Beginning to “Rewire Your Anxious Brain”
Today I’m bringing you a resource that I have really been enjoying. I recently took a training with Catherine Pittman, PhD as part of my continuing education as a professional that works with anxiety and ADHD. I really enjoyed the way that Dr. Pittman explained the brain processes involved with anxiety in the brain and body. This will be part of a series inspired by Dr. Pittman and Elizabeth Karle’s work.
Two Distinct Anxiety Pathways
The book emphasizes that anxiety arises through two different but interconnected brain pathways:
Amygdala-based anxiety is fast, automatic, and rooted in fear conditioning (e.g., panic, phobias, trauma responses).
Amygdala anxiety is body based.
Cortex-based anxiety is slower and rooted in thoughts, worry, and rumination (e.g., overthinking, perfectionism, anticipatory anxiety).
Cortex anxiety is thought based.
Treatment differs depending on the dominant pathway. Amygdala-based anxiety responds well to exposure and relaxation training, while cortex-based anxiety requires cognitive restructuring and mindfulness.
The Amygdala: Anxiety’s Alarm System
It works without conscious thought—triggering a fight-flight-freeze response when it senses danger.
It learns through experience (especially fear conditioning), not logic.
You can’t “think” your way out of amygdala-based anxiety, but you can retrain it using techniques like:
Systematic desensitization
Exposure therapy
Progressive muscle relaxation
Breathing practices to calm physiological responses
One of the things that I find really validating about knowing this is that sometimes you feel anxious and you don’t know why- this would offer some explanation.
. The Cortex: Anxiety’s Narrator
This part of the brain creates, interprets, and maintains anxiety through thought patterns, beliefs, and what-if scenarios.
It’s influenced by past experiences, societal messages, and internalized narratives.
🌿 Tools to support cortex-driven anxiety include:
Cognitive restructuring (CBT)
Mindfulness practices
Values clarification and acceptance strategies (ACT)
Narrative reframing
The Cortext can be reasoned with, we can explore the connection between emotion, thoughts and actions with cortex based anxiety.
Retraining the Brain: Neuroplasticity in Action
Repetition and consistency are key. The brain can be rewired through experiences, not just insight.
Both the amygdala and cortex can be reshaped through intentional actions such as:
Building new associations with triggers
Practicing new behaviors over and over
Consciously choosing different thoughts and supporting and reinforcing them with new behavior
If this felt helpful, stay tuned because as I go through this book I will be creating more resource pages that help us build an understanding of what is happening with anxiety in the brain and how to work of getting relief.
You can get a copy of “Rewiring Your Anxious Brain” from many different sources:
your public library, if they don’t have a copy- one of the fantastic things about public libraries is that you can request copies of books from other libraries and if there is no copy- you can request that they purchase a copy so that you can borrow it! Such a helpful resource!
Your local ‘mom and pop” bookstore!
As always, take such good care!
Laney Holtgrefe LCSW
