Journal

Perspectives on psychology and living well.

Written by the clinicians at VPC - on relationships, anxiety, the science of change, and the questions people most often bring into session.

Person in calm, reflective moment
Anxiety

Why "just relax" doesn't work - and what the research actually suggests

The instruction to calm down misunderstands how anxiety functions in the brain. The nervous system doesn't respond to logic alone - it responds to experience. Here's what the clinical literature says about what actually shifts things, and why some of the most effective approaches feel counterintuitive at first.

VPC Vancouver Psychology Centre  ·  April 22, 2026  ·  7 min read