Therapy for Health Anxiety
What is Health Anxiety?
Health anxiety means living with constant worry about your health. You may find yourself checking your body for signs of illness, googling symptoms, or seeking reassurance from doctors, family, or friends. Even when tests come back clear, the worry often returns.
This cycle can feel overwhelming, exhausting, and hard to break on your own.
How Health Anxiety Affects Everyday Life
When you are caught up in health anxiety, everyday life can feel restricted. Many of my clients tell me they:
Spend hours each day worrying about illness or symptoms
Struggle to focus on work, relationships, or hobbies
Feel trapped in a cycle of checking, reassurance seeking, and fear
Experience physical symptoms such as tension, headaches, or fatigue
If this sounds familiar, you are not alone — and there is a way forward.
What Clients Say
Clients I have supported with health anxiety often share that they feel calmer, lighter, and more able to step out of the constant cycle of worry about their health. Many describe discovering a new sense of freedom in daily life, with more space for the things that really matter.
Here are some of their experiences and testimonials. Much of this change has come through Metacognitive Therapy (MCT), a form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) that focuses on how we relate to our thoughts rather than their specific content. This is the main approach I use in supporting people to overcome health anxiety.
You can read more about MCT and how it works on my MCT page.
If you are looking for support with health anxiety, I would be glad to talk with you. Please contact me to arrange an initial consultation.
TESTIMONIALS
Metacognitive Therapy (MCT), EMDR and DBR for health anxiety
I came to therapy struggling with overwhelming health anxiety that was affecting nearly every part of my life. I was stuck in worry, fear and always assuming the worst.
Working with Sarah has been life changing. We started with metacognitive therapy (MCT) which helped me control my worrying. It was really powerful when we explored and weakened my metacognitive beliefs about my health. The techniques and tools that I learned from these sessions opened my eyes to a new way of thinking and being. We did some Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), which I found fascinating.
My therapy also touched on other areas other than health anxiety, and I liked the way we worked together to decide what each session would look like. I now have a stronger sense of self. I just feel wiser, more resilient and hopeful. I am really grateful for Sarah’s expertise, compassion and patience throughout my journey.
(Online, female, aged 39, September 2025)
CBT and EMDR for Health Anxiety
I saw Sarah after a bout of dizziness that brought on an episode of health anxiety that had started to impact my day-to-day life. In fact, the health anxiety was making my physical symptoms worse.
Over my seven sessions, we covered a combination of CBT and EMDR. I learned some very helpful techniques which I could easily practice at home. As a result, I am no longer experiencing health anxiety and I have a plan in place if something like this were to happen again. I am very grateful to Sarah.
(Female, age 39, May 2021)
CBT for Health Anxiety
When I first came to see Sarah, I had severe health anxiety. I had that for the best part of 13 years and it ruled my life. Within 7 sessions I noticed a massive change in myself and my mind. I never thought I would have a sound mind and a healthy, controllable level of anxiety. After engaging in 7 sessions of CBT, the therapy has turned all of this on its head. It has helped me manage my health anxiety and given me a far clearer rational mind. I practiced what I learned in the sessions. CBT does require a level of commitment, some weeks it was more than others.
Working with Sarah was easy and collaborative. All the in-session exercises were well considered and appropriately selected for me. Sarah comprehensively explained the intentions of the tasks. Virtual sessions have been a good point of delivery.
I am looking forward to my future with a far more rational mind.
(Male, age 34, virtual sessions, Dec 2020).
CBT for panic attacks, generalised anxiety and health anxiety
I have suffered with generalised anxiety disorder and health anxiety for most of my life. I came to Sarah for help as things got progressively worse and I was experiencing intense anxiety. I would wake up numerous times throughout the night with my body contracting and feeling incredibly panicky. My guess is that these were panic attacks. I was up night after night experiencing these attacks over and over again and would sit there on the sofa feeling very frightened and wondering what was happening to me, not having a clue how to stop or handle these sensations and feelings. It was a very frightening and distressing experience.
Sarah taught me how to manage my panic symptoms and very quickly the panic attacks soon stopped. I cannot tell you how relieved and grateful to Sarah I am to be free of the panic attacks. I gradually started to sleep better too.
After that, we concentrated on helping me with my generalised anxiety and health anxiety. I can certainly say that CBT and working with Sarah has helped me enormously. I no longer have generalised anxiety disorder and health anxiety. Having suffered for so long with a variety of anxiety symptoms, it is wonderful to be able to manage my anxiety really well. Sarah is always professional, trustworthy and an easy person to talk to. Thank you, Sarah, for your expertise.
(Female, aged 51, virtual sessions, Nov 2020)
CBT to treat health anxiety
I have suffered from health anxiety on and off all my life. During a recent bout of health anxiety, my GP suggested CBT to me and I contacted Sarah. I wanted to solve the problem rather than just ease the symptoms.
Sarah uses a form of CBT called meta-cognitive therapy (MCT), which I think really suits me. I found MCT really easy to incorporate into daily life. After seven hours of therapy, I find I can easily control my health anxiety. I have changed my thinking processes and thereby solved the problem. I believe I can carry this forward for the rest of my life. I would recommend MCT.
(Female, aged 47)