brightside-psychology-2025

Why EMDR Might be the Missing Puzzle Piece in Your Health Anxiety

sharon@kangaroouk.com (Sharon Keevins) — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 18:55:37 GMT

By Dr Sophie Gwinnett, Clinical Psychologist and Health Anxiety specialist

Discover why this powerful, trauma-informed approach is now being used by Brightside Psychology clinicians to help our clients to successfully recover from health anxiety, for good.

If you’ve tried everything for health anxiety and nothing seems to stick, perhaps something different is needed. A psychological therapy that doesn’t just view health anxiety as ‘irrational thinking’ or ‘faulty behaviour patterns’.

Hi, I’m Dr. Sophie Gwinnett, a Clinical Psychologist and health anxiety specialist. I’ve worked in the field of mental health for over two decades and have walked alongside hundreds of clients navigating the exhausting rollercoaster of health anxiety.

Health anxiety isn’t just about worrying a little too much. It’s a full-body, full-brain experience that can hijack your day, your decisions, and your peace of mind. And while traditional cognitive and behavioural therapies can be helpful, sometimes they don’t quite get to the why behind the worry.

That’s where EMDR comes in.

Wait…what is EMDR?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing and it uses bilateral stimulation (usually side to side eye movements) to reprocess earlier experiences that continue to trigger our nervous system in the here-and-now. It might sound like something out of a sci-fi film but it’s a well-researched, evidence-based therapy that enables people to process and heal from trauma and free themselves from the internal terror of health anxiety.

Originally developed for PTSD, EMDR helps the brain "digest" disturbing memories so they no longer feel so present and powerful. Think of it as helping your nervous system to finally realise, that was then, this is now.

So, how does this help with health anxiety?

Here’s the thing: health anxiety is often the result of a nervous system that’s been on high alert for a really long time. It’s about old stories the body remembers from earlier in your life, and the hypervigilance and reassurance seeking are adaptive responses to a time when the world felt uncertain and unpredictable.

Maybe you had a health scare as a child.
Maybe you grew up in a home where illness or loss were a feature.
Maybe you grew up in an unsafe environment and you internalised a belief that your safety depended on constant vigilance.
Maybe you grew up with caring responsibilities from a young age. Survival depended on you.

EMDR is designed to target the emotional and sensory memories tied to those early experiences. Instead of just challenging your thoughts , it works with the deeper layers, the body memories, the panic, the shame, the "what ifs" that feel like life-or-death. EMDR isn’t just about healing the past, it can also help you reprocess the present and prepare for the future . In health anxiety, current triggers like a new symptom, a doctor’s appointment, or even hearing about someone else’s illness can set off a surge of fear that feels overwhelming and out of proportion. EMDR helps process the fear that those experiences create so they no longer feel like emergencies. And it doesn’t stop there. EMDR can also target imagined worst-case scenarios in the future, the “what ifs” that play on a loop, so you can face future uncertainty with more calm, clarity, and self-trust. It’s not about pretending nothing bad will ever happen, it’s about reclaiming your power in the face of not knowing.

Unlike other therapies you don’t have to “relive” anything in gruesome detail. EMDR is incredibly adaptable and, in the hands of a skilled EMDR practitioner, gentle and collaborative.

What makes EMDR different from just talking?

Let’s be honest: sometimes talking about your health anxiety just makes you feel more anxious. You can spiral into analysing symptoms, chasing reassurance, or trying to think your way out of something that didn’t start in the thinking brain to begin with.

EMDR bypasses that loop. It helps integrate unprocessed emotional material so your brain and body can finally stop firing the alarms. Many of my clients describe it as the first time they’ve felt real distance from their fear, not just intellectually, but emotionally and physically.

Who is EMDR for?

If your health anxiety feels stuck in a cycle of checking, Googling, seeking reassurance, or panicking about every new sensation, EMDR might be a good fit.

It’s especially powerful if:

Your health anxiety started after a traumatic health experience.
You had childhood experiences involving illness, loss, over-responsibility or unpredictable caregiving.
You've tried CBT or other symptom-focused therapies and experiences further episodes of health anxiety.

What does EMDR look like in my practice?

At Brightside Psychology we are a team of highly trained and experienced clinicians. Our EMDR approach blends evidence-based psychological formulation, attachment theory, relational work and symptom management. It is always trauma-informed and delivered with care, collaboration, and compassion.

