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Take Control of Anxiety, Panic & Stress.

Simple Exercises to help you feel better instantly!

Head On helps you manage your stress responses when you need it most. When your body goes into fight, flight, freeze, flop or pleasing mode, Head On offers you quick and accessible techniques that help to ground and stabilise you.

Created by Psychologist and Founder of Headstrong Counselling, Dr Anne-Sophie Bammens (DPsych, MSc, MA, BSc Hons) & Samuel Ade, Head On can be discreetly practiced anywhere, and helps you face stress and panic head on, so you can keep your head, on, and carry on.

Access a range of exercises to help you tackle anxiety and stress Head On

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Monthly system rest routines

Access monthly new 3-Minute system reset routines to promote a balanced and strong system.

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Wide Range of Techniques

Everyone’s nervous system is different. Head On draws upon many different techniques to balance stress system responses.

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Self Therapy

Good mental health support should not be a luxury item. For this reason, we keep our app free, unlike many other mental health apps.

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Simplicity

No overwhelming or complex apps, analyses or mood tracking systems. When you are experiencing a stress response, Head On offers simple and effective exercises that you need in the moment

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Why Head On?

The Stress System can become triggered for many reasons

  • social anxiety;
  • subtle environmental triggers;
  • conflict in relationships;
  • not sleeping well;
  • feeling overwhelmed;
  • unprocessed trauma;
  • intrusive memories and thoughts;
  • boredom;
  • health conditions;
  • addiction;
  • hangover;
  • exam pressure;
  • fear of failure;
  • and many more.

When you are experiencing a Stress Response, Head On offers what you need in the moment: simple techniques that ground you. We leave the deeper analysis of the Stress Responses to your personal therapy or self-exploration.

User Testimonials

Alice S
Alice S

I have struggled with anxiety and panic attacks since I was 13, and tried numerous apps, however, they have often felt impersonal and inaccessible as the exercises have been very long. What I love about Head-on is that you can use it anywhere, whether on public transport, alone, or with friends. It is divided into categories and it is EASY TO USE and accessible. The exercises are quick and effective, which is great if you need some relaxation or grounding before a meeting or a social event (which can be anxiety provoking for me). There are over 60 exercises to try from- the list is endless!

Soukaina
Soukaina

This app has been a blessing in more ways than one; far from being your run-of-the-mill CBT excersise app, I've found that the excersises here are easy to use, quick, effective, and more importantly suitable for the wide range of triggers life throws at you.

Daniel
Daniel

Excellent resource for when you're struggling for some head space. Would absolutely recommend to friends, family, clients; anyone really! If you struggle with managing your stress responses, give Head On a shot. Easy to use, very reassuring vibes, and importantly the exercises can be really effective at managing anxiety and stress when you need a bit of outside help. Most excellent.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I have been contemplating changing my antidepressant medication hoping that my anxiety symptoms might alleviate but it feels much more sustainable to incorporate practices into my daily routine and working towards change at my core rather than placing a plaster over the wound in the hope that it will just disappear

Matt
Matt

App has been a great addition to my routine. I get a lot of panic attacks so it’s great to have something very quick and easy to use to help me get past that and ground me. My favourite exercise is ratio breathing. Would highly recommend to people with anxiety!

Latricia
Latricia

I absolutely love this app. Thank you for creating something amazing and special this helps me and I know it will help others.

FAQ

While there are certainly some good meditation apps, breathing apps and CBT apps available, each focuses specifically on one, maximum two, techniques to calm the nervous system. However, everyone’s nervous system is different and not every stress response can be managed by breathing or meditation. Sometimes our system requires a distraction, a release of excess adrenaline or a more advance technique (like vagal nerve stimulation or bilateral integration), to restore to normality. Normally you would only be able to access such techniques though an experienced and expensive therapist. Head On makes these exercises and tools accessible and easy to use, whenever and wherever you need.

We found that existing relaxation apps and CBT apps for anxiety were often too busy, overloading the user with information and options. Head On values simplicity. When you are having a stress response, it is not helpful to be overwhelmed with more information. With Head On there are no complex analysis, mood diaries or complicated tracking systems that you never use anyways. Just helpful exercise to help ground you. You can choose from your favourite exercises or have the app choose for you.

Yes, Head On is a great tool to use alongside therapy. When you need additional support outside of your therapy sessions, Head On can help ground and stabilise you in moments of stress, panic, or anxiety. Head On is also a great app for people who are on the waitlist for therapy and need interim mental health support, and for those who are not in therapy, but who would like to access useful support in moments where it is needed.

Head On is not suitable for managing clinical or medical emergencies, and is not an emergency intervention app. If you are worried about immediate risk of harm to yourself or someone else, please visit your nearest emergency department or call the appropriate emergency intervention line in your area. If you are not in immediate risk but would like support and advise, please visit your general practitioner, or contact your local Samaritan helpline.

A Stress Response is when the body goes into a fight, flight, freeze, flop, or pleasing mode in response to a perceived threat. The Stress Response System can become triggered for many reasons, including social anxiety, subtle environmental triggers, conflict in relationships, not sleeping well, feeling overwhelmed, unprocessed trauma, intrusive memories and thoughts, boredom, health conditions, addiction, hangover, exam pressure, fear of failure, and many more.

When the Stress Response System is activated, it means that ‘something’ is coming to the surface that is bypassing any emotional or cognitive processes and is taking root straight within the body. The result is the analytical and rational part of the brain shutting down, allowing the instinctive part of the brain to become activated. This would have been a useful mechanism 20 thousand years ago when we needed to escape from an animal trying to eat us. Not so useful now when sitting on the tube and needing the rational brain to manage an arising panic. And not useful before an important meeting, where aim is to attend the meeting, not run away from it.

Head On is created by Counselling Psychologist, and Founder-Director of Headstrong Counselling, Dr Anne-Sophie Bammens. Over the past 8 years, Anne-Sophie has worked and volunteered in children’s mental health charities, women’s centres, substance misuse and gambling clinics, an in-patient unit and other community based mental health organisations as a mental health practitioner. She is trained in cognitive-behavioural therapy, existential therapy, psychodynamic therapy and mentalisation-based therapy.

Anne-Sophie founded Headstrong Counselling in 2019, a community interest company that offers low-cost counselling for individuals in the UK with mild to moderate mental health presentations. In just over three years, Headstrong Counselling expanded throughout the UK, grew to a base of more than five-hundred counsellors and delivered just shy of 80,000 counselling sessions to people in the community.

Anne-Sophie holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Westminster, an MA from King’s College London, an MSc from the Anna Freud Centre, University College London, and a doctorate in Counselling Psychology from the Regent’s School of Psychology and Psychotherapy.

Anne-Sophie created the Head on App because there is a strong need for people to access tools and techniques that provide an immediate solution for anxiety and panic. She has been using these techniques within clinical work for years, and understands that different techniques work for different people. This is why the app includes a diverse range of exercises, so there is something for everyone.

Yes!Head On is available in all countries the App Store or Google Play Store is available.

Our app is available on Apple iOS and Android devices. Download the app from the Apple iTunes App Store or Google Play Store.

Head On offers 60+ quick exercises in seconds. Choose from your favourite exercises or have the app choose for you. Exercises include breathing exercises, self-soothing exercises, grounding techniques, relaxation exercises, mindful distractions, cognitive-behavioural tools, stress release exercises, bilateral integration exercises and vagal nerve stimulations. Head-On can be discreetly practiced anywhere; before a meeting, on the tube, in the restroom, in class, in bed before sleeping, essentially anywhere that you can access your phone.

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