All The Tools You Need Start Your Health Anxiety Recovery

Based in CBT

This book is rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a proven and effective approach for managing health anxiety. By addressing the negative thought patterns that fuel anxiety, CBT helps you reframe your fears and develop healthier ways of thinking. Through practical exercises and evidence-based strategies, the book guides you step-by-step in recognizing and challenging the irrational beliefs that contribute to your anxiety. By learning to shift your mindset, you can break the cycle of worry and take control of your health anxiety.

For Everyone

Whether you're just starting to understand health anxiety or have been dealing with it for years, this book is designed for everyone. It’s written in a clear, accessible style, with relatable examples and simple language that anyone can follow. You don’t need prior knowledge of therapy techniques to benefit from it. Whether you're seeking self-help strategies or looking to complement professional therapy, this book offers valuable tools and insights for managing anxiety at any stage of your journey.

Action Based

This book isn’t just about theory—it’s about making real, actionable changes in your life. Each chapter includes practical exercises and strategies that you can start implementing right away. From journaling prompts to behavior experiments, you'll be encouraged to take small, meaningful steps to reduce anxiety and build healthier habits. The action-based approach empowers you to engage with the content and see measurable improvements, making it easier to apply the techniques to your daily life and build lasting change.

Book Endorsements

“The Complete Guide to Health Anxiety covers everything anyone could possibly want to know about health anxiety – what it looks like, how it works, and how to overcome it – and the book does so with surprising wit, humor, and contemporary relevance.. I highly recommend Spitalnick and Stier’s wisdom to any health worrier who yearns to become an anxiety warrior.”

C. Alec Pollard, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Family and Community Medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, and founding director of the Center for OCD & Anxiety-Related Disorders at Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute

“This book stands as a beacon of clarity and wisdom. Crafted by passionate clinicians with a wealth of expertise, it walks you through a program for overcoming health anxiety with sensitivity and wit and is backed by scientifically proven treatment strategies. I will certainly be recommending this to my own patients with health anxiety.”

Jonathan Abramowitz, PhD

Professor and director of Clinical Training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“This is a “must-have” for individuals struggling to overcome health anxiety! The authors’ masterful blend of humor and compassion sets the perfect tone for this essential guide to facing your fears and returning to a life of joy.”

Marla Deibler, PsyD, ABPP

CEO, The Center for Emotional Health of Greater Philadelphia (CEH); Faculty Member, IOCDF Behavior Therapy Training Institute, author of The BFRB Recover Workbook: Effective Recovery from Hair Pulling, Skin Picking, Nail Biting, and Other Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors

“The Complete Guide to Overcoming Health Anxiety offers vital tools in an approachable and entertaining format. This amazing book will certainly become an important resource for any therapist, student or educator in the field. It’s sure to be an absolute game changer!”

Alejandro Ibarra

Professor Emeritus of Family Practicing psychologist in OCD treatment, master’s degree in clinical psychology from (University of Sevilla, Spain), Board member of OCD Gamechangers and Community Medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, and founding director of the Center for OCD & Anxiety-Related Disorders at Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute

“This comprehensive book describes evidence-based strategies in an easy-to-read, fun, and understandable manner. Spitalnick and Stier have crafted a must-read resource for any person struggling with health anxiety.”

Eric Storch, PhD

McIngvale Presidential Endowed Chair & Professor, Vice Chair & Head of Psychology, Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine

“As someone living with intense health anxiety, this guide has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf. Easy to read, light but wonderfully packed with years of expert knowledge, the tools and insights within are invaluable and a must-read for anyone who wants to regain their life from the grips of health anxiety. So put down your thermometers and grab this book, it’s the only urgent care you need.”

Ethan Smith

National Advocate International OCD Foundation, Mental Health Consultant, Filmmaker and Author

“Bodies are noisy! They have squishy, grumbly parts and strange rivers of blood twisting around bone and muscle. No wonder so many people are anxious about them. But not every feeling is a harbinger of illness, and Spitalnick and Stier will help you cut through the noise to live life by your own rules rather than those of health anxiety.”

Amy Mariaskin, PhD

Owner/Director of Nashville OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center, author of Thriving in Relationships When You Have OCD

“This is the most fun I’ve had being constantly reminded I’m going to die. Spitalnick and Stier have put together a smart, clear, and truly accessible guide to overcoming health anxiety in its many forms. They make the essential point that over-investment in the fear of losing time and value in life from health issues is as likely or more likely to cause you to lose time and value in life from those very issues.”

Jon Hershfield, LCMFT

Director of the Center for OCD and Anxiety at Sheppard Pratt, and author of Overcoming Harm OCD

“Health anxiety thrives in an atmosphere of seriousness and fear where, little by little, it consumes the lives of sufferers. Understanding this, Josh Spitalnick and Michael Stier bring a great measure of humor and joy to this not-so-typical self-help book. Step by step, punctuated with useful examples and exercises, they teach readers to think like an anxiety therapist, and to create a life that is not just free from suffering, but one that is actually worth living.”

Michelle Witkin, PhD

Licensed Psychologist, Specialist in Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder