By Elysia Bullen, Registered Counsellor & Psychotherapist
Anxiety and depression are among the most common mental health concerns, affecting people across all stages of life. While they are often spoken about as clinical conditions with specific symptoms, they are also deeply human experiences — frequently arising in response to stress, loss, uncertainty, or feeling disconnected from what matters most. If you’re seeking anxiety counselling Bassendean locals trust, understanding values-based living may offer a new path forward.
Alongside evidence-based treatments, one therapeutic approach that can be particularly supportive is values-based living. Rather than focusing solely on symptom reduction, this approach helps individuals reconnect with meaning, purpose, and direction, even while anxiety or depression is present.
Anxiety is often characterised by persistent worry, fear, or a sense of threat. It can show up as racing thoughts, physical tension, avoidance, or a constant feeling of being on edge.
Depression, on the other hand, is commonly associated with low mood, loss of interest or pleasure, fatigue, hopelessness, and a sense of disconnection from oneself or others.
Although different in presentation, anxiety and depression often coexist. Both can narrow a person’s world, pulling attention toward danger, failure, or inadequacy, and away from activities, relationships, and values that once felt meaningful.
Values are the qualities and principles that matter most to us — such as connection, honesty, creativity, compassion, growth, or responsibility. They are not goals to be achieved, but directions we choose to move toward over time.
Living a values-based life does not mean feeling good all the time. Instead, it involves making choices that align with what matters, even when uncomfortable thoughts or emotions are present. This perspective is central to several evidence-based therapies and offers an alternative to the idea that life must feel calm or positive before it can be meaningful.
Anxiety and depression often encourage avoidance. Anxiety may push a person to withdraw from situations that feel uncertain or uncomfortable, while depression can drain motivation and make even small steps feel overwhelming. Over time, this avoidance can shrink life and reinforce feelings of emptiness, fear, or stuckness.
A values-based approach gently shifts the focus from “How do I get rid of these feelings?” to “How do I want to live, even while these feelings are here?” This shift can be both grounding and empowering.
Values-based living supports anxiety and depression in several key ways:
Importantly, this approach does not deny the reality of distress. It acknowledges that pain is part of being human, while also recognising that a meaningful life is still possible.
Counselling provides a supportive space to explore anxiety, depression, and values together. Therapeutic work may involve clarifying what truly matters, noticing patterns of avoidance or self-criticism, and supporting behaviour change that feels realistic and compassionate.
Rather than pushing for immediate symptom relief, values-based counselling focuses on helping individuals live more fully and authentically, with symptoms often softening as a result of increased engagement and self-compassion.
If anxiety or depression is shaping your life in ways that feel limiting, counselling can help you reconnect with meaning, direction, and choice, one step at a time.
Call The Wellness Place on (08) 9379 3838 or visit our contact page to book an appointment.
Article by Elysia Bullen, Registered Counsellor & Psychotherapist, Perth.