Anxiety + Understanding Intrusive Thoughts with Dr David A Clark

About this episode

This episode features Dr David Clark discussing intrusive thoughts and health anxiety, exploring the compulsive nature of reassurance-seeking behaviors.

Here I’m joined by Dr David Clark, one of the world’s leading experts in anxiety disorders and cognitive behavioural therapy. This episode centres around intrusive thoughts, health anxiety, and the reassurance-seeking trap that so many anxious people find themselves caught in. We explore why those behaviours make sense and why they can become so compulsive. Dr Clark’s work has helped shape modern evidence-based treatments for anxiety disorders. If you’ve ever felt tormented by intrusive thoughts or stuck in loops of overthinking and reassurance-seeking, this episode is for you. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcas t, on Tik Tok here Subscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related) Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Caroline Foran

Guest: Dr David Clark

Topics covered

• intrusive thoughts
• health anxiety
• cognitive behavioural therapy
• reassurance-seeking
• anxiety disorders

Keywords

• anxiety
• intrusive thoughts
• cognitive behavioural therapy
• health anxiety
• reassurance-seeking
• overthinking

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself

More episodes of Owning It: The Anxiety Podcast

• Figure out WHY you're anxious in 21 minutes · June 8, 2026 · 22 min
• When it's more than 'just' anxiety: Navigating PDA · May 4, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Is too much nutritional advice making anxiety worse? · April 18, 2026 · 45 min
• Then Vs Now: How Anxiety Has Changed For Me · April 13, 2026 · 28 min
• It's not your fault: How anxiety starts before you think · April 6, 2026 · 53 min
• Why anxiety shows up in your body + virtual reality treatment approaches · March 29, 2026 · 51 min