Find Clarity - Hypochondria Counselling & Treatment at Bayside Psychotherapy

Minor health concerns can be harmless as most who worry try to take good care of themselves. But being a hypochondriac often involves obsessing about health concerns to the point of detriment. While everyone feels anxious and stressed when thinking about their health and mortality, being obsessed and fraught with worry on an ongoing basis can consume you. If you have been considering entering therapy for hypochondria, read our FAQs page to learn how our hypochondria treatment works.

Some people report they obsess, stay up at night, afraid for their life and wellbeing because they can’t let go of a nagging worry that something is wrong with them — sometimes despite several doctors confirming a clean bill of health.

Health anxiety may involve a displacement from one anxiety to another. For example moving from something unprocessed in a person’s past displaced onto a bodily fear fixation. It is not uncommon for such body based fixations known as health anxiety to change from one specific fear to another.

Can I Get Help With My Health Anxiety?

Health anxiety involves preoccupation about the body, as particular to each individual. Persistent obsessions with imagined body illness (even where medical tests demonstrate nothing sinister) often serve as defense mechanisms against painful, but unprocessed, thoughts and emotions from childhood. Emotional pain can even get transferred into physical pain. The clinicians at Bayside Psychotherapy will aim to help you unearth and resolve the causes, and stop ruminating about symptoms, through mindfulness therapy, counselling or psychotherapy, depending on which therapist you work with and what approach you are ready for.

We will endeavour to tackle your anxiety via video conferencing from the comfort of your own home or during face-to-face sessions in our clinic. 

Call us on (03) 9557 9113 to book your confidential appointment. You can also book an appointment by using our online booking form for online appointments. Or, if you prefer, you can book an in-clinic session.

Let’s work together to see if we can help you combat your medical fears.

How Do I Know That My Fears Are Hypochondria?

Some clients report the following experiences:

• You’re plagued with worry about medical decisions, despite a clean bill of health.
• Life is spent continually worrying or losing sleep about unfounded health fears.
• You feel ongoing stress over mild medical symptoms.
• You avoid going out or getting close to people because you’re afraid of catching a contagious disease.
• Actual bodily syndromes may seem to emerge in response to chronic stress and anxiety.

Health anxiety is a crippling experience for some, more recently termed illness anxiety disorder, that requires attention. Our therapy endeavours to help you manage and maybe even ameliorate hypochondria* The treatment plan will depend upon your unique circumstances, what function hypochondria serves (or aims to serve).

The good news is that counselling and psychotherapy are available for people who are curious and open to talking through their issues. One suggested approach could be mindfulness therapy which may help calm the anxious mind if needed during the initial phases of therapy.

When Will I Start to Feel Better?

Treatment types and timelines will vary based on the individual but taking the first step in the right direction has the potential to make a massive difference. If you are interested in hypnotherapy, we have a health anxiety mp3 recording to compliment, but not replace sessions.