This article shares the transformative journey of Sneha, a Mumbai-based corporate executive who overcame deep-rooted relationship anxiety through holistic coaching methods. The blog explores how abandonment fears and attachment wounds manifested in her professional and personal relationships, creating cycles of self-sabotage and emotional instability. Through targeted interventions including inner child work, heart journaling, and self-worth rebuilding exercises, Sneha discovered the root causes of her anxiety and developed healthy relationship patterns. The case study illustrates practical approaches to healing relationship anxiety, fostering emotional stability, and cultivating secure attachment patterns for achieving lasting personal and professional success.

A Breakthrough in Relationship Anxiety: How Sneha Found Emotional Stability

When Success Feels Hollow Without Love

I want to share a story that might sound familiar—it’s about Sneha, a high-achieving corporate executive from Mumbai who had everything figured out on paper, yet felt like she was drowning in her relationships. Her story is a powerful reminder that professional success and personal fulfillment don’t always go hand in hand. When Sneha first reached out to me, she was climbing the corporate ladder with impressive speed. At 28, she was a team leader, a senior manager by 32, and now, at 35, she was being considered for a VP role. But behind the polished LinkedIn profile and corner office lay a different reality—one where every relationship felt like a ticking time bomb.

“I sabotage everything good that comes into my life,” she confessed during our first session. “The moment someone gets close, I either push them away or become so clingy that I suffocate them. I’m exhausted from living in constant fear.”

The Hidden Pattern of Abandonment Fear

Sneha’s relationship anxiety wasn’t just about romantic relationships—it was affecting every connection in her life. She’d over-function in friendships, constantly worried about being left out. At work, she’d say yes to everything, terrified that boundaries might make her colleagues abandon her. In romantic relationships, she oscillated between emotional walls and desperate attachment. The pattern was clear: Sneha lived in constant fear of abandonment, which ironically created the very rejection she feared most.

“I know I’m doing it,” she told me, tears streaming down her face. “I can see myself pushing people away, but I can’t seem to stop. It’s like watching myself destroy everything I care about.”

Uncovering the Roots: Inner Child Work

This is where we dove deep into inner child work—one of the most powerful tools I use for healing relationship anxiety. Sneha’s adult fears weren’t random; they were protection mechanisms developed by a little girl who once felt unsafe and unloved. Through guided visualization and somatic techniques, we discovered that seven-year-old Sneha had learned that love was conditional. Her parents, both successful professionals, had shown affection primarily when she achieved something. Love felt earned, not given freely.

“I remember always trying to be perfect,” she shared after one particularly profound session. “I thought if I could just be good enough, smart enough, successful enough, people wouldn’t leave me.”

The Heart Journaling Revolution

Alongside inner child work, I introduced Sneha to heart journaling—a practice that goes beyond traditional journaling to connect with emotional truth. Instead of writing from her head, I asked her to place her hand on her heart and write from that space of intuitive knowing.
The transformation was remarkable. Her first entries were filled with harsh self-criticism and catastrophic thinking. But gradually, a gentler voice emerged—one that could hold compassion for her fears while recognizing her inherent worth.

“Today I felt scared when Dev didn’t text me back immediately,” one entry read. “My heart wants to remind me that his silence doesn’t equal abandonment. Maybe he’s just busy. Maybe I’m worth waiting for an explanation rather than assuming the worst.”

The Breakthrough Moment

About three months into our work together, Sneha had what she called her “earthquake moment.” She was in a budding relationship with someone she genuinely cared about, and when he mentioned spending a weekend with friends without her, her old patterns activated full force. But this time, instead of pushing him away or becoming clingy, she paused. She placed her hand on her heart, took three deep breaths, and asked herself:

“What does little Sneha need right now?”

“She needs to know she’s lovable,” Sneha told me later. “So I told her. I literally spoke to her like I would comfort a scared child. I told her she was worthy of love, that this man’s need for space wasn’t about her, and that she was safe.”

The relationship not only survived that moment—it deepened.

Rebuilding Self-Worth from the Inside Out

One of the most potent aspects of Sneha’s journey was watching her rebuild her sense of self-worth. Through our work, she realized that she’d been trying to earn love her entire life, not understanding that love—real love-isn’t transactional. We worked on what I call “evidence journaling”—documenting moments when people showed care for her without her having to perform for it. A colleague is bringing her coffee. A friend is checking in during a tough week. Her sister is calling to chat.

“I started seeing love everywhere,” she marveled. “Not because I was finally worthy of it, but because I was finally open to receiving it.”
The Professional Ripple Effect

What surprised Sneha most was how healing her relationship anxiety transformed her professional life. No longer driven by fear of abandonment, she began setting healthy boundaries at work. She stopped over-functioning to gain approval. She started speaking up in meetings, sharing her authentic thoughts rather than what she thought people wanted to hear.

The result? Her leadership became more authentic and compelling. That VP role she’d been chasing? She got it—not by proving her worth, but by embodying it.

Sneha’s Transformation in Her Own Words

“I used to believe I had to earn love through perfection. Now I know I’m worthy of love simply because I exist. That little girl inside me finally feels safe, and from that safety, I can love others without the desperate need to control or cling.”

What we accomplished with Sneha aligns with attachment theory and neuroscience research. Relationship anxiety often stems from early attachment wounds—experiences that teach us love is dangerous or conditional. Through inner child work and somatic practices, we can literally rewire these neural pathways, creating new templates for secure attachment.

Heart journaling, meanwhile, engages the vagus nerve and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, helping to regulate emotions and create a space between the trigger and the response.

Practical Steps for Your Own Journey

If Sneha’s story resonates with you, here are some practices that can support your own healing:

Start with Inner Child Connection

• Set aside 10 minutes daily to connect with your younger self
• Ask: “What did you need that you didn’t receive?”
• Offer that younger part of you the love and reassurance they craved

Practice Heart Journaling

• Place your hand on your heart before writing
• Write from this space of compassion, not criticism
• Focus on what you’re feeling, not just what you’re thinking

Build Evidence of Worthiness

• Document moments when people show care without you earning it
• Notice acts of kindness, inclusion, and genuine affection
• Let this evidence reshape your beliefs about your livability

Create Safety First

• Before addressing relationship fears, ensure you feel safe in your body
• Use breathwork, grounding techniques, or movement to regulate your nervous system
• Remember: healing happens in safety, not in crisis

The Ongoing Journey

Sneha’s breakthrough didn’t happen overnight, and her journey continues. But now she has tools, awareness, and most importantly, a deep knowing of her own worth. Her relationships have transformed—not because she found the “right” person, but because she became the secure person she’d always longed to be. If you’re struggling with relationship anxiety, remember this: your worth isn’t something you need to prove or earn. It’s inherent, unchangeable, and has nothing to do with whether others stay or go.

The work isn’t about becoming perfect enough to guarantee love. It’s about healing the wounds that make you believe you need to be perfect in the first place. As I told Sneha, and as I’ll say to you:

You are worthy of love simply because you exist. The journey is about remembering that truth and living from it, one conscious breath at a time.

Curious to start? Download my free Dharmic Leadership Meditation Guide or book a Dharma Discovery Call. Let’s walk this eternal path together.

Om poornamadah Poornamidam |
Poornaat Poornamudachyate |
Poornasya Poornamaadaya |
Poornamevaavashishyate |
Om shanti, shanti, shanti hi ||

Hari Om Tatsat!

Warm regards,
Abhisshek Om Chakravarty
Life Transformation Coach, Blogger, and Author.
Founder, D.H.A.R.M. Sadhana
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