For people who fear what bodily sensations might mean, even when tests are normal
Health anxiety often develops gradually. You may begin by noticing a bodily sensation, a change in breathing, heartbeat, pain, dizziness, or gut symptoms, and find that your attention becomes increasingly drawn to your body.
Even when medical reassurance is given, the fear doesn’t settle for long.
I provide health anxiety therapy in Central London (W1 / W1W) and online, helping adults step out of the fear-monitoring-reassurance cycle and restore trust in their body.
How health anxiety commonly presents
People often describe:
- Constant monitoring of bodily sensations
- Googling symptoms or checking forums
- Repeated reassurance-seeking from doctors or loved ones
- Short-lived relief followed by renewed fear
- Avoidance of exercise, travel, or being alone
- Feeling unable to trust their body or their judgement
Health anxiety is exhausting and often accompanied by shame or frustration.
The health anxiety cycle
Health anxiety is maintained by a very specific loop:
- A bodily sensation appears
- The mind interprets danger (“What if this is serious?”)
- Anxiety rises; the body becomes more sensitised
- You respond by:
- checking
- monitoring
- googling
- seeking reassurance
- avoiding activity
- Anxiety reduces briefly
- The brain learns: the sensation was dangerous
- Sensitivity increases, and the cycle repeats
The problem is not the sensation, it’s how fear and attention interact with it.
How ISTDP understands health anxiety
From an ISTDP perspective, health anxiety is often a form of displaced anxiety.
When strong emotions (such as anger, grief, or closeness) feel unsafe or unacceptable, anxiety may be redirected into the body. Sensations become the focus because they feel more manageable than feelings.
In therapy, we work to:
- identify which emotions trigger anxiety
- notice how anxiety moves into the body
- reduce fear of sensations by addressing their emotional source
- increase emotional capacity so the body no longer needs to “signal danger”
This approach goes beyond reassurance and symptom management.
How therapy helps with health anxiety
Therapy focuses on helping you:
- Understand how fear, attention, and bodily sensations interact
- Reduce checking, reassurance-seeking, and avoidance
- Build tolerance for uncertainty and physical sensations
- Reconnect with emotions that anxiety has been masking
- Restore confidence in your body through lived experience
The aim is not to eliminate all sensations, but to remove fear as the organising principle.
What sessions usually involve
Early sessions
- Mapping your personal health anxiety cycle
- Understanding the role of past illness, stress, or emotional patterns
- Clarifying what reassurance has been doing for you
Ongoing work
- Working directly with anxiety responses in session
- Reducing safety behaviours
- Increasing emotional awareness and regulation
- Gradually returning to restricted activities
Related ways I work
Health anxiety therapy may integrate:
- ISTDP – addressing emotional drivers of bodily anxiety
- CBT approaches – reducing fear of sensations and avoidance
- PPS-informed work – when symptoms themselves have become the main source of fear
You may also find these pages helpful:
Frequently asked questions
What if my symptoms are real?
They often are. Therapy does not dismiss symptoms; it works with how fear and attention respond to them.
Will therapy stop symptoms completely?
The aim is to reduce fear and restriction, so symptoms lose their power rather than dominate your life.
Does this work online?
Yes. Health anxiety therapy works effectively online and in person.
Next steps
If this cycle feels familiar, therapy can help you step out of it.