Sessions are paced to your nervous system. We build resources, we create safety, and we only go where your system is ready to go. EMDR is never about pushing, it’s about healing.

Still unsure? That’s okay.

Trying a new therapy can feel daunting, especially when you’ve spent years trying to figure out your health anxiety. You can visit the EMDR Association website at https://emdrassociation.org.uk/ to learn more about the approach.

You can also book a free 15-minute phone call with me, Dr Sophie Gwinnett, through this website and we can decide together whether EMDR might be the right therapy for you. Whether you’re ready to dive in or just have a few questions, I’m here to help you make an informed, empowered choice.

We offer sessions in-person or online at a time and day to suit you.

Working with Health Anxiety: A Brief Guide for Therapists

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 17:27:51 GMT

By Dr Sophie Gwinnett, Clinical Psychologist and Health Anxiety specialist

Supporting clients with health anxiety requires more than reassurance or symptom-focused strategies. It’s about truly understanding the story behind the fear. Here are my top five tips for therapists working in this space, grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and a trauma-informed approach:

1.Start with a rich psychological formulation

Health anxiety doesn’t appear out of nowhere. Explore earlier life experiences that may have shaped core beliefs around responsibility, safety, and vulnerability. Were they given the message that illness equals catastrophe? That emotions are dangerous? That they’re responsible for keeping others well? A collaborative, evolving formulation anchors the work, helps you see beyond the symptoms and provides a map for therapy.

2. Address the 'wounds beneath the worry'

Don’t overlook the role of trauma. Whether it's medical trauma, attachment disruptions, unprocessed grief or early experiences of feeling unsafe or responsible. Health anxiety can sometimes be a protective strategy in response to unresolved emotional pain. When appropriate, therapy should create space for trauma processing. Approach with compassion, validate often, and honour their story.

3. Work with catastrophic thoughts and the control agenda

For many, health anxiety is an attempt to control the uncontrollable. Catastrophic health-related rumination may give the illusion of control in an unpredictable world. Invite clients to shift from control to compassionate acceptance. ACT is powerful here: what would it mean to make room for uncertainty and still live meaningfully? Invite clients to become more mindful of their thought patterns, name the story, and teach them defusion techniques to gain distance from their unhelpful thoughts. This builds psychological flexibility, rather than increasing cognitive battles.

4. Address maintaining behaviours and cultivate values-based actions

Behaviours such as reassurance seeking, Googling symptoms, excessive body checking and avoidance maintain the cycle of health anxiety. Help clients to identify the costs of these behaviours in the long-term. Work towards connecting them with their values. What matters most to them beyond the pursuit of health-related control? Help clients to notice the urges to engage in these behaviours with curiosity and guide them towards small, meaningful actions that are aligned with their values, even in the presence of anxiety.

5. Instill compassion, kindness and hope

Health anxiety often brings intense shame, self-criticism and isolation and clients can report feeling "weak" or "broken". Normalise their health anxiety as an understandable response to vulnerability and loss, rather than personal failures. Reflect back to them the values that underlie the pain: deep care and a desire to live a rich and meaningful life. Model and encourage the development of a compassionate inner voice, one that can respond to the anxious part of themselves with kindness and always instill hope, genuinely and often, that change is possible.

At its heart, working with health anxiety is about helping someone make sense of their story, heal from past wounds, and shift the patterns that keep anxiety in place. As therapists, our aim is to move clients to reconnect with life, rather than being imprisoned by fear. When we engage deeply with this work with compassion, skill and attunement, we don't just witness symptom reduction but we witness our clients rediscover joy and vitality!

If you would like to discuss clinical supervision for health anxiety or health trauma, please get in touch with Dr Sophie Gwinnett at contact@brightsidepsychology.com

Creative Conversations on Grief - Participant Information Leaflet

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 06:22:47 GMT

Welcome to Creative Conversations on Grief

We understand that grief is a unique and personal experience that can impact many areas of your life. We also recognise that there is no ‘right’ or universal way to grieve, your needs may be very different from someone else’s needs when it comes to grieving the loss of a

loved one.

This Information Leaflet is designed to give you an overview of ‘Creative Conversations on Grief’, a 6-week therapy group run by Brightside Psychology and Codsall Hive Creative Craft Café. The group is being funded by South Staffordshire Council so it is free for participants.

