Understanding Health Anxiety

Health anxiety and worry about physical symptoms is very common and distressing. Cognitive behaviour
therapy can be very helpful and, in this guide, Christine Kuchemann and Diana Sanders describe how to treat
the problem. They describe a model of health anxiety to enable you to understand your concerns. The
booklet goes through a number of methods, based on CBT, which you can use yourself or with the help of a
therapist.

Christine Küchemann was a clinical psychologist with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust until she passed away in
2007. She is much missed as a colleague and friend, but her words remain.

Diana Sanders is a Counselling Psychologist working in Psychological Medicine at the John Radcliffe Hospital in
Oxford. She has written a number of books and chapters on CBT and physical health, and is author of ‘Overcoming
Phobias’.