Health Anxiety Psychologist | Melbourne & Telehealth
Psychological Support for Health Anxiety
Health anxiety can involve persistent fear that normal sensations, minor changes or uncertain test results signal serious illness. Reassurance may help briefly, but the worry returns, leading to checking,repeated searching, appointments or avoidance of health information. Psychological support does not dismiss physical symptoms. It helps address the cycle of threat, uncertainty and reassurance while appropriate medical care continues.
Registered psychologist
Evidence-informed and practical
Selected Melbourne locations
Telehealth Australia-wide where suitable
Self-referral welcome; referral and rebate options available
Does this sound familiar?
The central difficulty is often not whether a symptom is real, but how uncertainty is interpreted and managed over time.
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Frequently checking the body, pulse, skin, breathing, pain or other sensations.
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Repeatedly searching symptoms online or seeking reassurance from others.
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Needing repeated tests or appointments despite short-lived reassurance.
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Avoiding doctors, hospitals, health stories or exercise because they trigger fear.
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Interpreting ordinary sensations as evidence of serious disease.
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Difficulty concentrating on work, relationships or daily life because of health monitoring.
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Fear escalating after illness, loss, a medical event or an uncertain diagnosis.
How therapy may help
Therapy works alongside appropriate medical assessment. It focuses on reducing the behaviours that keep the threat system activated and building a more workable response to uncertainty.
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Understand the cycle between sensations, interpretation, anxiety, checking and reassurance.
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Develop a planned approach to medical advice rather than alternating between overchecking and avoidance.
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Reduce symptom searching, repeated checking and reassurance dependence gradually.
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Build tolerance for ordinary uncertainty without ignoring genuine health needs.
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Address panic, grief, trauma, chronic illness or family experiences that intensify health fear.
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Reconnect attention with valued activities and relationships outside symptom monitoring.
What sessions may involve
Treatment may draw on CBT, exposure and response prevention principles, ACT, attention strategies and behavioural experiments within the psychologist’s competence. The work should never instruct a person to ignore red-flag symptoms or discontinue medical care.
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Clarifying the health concerns, medical advice received and current checking or avoidance patterns.
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Agreeing on a safe and proportionate approach to future medical questions.
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Practising reduced reassurance and increased tolerance of uncertainty in stages.
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Reviewing whether the plan supports both safety and a fuller daily life.
How getting started usually works
1. Send a short enquiry or book a psychology session. The current concern is preselected in the form.
2. The practice checks age group, service fit, Melbourne or telehealth preference, availability and referral or funding pathway.
3. The first appointment clarifies the concern, history, functioning, goals, strengths and any safety or medical factors.
4. You and the psychologist agree on a plan, review progress and adjust the work as needed.
Health anxiety treatment does not replace medical diagnosis
New, severe, worsening or medically concerning symptoms should be assessed by an appropriate health professional. A psychologist does not determine whether physical symptoms are benign. The aim is to coordinate a reasonable medical pathway while reducing unhelpful checking, reassurance and avoidance.
Related support
Concerns often overlap. These pages may also help you identify the most suitable starting point:
Tell us what is affecting everyday life
The form should preselect “Health anxiety”. Tell us briefly what you would like help with, who the appointment is for and whether you prefer Melbourne or telehealth. You can select more than one concern or choose “Not sure”.
This form is not monitored continuously and is not for urgent or crisis support. If there is immediate danger, call 000. Lifeline is available on 13 11 14. For family or sexual violence support, contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or text 0458 737 732.
FAQs
Does health anxiety mean my symptoms are imaginary?
No. Physical sensations are real. Health anxiety describes the pattern of fear, interpretation and behaviour around health uncertainty, not whether a sensation exists.
Will therapy tell me to stop seeing doctors?
No. The goal is appropriate, planned medical care rather than repeated reassurance or complete avoidance. Your GP remains important for physical assessment.
What if I actually have a chronic illness?
People with diagnosed illness can also experience understandable anxiety. Therapy can help with uncertainty, monitoring, appointments, coping and quality of life without denying the medical condition.
Can online symptom searching be part of the problem?
Yes. Searching can produce brief relief but often increases attention to rare conditions and uncertainty. Therapy can help build a more deliberate approach to health information.
Is telehealth appropriate for health anxiety?
Often, subject to clinical suitability. The psychologist may also encourage coordinated GP involvement where medical questions remain unresolved.