Find a therapist for health anxiety

Health anxiety is characterised by the cycle of worry, checking, and temporary relief that reassurance brings, followed by the return of anxiety.

Common signs

• Persistent worry about having a serious or life-threatening illness despite medical reassurance
• Frequent checking of the body for signs of illness, or conversely, avoiding any health-related information
• Interpreting ordinary bodily sensations, a headache, a twinge, a change in heartbeat, as evidence of something serious
• Repeated medical consultations or requests for tests, with only brief relief from the results
• Difficulty focusing on daily life because of health-related thoughts
• Researching symptoms extensively, which typically increases rather than reduces worry

Other common experiences

• Anxiety that shifts from one health concern to another once one is resolved
• Avoidance of medical settings, health-related content, or conversations about illness
• Significant impact on relationships, as others struggle to provide the reassurance sought

Only a qualified mental health professional can assess whether health anxiety meets the threshold for illness anxiety disorder or another diagnosable condition. Health anxiety frequently co-occurs with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and depression.

Health anxiety responds well to structured psychological treatment, particularly approaches that interrupt the reassurance cycle and change the relationship with anxious thoughts.

• CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) CBT for health anxiety targets the specific thought patterns, checking behaviours, and reassurance-seeking that maintain the cycle, using exposure and cognitive restructuring to build more flexible responses.
• ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) ACT helps you change your relationship with health-related thoughts rather than trying to suppress or disprove them, reducing their ability to dominate daily life.
• Mindfulness Mindfulness-based approaches build the ability to notice anxious thoughts about health without immediately escalating them, reducing the automatic spiral from sensation to catastrophe.
• Schema therapy Schema therapy is useful when health anxiety is rooted in deeper beliefs about vulnerability, danger, or the need for certainty, working at a more foundational level than symptom-focused approaches alone.

Choosing an approach isn't something you have to do alone. IC's matching can pair you with a therapist whose approach suits your situation. Get matched.

It's Complicated is a therapist-founded mental health platform connecting clients with verified practitioners across Europe and globally, in over 60 languages. We work with over 2,500 vetted therapists, with in-person availability in Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon, Vienna, and other major cities, alongside online sessions worldwide. It's Complicated is free to use, and you pay your chosen therapist directly at rates they set. Health anxiety can make the process of finding a therapist feel like another thing to worry about. Our matching service is built to remove that friction. You complete a short survey, our psychologists combine data-driven insights with human judgement to identify the right therapists for your situation, and you choose from a shortlist of strong candidates. You can also browse our directory directly if you'd prefer to choose yourself. Get matched with a therapist who specialises in health anxiety, or browse the directory.