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Academic Anxiety: A Therapeutic Approach
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Back to IE Mental Health Awareness Month 2026: A Month of Emotions
Mon, Feb 23, 2026
5 PM – 6:30 PM (GMT+1)
14
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Details
As part of Anxiety Week within the IE Mental Health Awareness Month, this workshop offers a practical and compassionate space to explore academic anxiety in high-pressure university environments.
Feeling overwhelmed, behind, or under constant pressure is a common experience at university, even when it seems like everyone else has it all together. While a certain level of anxiety can help us stay engaged and motivated, unmanaged academic anxiety often leads to procrastination, exhaustion, and reduced performance, gradually impacting self-confidence.
This therapist-led workshop focuses on understanding why anxiety shows up, why it is important to make space for it, and how to respond to it with kindness rather than self-criticism. Grounded in evidence-based approaches, the session introduces practical tools to work with anxiety rather than against it, including values-based action, self-compassion, and strategies to stay engaged even when things feel difficult.
Participants will be invited to rethink anxiety not as an enemy to eliminate, but as a meaningful signal that, when approached with curiosity and acceptance, can help us better understand our needs, navigate academic challenges, and move forward with greater clarity, flexibility, and care.
Speakers
Susmita Rani Biswas
Psychologist
IE University
Rani Biswas is a guidance counselor at IE University, where she provides socio-emotional support to students in an international and multicultural academic setting. She holds a Master’s degree in Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (2013) and has worked with children, adolescents, and adults across both clinical and educational contexts.
In addition to her work at IE, Rani runs a private practice offering therapy, coaching, and psychological evaluation services. Her professional interests include emotional wellbeing, identity, relationships, and how psychological care can remain human, relational, and ethically grounded in times of change and uncertainty.
Yasmin Al-Abrash Ghalyoun
Open Psychology
www.linkedin.com/in/yasmin-al-abrash-ghalyoun-38b26623b
Yasmin is a clinical psychotherapist with experience in both academic and clinical settings, working with children, adolescents, and adults. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in General Health Psychology from the University of Salamanca. In addition to her formal training, she has completed specialized postgraduate education in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness-based interventions, and psychological first aid, with a particular interest in evidence-based, contextual approaches to mental health care.
She currently works as a counsellor at The Global College and offers private psychotherapy services at Open Psychology. Her therapeutic approach focuses on supporting individuals through periods of uncertainty and change, creating a safe and compassionate space to explore, understand, and accept emotional experiences, while fostering flexibility and resilience.