About this session
Workplace anxiety can show up in many different ways. Someone may dread meetings, avoid difficult conversations, overprepare for simple tasks, repeatedly check their work or feel unable to make a decision without reassurance.
Anxiety can make ordinary work feel more threatening than it is, while the behaviors used to feel safer in the moment can sometimes keep the anxiety going.
This session helps participants understand their own workplace anxiety pattern.
They identify the situations that trigger anxiety, the thoughts and physical sensations that follow and the behaviors they use to reduce discomfort, such as avoidance, overchecking, reassurance-seeking or staying silent.
Participants then build practical ways to remain engaged while anxiety is present. They learn how to take smaller approach steps, reduce unnecessary safety behaviors, tolerate some uncertainty and use short regulation strategies when needed.
The final module focuses on support, workplace adjustments and knowing when anxiety is being driven by the environment itself or needs professional support beyond self-management.
What your people take away
- Recognize the workplace situations, thoughts and sensations that trigger anxiety
- Identify avoidance, overchecking and reassurance-seeking behaviors that keep anxiety going
- Use practical strategies to stay engaged with difficult tasks and situations
- Reduce the need for perfect certainty before taking action
- Build a support plan covering personal strategies, workplace support and professional care when needed
Shared with you
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- What each length covers, 30 minutes to full day
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What each length covers
30 minutes
30 Minutes — Key Points: Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety PatternA focused 30-minute session on three key points from Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern: identify the situations that trigger anxiety, notice the thoughts that show up and notice what happens in the body.
- Identify the situations that trigger anxiety
- Notice the thoughts that show up
- Notice what happens in the body
Covers 3 of 4 points in Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern.
60 minutes
60 Minutes — Module 1: Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety PatternParticipants identify the situations that trigger anxiety at work, map the thoughts and behaviors that follow and choose one recurring anxiety pattern to work with.
- Module 1: Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern
- Live Q&A
Covers 1 of 4 parts: Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern.
90 minutes
90 Minutes — Modules 1 and 2: Break the Anxiety–Avoidance CycleEverything in the 60-minute session, plus practical work on avoidance, reassurance-seeking, overchecking and other safety behaviors. Participants identify where short-term relief is keeping anxiety stronger over time.
- Module 1: Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern
- Module 2: Break the Anxiety–Avoidance Cycle
- Personal anxiety-cycle mapping exercise
- Live Q&A
Covers 2 of 4 parts: Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern and Break the Anxiety–Avoidance Cycle.
3 hours
Covers 3 of 4 parts: Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern, Break the Anxiety–Avoidance Cycle and Stay Engaged While Anxiety Is Present.
Full day
Full Day — Full Managing Workplace Anxiety WorkshopFull coverage of all four modules with anxiety mapping, approach planning, regulation practice and support design. Participants leave with a practical 30-day workplace anxiety plan focused on staying engaged rather than avoiding.
- Module 1: Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern
- Module 2: Break the Anxiety–Avoidance Cycle
- Module 3: Stay Engaged While Anxiety Is Present
- Module 4: Build Your Workplace Support Plan
- Workplace anxiety scenarios
- 30-day personal action plan
- Live Q&A
Covers all 4 parts.
Also available as a 4-week or 8-week program, for change that lasts. Ask us about it.
What’s covered
Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern
Every length- Identify the situations that trigger anxietyParticipants identify whether anxiety is most likely to appear around meetings, feedback, making decisions, asking questions, visibility, deadlines or difficult conversations.
- Notice the thoughts that show upParticipants capture thoughts such as 'I will get this wrong,' 'they will judge me' or 'I need to be completely sure first.' They treat those thoughts as predictions to examine rather than instructions they must follow.
- Notice what happens in the bodyParticipants identify physical signs such as tension, racing thoughts, faster breathing, restlessness or nausea that appear when anxiety rises.
- Map what you do nextParticipants identify behaviors such as avoiding, checking repeatedly, asking for reassurance, overpreparing or staying silent and examine how those responses reduce discomfort in the moment while potentially reinforcing anxiety.
Break the Anxiety–Avoidance Cycle
90 minutes and longer- Notice the short-term reliefParticipants identify the immediate relief that comes from avoiding a meeting, delaying a conversation, checking again or asking someone else for reassurance.
- Reduce safety behaviors graduallyParticipants identify one behavior they use to feel safer, such as overpreparing or repeatedly checking, and practice reducing it in a manageable way.
- Stop waiting for perfect certaintyParticipants identify where they keep researching, checking or delaying because they want to feel completely sure.
- Allow the anxiety to rise and fallParticipants practice staying with manageable anxiety long enough to notice that discomfort can change without immediate escape.
Stay Engaged While Anxiety Is Present
3 hours and longer- Use small approach stepsParticipants break avoided situations into manageable actions, such as asking one question, contributing once in a meeting or sending a short message.
- Use regulation without making calm the goalParticipants use short strategies such as slower breathing, grounding or movement to create enough steadiness to act.
- Focus on the task, not the feelingParticipants identify what they actually need to do in the moment and redirect attention toward the task, conversation or decision rather than constantly monitoring whether they still feel anxious.
- Let confidence follow experienceParticipants practice taking proportionate action before confidence fully arrives and use the result as new evidence.
Build Your Workplace Support Plan
Full day only- Identify what practical support would helpParticipants identify whether clearer priorities, more context, preparation time, temporary flexibility or another workplace adjustment would make a recurring anxiety trigger easier to manage.
- Ask for help without overdisclosingParticipants practice explaining what would help them work more effectively without assuming they must share personal or medical information they would rather keep private.
- Know when the workplace is creating the anxietyParticipants identify anxiety being driven by unclear expectations, chronic overload, bullying, unsafe conditions or repeated instability.
- Know when more support is neededParticipants identify persistent or worsening anxiety, panic, sleep disruption, major avoidance or significant difficulty functioning that may justify professional or medical support.
How booking works
- Book online. Create a free Workbliss profile, then pay with session credits, by card or by invoice.
- Pick a date. Choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or book now and set the date later.
- Choose your expert. Within 3 working days, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date.
- We deliver it. Your expert is briefed on your people and goals, then runs the session live online or at your site.
Questions about Managing Workplace Anxiety
How long is Managing Workplace Anxiety?
Managing Workplace Anxiety runs as 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 3 hours or full day. You choose the length when you book. A 30-minute session covers three key points from Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern: identify the situations that trigger anxiety, notice the thoughts that show up and notice what happens in the body. A 60-minute session covers Recognize Your Workplace Anxiety Pattern in full, with a live Q&A. A 90-minute session adds Break the Anxiety–Avoidance Cycle. A 3-hour session adds Stay Engaged While Anxiety Is Present. A full-day session adds Build Your Workplace Support Plan. It is also available as a 4-week or 8-week program.
Can Managing Workplace Anxiety be delivered online or in person?
Yes, both. It runs live online, so every office can join at the same time, or in person at your site, in any country.
How do we book Managing Workplace Anxiety?
Create a free Workbliss profile with your work email, then open Managing Workplace Anxiety to see the price for each length and book it. You can pay with session credits, by card or by invoice, and choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or set it later.
Who leads the session?
A vetted Workbliss expert, briefed on your people, culture and goals before the session. After you book, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date within 3 working days, so you can choose who leads it.
Can it be tailored to our company?
Yes. Every session is shaped around your goals, your people and the benefits you already offer, and delivered by experts in your people’s languages.