reasonably well. They know the triggers. They have tried managing it: breathing techniques, journalling, CBT. Some of those things help in the moment. What has not changed is the underlying state.

Anxiety very often signals an injury to the self's sense of competence or safety. Not a malfunction in the nervous system. A response to a felt threat, sometimes one that has been carried for a long time, often one that is no longer present in the same form but continues to be anticipated. The question worth asking is not only how to reduce the anxiety but what it is communicating about what the self believes is coming.

Anxiety that persists despite understanding has usually found a job. The nervous system is maintaining vigilance: scanning for what might arrive before it does, preparing for outcomes that feel dangerous, staying ahead of what cannot be fully predicted. That vigilance was not irrational when it formed. It was a response to conditions where anticipation was the only available form of control. Understanding those conditions does not release the nervous system from its assignment.

This work approaches anxiety at that level: not the symptoms, but what the vigilance is protecting. The approach draws on relational psychodynamic therapy and ISTDP. More on how the therapy works.

On worry specifically — what it is and why knowing it tends to change so little — there is a piece in Reflections: On Worry.

Jackson Hill, Clinical Psychologist, Jackson Hill Psychology Gold Coast
The psychologist

Someone to go to when
things feel difficult.

MPsych Clinical  ·  AHPRA Registered  ·  Provider No. 5666808K

MPsych Clinical  ·  AHPRA Registered  ·  Provider No. 5666808K

I’m Jackson Hill, a Clinical Psychologist based in Miami, Gold Coast. I work with adults navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, and the relational patterns that shape how these show up.

My orientation is relational and psychodynamic. I also draw on ISTDP and Transference-Focused Psychotherapy. I keep a small caseload and work under ongoing supervision, not because it is required, but because this level of work demands it.

Accessible from Burleigh Heads, Varsity Lakes, Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach, Palm Beach, and across the southern Gold Coast.

Fees, format and what to expect

Session fee

$234 Per session
$85 With MHCP rebate

Medicare rebates apply with a valid Mental Health Care Plan from your GP. How to get a referral →

Format & location

50–60 minute individual sessions.
In-person at Suite 10, 2098 Gold Coast Highway, Miami QLD 4220.
Telehealth available Australia-wide.
Walk-and-talk sessions available.
Parking available at the front and rear of the building, and on the street. All free.

Questions

Frequently asked about anxiety therapy

Jackson Hill uses a relational psychodynamic approach, which works with the emotional and relational roots of anxiety rather than just managing symptoms. Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) is also drawn on, which works with anxiety as it shows up in real time during sessions.

CBT focuses on identifying and changing thoughts and behaviours that contribute to anxiety. Psychodynamic therapy works with the deeper emotional and relational roots: the experiences and patterns that generate anxious responses in the first place. Many people find CBT helpful for managing symptoms but find that psychodynamic work is needed to address what’s underneath.

Yes. With a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, you can access Medicare rebates for anxiety therapy at Jackson Hill Psychology. Sessions are $234 and your out-of-pocket cost with a valid plan is $85 per session.

This depends on the nature and history of the anxiety. Some people notice meaningful shifts within a few months. Others find that longer-term work is needed, particularly when anxiety is connected to longstanding relational patterns or complex trauma. This is discussed openly from the first session.

Jackson Hill Psychology is located at Suite 10, 2098 Gold Coast Highway, Miami QLD 4220. between Burleigh Heads and Mermaid Beach. Accessible from Varsity Lakes, Robina, Broadbeach, Palm Beach, and across the southern Gold Coast. Telehealth is available for clients anywhere in Australia.