Before agreeing to attend the group it’s important that you read this information leaflet and decide whether the group feels like a helpful intervention for you at the current time.

About the Group

Whether your loss is recent or has occurred some time ago, grief can leave you feeling overwhelmed, uncertain, and isolated. This group is designed to offer a safe, compassionate and supportive space where you can explore your grief over six sessions.

The group is based upon a ‘remembering’ model. This means that it will involve talking about your loved one, their life, their strengths, qualities and values. The aim of the group is to explore how you can continue your connection to your loved one now that they’re

physically gone.

It’s important to weigh up whether you feel ready to talk about your loved one and the impact of the loss on you, and to hear other people’s stories of loss. It’s ok if you don’t feel able to do this, we can discuss other options of support with you.

Who Should Attend?

This group is for any adult over the age of 18 who is coping with the loss of a loved one and is living in the South Staffordshire area. It is open to individuals of all backgrounds and experiences.

Before being offered a place on the group, you will need to attend a 15-minute screening telephone call with a member of the Brightside Psychology Team.

Because there are only 12 spaces available on the group, we do ask that you only sign up if you’re able to commit to attending all 6 sessions.

Group Details

Duration: 6 weekly sessions

Date and Time: Thursday evenings, 6.30 – 8pm, starting 6 th March 2025 (and 5 consecutive weeks thereafter)

Location: Codsall Hive Creative Craft Café, 17 Church Road, Codsall, WV8 1EA

Facilitators: The group will be led by Dr Sophie Gwinnett, Clinical Psychologist, Vicky Swann, Trainee Counsellor and members of the Codsall Hive team.

Format: Each session will include a creative activity guided by the Codsall Hive team (no artistic or creative flair is necessary!), whilst the Brightside Psychology team guide you through conversation topics relating to you and your loved one. You will also be given a journal and some journaling questions to complete each week in between the sessions.

What to Expect from the Group

Story Telling and Remembering: The group is a space for you to share stories about your loved one and to remember them. We encourage you to invite us to get to know them through you; their likes, dislikes, values and strengths. You are welcome to bring photos of your loved one to share with the group.

Connection to your Loved One: Over the 6 weeks, the sessions will explore how you can continue the connection and bond with your loved one moving forward, whilst acknowledging the pain of no longer having their physical presence in your life.

Emotional Expression: It’s completely normal to feel a range of emotions during this process. The group will provide a safe space to express these emotions freely and without judgment (we will bring plenty of tissues!)

Connection with Others: Grief can be isolating, but in this group you will connect with others who understand what you’re going through. Sharing your story and hearing from others can help you feel supported and less alone.

Session Breakdown

Week 1 – Who We Are, Who We Love: Introducing yourself and your loved one to the group. Agreeing group rules and introducing journaling.

Week 2 – Unpacking The Language of Grief: Exploring the helpful and unhelpful things that we’re told when grieving. Choosing your own narrative of grief.

Week 3 – The Heart of Who They Were: Exploring what you admired in your loved one. Their strengths, values and qualities, and how you can shine some of their light for others, moving forward.

Week 4 – Through Their Eyes: seeing yourself through your loved one’s eyes, reflecting on your own strengths, values and qualities

Week 5 – The Values that Guide Us: Tools for Tough TImes: Reflecting on their strengths and values, and what they loved in us, how can you cope with challenging times ahead as you continue to navigate loss?

Week 6 – Continuing Connections: finding ways to honour your loved one while continuing with life, folding their stories into your own story moving forward

Group Guidelines

To ensure a safe and supportive environment, we ask that all participants agree to the following:

Respect each other’s privacy—what’s shared in the group stays in the group
Arrive on time and commit to attending all sessions
Be present and engaged during the sessions
Share your experiences and listen to others with empathy and understanding

How to Join the Group

If you feel that the group is the right intervention for you, please contact Sophie at Brightside Psychology either via email at sophiegwinnett@brightsidepsychology.com , or via text on 07541 517168 .

You will be asked to complete an intake form with a couple of brief questionnaires. We will repeat these questionnaires at the end of the group programme. This is essential for us to review the overall progress of the group and may influence us being able to attract further funding in the future for community group work.

Places will be issued on a first come, first served basis. We will also hold a small reserve list in case anybody changes their mind closer to the start date.

