Two things to know about health anxiety.
One: the symptoms can be incredibly intense—so reassurance alone doesn’t work for long, because your body still feels like something is wrong.
Two: the things you do to cope—checking, Googling, scanning, asking for reassurance—help in the moment, but they keep you stuck in the health anxiety cycle.
I start with psychoeducation. When you understand why your body can feel this way, it takes some of the fear out of it. Most people don’t realise how quickly your mind can change your body. Think of your favourite food—apple pie, for example. Imagine the smell and taste. Notice your mouth… more saliva? That’s your mind changing your physiology and I explain it better in the video below.
I understand this on a personal level too—I had panic disorder, and I know how real those feelings are. Once you understand what’s happening, you can stop treating every sensation like a threat. Then we build the next step: a different response to the urge to check—because that’s what changes the pattern.
Start with this experiment - it's important ( turn the volume up to hear my instructions )
The symptoms you feel are real, and in this quick video I want to show you how your thought processes change your physiology.
Read this again after you watch the video. When you visualise the food, your brain interprets the thought as a real event, and signals your salivary glands to prepare for digestion.
In health anxiety when you visualise a physical sensation as a 'threat', your brain perceives a danger that isn't there; your brain triggers chemicals that physically change your body and explain the symptoms you feel - they are real.
My course is very practical and aims to help you not only understand what is happening in your body, but also how to change it.
How Health Anxiety Works
Health anxiety is incredibly resilient; it "feeds" on the very things you do to try and feel safe. When you check your pulse, Google a symptom, or seek reassurance, you get a small, temporary drop in anxiety. But that very act "proves" to your brain that there was a danger to begin with.
This creates a self-sustaining cycle: The more you check to feel safe, the more "on alert" your brain becomes. You get caught in a health anxiety cycle.
In this course, we will use the Cognitive Model (shown above) to allow you to break that cycle
Is This Course For You?
This program will help with;
- The "Checking" Cycle: You spend hours checking your body for sensations, heart rate, or skin changes.
- The Reassurance Trap: You find yourself trapped on "Dr. Google" or frequently seeking reassurance from doctors and loved ones, only for the fear to return hours later.
- Hyper-Vigilance: You feel "on guard" at all times, misinterpreting normal bodily functions (like a twitch or a headache) as signs of a catastrophe.
- Avoidance: You have started avoiding exercise, certain foods, or even medical appointments because the fear of "finding something" is too great.
Dr Elaine Ryan - How this course works
I am a psychologist with over 20 years of experience specializing exclusively in Anxiety Disorders and OCD. This course is not a collection of "stress-relief tips." It is the clinical translation of two decades of research and thousands of hours spent in one-to-one therapy sessions.
I have designed this curriculum to follow the format of sessions with myself. It is really important to me that my courses are useful to you. I collect feedback on all my courses to allow me to see what works and what doesn't, and you can view the current feedback for this health anxiety course here.
If for any reason you do not find this course useful, it comes with a 10 day no questions asked money back guarantee.
Elaine
Look inside the course
Example Curriculum
The Methodology
Through my research and 20 years of practice, I’ve found that Health Anxiety isn't just about "worry." It functions almost exactly like OCD.
When you have a "what if" thought about your health, it triggers a compulsion—the urge to check, scan, or search for answers. If you only treat the worry but ignore the compulsion, the anxiety will always come back.
This course uses a Dual-Model Approach:
- Specialized Anxiety Protocols: To deconstruct the physical sensations in your body.
- OCD-Informed Tools: To break the "compulsive" cycle of checking and searching so your brain can finally "reset."
How this works
This is a structured, session-by-session digital program designed by myself to replicate sessions with myself..
- Step 1: We start with psychoeducation. You’ll learn the science of why your brain is misinterpreting symptoms and how we will rewire that response.
- Step 2: Breaking the Compulsion: I will guide you through the exact tools I use to help clients stop the "urge to check" without feeling overwhelmed.
- Step 3: Real-World Recovery: We move into "Behavioural Experiments"—manageable, step-by-step actions that prove to your brain that you are safe in your body. These are the same I use in session and everything you need is in this course.