Support with Health-Related Problems

Living with health-related problems can affect far more than the body alone. Physical illness, chronic conditions, pain, or changes in health can shape mood, identity, relationships, and how you experience daily life. Even when medical care is in place, the emotional and psychological impact of health difficulties is often overlooked.

You may be adjusting to a diagnosis, living with ongoing symptoms, coping with uncertainty, or managing the limits that health issues place on your life. Support can offer a space to explore these experiences with care, understanding, and respect for the complexity of what you are living with.

You might recognise health-related difficulties if you…

• Are living with a long-term or chronic health condition

• Are adjusting to a new diagnosis or change in health

• Experience pain, fatigue, or physical symptoms that affect mood and motivation

• Feel anxious, low, frustrated, or overwhelmed by health concerns

• Struggle with uncertainty, loss of independence, or changes in identity

• Feel that others don’t fully understand the impact of your health on daily life

How therapy can help

Therapy offers a space to attend to the emotional and psychological aspects of health-related problems, alongside — not instead of — medical care. The work is not about “coping better” at all costs, but about acknowledging loss, frustration, fear, and grief, as well as finding ways to live with greater compassion and agency.

Support can help you process change, manage stress and uncertainty, navigate relationships and boundaries, and reconnect with aspects of yourself that may feel overshadowed by illness or symptoms.

Approaches that may help with health-related problems

The following approaches are often helpful when working with the psychological impact of health difficulties:

• Counselling
  Provides a supportive space to talk openly about illness, uncertainty, and emotional strain.

• Psychotherapy
  Supports deeper exploration of identity, loss, and the longer-term emotional impact of health changes.

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
  Can help address health-related anxiety, low mood, unhelpful thinking patterns, and coping strategies.

• Mindfulness-Based Approaches
  Support emotional regulation, presence, and living alongside symptoms with greater ease and self-compassion.

• Body-Based Approaches
  May help with nervous-system regulation, stress, and reconnecting with the body in a supportive way.

(Therapeutic support may complement medical treatment and, where appropriate, sit alongside multidisciplinary care.)

Therapists who work with health-related problems

Therapists supporting people with health-related difficulties

Finding the right support

Health-related difficulties can be isolating, particularly when symptoms are invisible or ongoing. Seeking support does not mean that you are not coping — it means recognising the impact of what you are living with.

You are welcome to explore therapist profiles above, or to get in touch if you would like help finding support that feels informed, respectful, and attuned to your needs.