Additional Support

If you need individual therapy or additional resources during or after the group, we can discuss this with you.

If you would like to learn more about the work of Brightside Psychology, please visit www.brightsidepsychology.com

If you would like to learn more about the Codsall Hive Café, please visit www.codsallhive.co.uk

Brightside Psychology joins Compton Care Business Club

sharon@kangaroouk.com (Sharon Keevins) — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:25:30 GMT

Codsall-based Brightside Psychology is the latest organisation to join Compton Care Business Club as a Bronze member.

The membership reflects Brightside Psychology’s commitment to the community and commitment to working with people who have long-term conditions.

Brightside Psychology’s membership also brings a valuable, psychologically-focused perspective to the business club.

Compton Care Business Club membership helps to strengthen the Compton Care’s ability to support the community and grow its services for the people who need them most. Members are able to access exclusive events, keynote talks and networking opportunities, including the monthly Compton Care Business Networking meetings held at the Codsall Community Hub.

Brightside Psychology’s offices and Compton Care’s Cafe are also both located in Codsall Community Hub.

Dr Sophie Gwinnett, clinical psychologist and Brightside Psychology’s founder said “Compton Care is a fantastic charity which offers important, specialist support during extremely challenging times.

At Brightside, we understand the impact of life-limiting conditions on individuals, their families and carers from an emotional and mental health perspective.

We are therefore delighted to join Compton Care Business Club and the network of like-minded businesses.”

Brightside Psychology offers evidence-based psychological therapies to adults (individuals and couples), as well as bespoke training and consultation to organisations and businesses.

Rachel Hailey, Compton Care’s corporate fundraiser said “We are excited to have Brightside Psychology on board! Their expertise in mental health and compassion-focused therapy aligns perfectly with our mission to provide holistic care.

Brightside Psychology will bring deep insights into mental health, including difficulties like trauma and anxiety. This expertise could be a huge resource for other members and open up opportunities for training and collaborations to strengthen our community.

We’re looking forward to seeing the impact of Brightside’s membership and the ways we can work together to support well-being on all fronts.”

In March 2025, Brightside Psychology is running Creative Conversations on Grief, a 6 week group therapy programme for people affected by grief and loss.

The sessions will take place at The Codsall Hive Creative Cafe and combine craft activities with guided conversations.

Compton Care’s Cafe is situated at Codsall Community Hub and open Monday to Friday, 8am - 4pm.

More information about Compton Care Business Club can be found at https://www.comptoncare.org.uk/corporate-corner/business-club/

How to Overcome Health Anxiety

sharon@kangaroouk.com (Sharon Keevins) — Sat, 23 Mar 2024 11:04:27 GMT

Health anxiety is a common condition thought to affect 5 – 10% of the population. People with health anxiety will experience frequent intrusive thoughts about health which impact their ability to engage meaningfully with life. Over time, individuals living with health anxiety will develop behaviour patterns that are designed to manage the intrusive thoughts; these might include checking parts of their body, seeking reassurance from healthcare professionals or researching health conditions on the internet. The relief, if any, is short lived with these behaviours. The intrusive thoughts rapidly return and the behavioural rituals become repetitive, as people attempt to find relief from the anxiety. Avoidance is also a common feature as people avoid situations that can trigger intrusive, anxiety-related thoughts.

Over time, health anxiety and its associated rumination and behaviour rituals can become very time consuming. It can feel hard to engage meaningfully with work, family, friends or activities when preoccupied with intrusive thoughts. It can be very hard for loved ones to understand health anxiety because the intrusive thoughts might seem illogical. However to the person living with health anxiety, the thoughts feel very real and the anxiety overwhelming.

If you are experiencing health anxiety, here are our 5 top tips for overcoming it:

1. Find your Why: Take a few moments to close your eyes and visualise your future life without health anxiety.

Who will you spend more time with?

How will you show up at work?

What activities or hobbies will you engage with?

What impact will it have on your mood, sleep patterns, general wellbeing?

Open your eyes and write down what you visualised.

This is a list of your reasons why it is important to overcome health anxiety. Check in with this list often and add to it when new insights come to mind.

2. Name the Story: The intrusive thoughts that accompany health anxiety focus on death, dying and vulnerability to illness.

It’s natural to be anxious about illness and dying, but with health anxiety the thoughts feel urgent, imminent and repetitive. They trigger feelings of dread and panic and you understandably want to engage in actions to try to rid yourself of these thoughts and feelings.

Whilst the intrusive thoughts feel very real, it is important to recognise that they are stories.

If you’ve been living with health anxiety for a long time you might recognise that your health anxiety-related stories have changed over time.

The stories are catastrophic in nature and they hook you in, causing you to spend minutes, hours or days ruminating. Learn to notice, acknowledge and name the stories. For example, you might say to yourself “I notice I’m having the thought that I won't be here this time next year. This is part of the 'I'm dying' story”.

Labelling the thoughts as stories helps us to get some distance from them. You can even say to yourself “this is part of the health anxiety story”. This distance can help you to think about what action you would like to take next.

3. Learn to pay attention, with intention: Imagine you’re at the theatre watching a show, but the whole time that you’re watching the show, the spotlight is only on one character.

You’re aware that there are other characters on the stage, but you can’t see them because the spotlight is only shining on one.

When you experience health anxiety the spotlight of your attention focuses in on one part of the body or one symptom.

The more you pay attention to that body part or symptom, the more urgent and intrusive the thoughts become.

If you notice your mind trying to hook you into thoughts about one part of your body, try this: slow down or stop what you’re doing. Take a few slow breaths. Notice where your mind wants to focus (“this is part of the health anxiety story”). Now notice another part of your body, somewhere unrelated to the anxiety. Maybe your left little toe, then you right ear lobe, then the back of your right thigh….move your attention around your body. Then open up your awareness even further. Take a look around you. What can you see? Notice and name some of the things in the space around you. What can you hear? What can you smell, touch?

Learning to mindfully shift our attention outside of the body and towards the world around us can help us to move towards taking actions that are externally focused, rather than internally focused.

4. Get curious about your behaviour: Write a list of all of the behaviours that you engage in to try to relieve yourself of health anxiety and record the frequency of these actions.

Common health anxiety-related behaviours include researching health conditions on the internet, checking your body, monitoring health stats using machines or fitness monitors, asking loved ones for reassurance or making repeated visits to Healthcare Professionals.

If you have had health anxiety for a long time, it’s likely that there have been considerable costs linked to these behaviours.

You’ve likely invested a lot of time, energy and, in many cases, money in attempts to rid yourself of this anxiety.

Get curious about these actions. Over time, are they really relieving you of health anxiety? If you do feel reassured after engaging in these behaviours, is that relief long lasting? Given the costs of these behaviours, are they moving you towards the life that you want to be living, or away from it?

If these behaviour patterns are very entrenched, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to stop them overnight. However, you can gradually begin to reduce, delay or decrease these behaviours. For example, if you’re sat at your desk at work and you have an intrusive thought about a particular health condition, rather than immediately researching this on the internet, see if you can delay this action until after your dinner that evening. You may find that by then, the urgency of the thought has subsided and you no longer need to engage in the action.

The aim here is to become more flexible in how we respond, at a behavioural level, to the anxiety-related thoughts and feelings. By delaying behavioural responses we are in fact learning to tolerate the anxiety which is an important factor in overcoming health anxiety. When we make room for anxiety, we learn that it will subside on its own eventually. We don’t need to invest lots of our time, energy and money in attempts to get rid of it.

5. Get to Living! Ultimately, the fear that usually drives health anxiety is a fear of not living a rich, full and meaningful life.

It's ironic that when in the grips of health anxiety, that's the last thing we're doing.

Return to your list of why's from the visualisation exercise in step 1.

Who do you want to spend more time with?

What self-care activities would you like to engage in?

Are there any hobbies or activities that you would like to take up or return to?

Are there any work projects that you would like to get involved in?

Start setting some meaningful goals that will allow you to move towards the rich and fulfilling life that you want. Involve family or friends in some of these goals if it helps to keep you focused and motivated. Make a note of any small wins to remind you of the progress that you’re making. If you have a bad day acknowledge it, learn from it, and move on. The trajectory out of health anxiety isn’t a straight one. There will

still be good days and bad days, but over time you will hopefully see a shift towards more better days as you free yourself from health anxiety.

If you’ve found this article helpful and would like to learn more about overcoming health anxiety, please visit www.brightsidepsychology.com to arrange a free 15-minute phone call with Dr Sophie.