Sian Williams Thrives as Psychologist After Anxiety Battle

She is one of the most recognisable faces on British TV, having delivered the nation's biggest stories from Hillsborough to the Padding train crash.

But behind the cameras, life for newsreader  was far more turbulent than viewers ever realised.

As extreme anxiety and self doubt began to take hold, the pressure of the spotlight became increasingly difficult to bear.

In 2021, she made a life-changing decision to walk away from the successful on-screen career she had built over 30 years.

In a remarkable reinvention, she retrained as a charted counselling psychologist, determined to understand the very issues that had upended her own life.

Having swapped the bright lights of the studio for relaxing country walks and training to help others, Sian, 61, has found contentment.  

Sian now has a thriving private practice, where she offers consultancy, workshops, group and individual therapy.

She is a senior specialist psychological therapist at the Centre for Anxiety, Stress and Trauma at the NHS, where she helps emergency service staff recover from work-related traumatic events.

The former anchor has a doctorate in counselling psychology award by City university of London and a MSc in psychology from Westminster university.

In 2023, Prince William attended her event for first responders to listen to their mental health concerns.

She is a regular host of the annual Emergency Services Mental Health Symposium, which is supported by the Royal Foundation.

Sian has become a keynote speaker and has hosted major events for Google, the British Psychological Society, the BBC, ITV, ITN, King's College London, and more.

Her first book Rise: Surviving and Thriving after Trauma was published in June 2016.

Her next book The Power of Anxiety: How to Ride the Worry Wave is set to be released next month.

It will focus on how people can turn towards anxiety, accept it, and work with it.

She still continues to work as a broadcaster, albeit in a much more low-key setting, hosting Life Changing on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 3 Unwind on BBC Sounds.

This week, Sian revealed how the experience of her severe anxiety getting out of control was one of the reasons why she went on to change professions. 

She told The Times: 'I also thought, I hope nobody ever, ever finds out about this - I mustn't tell anyone.' 

The mother-of-four, who's now a 'Dr', added: 'It can be hard to reveal yourself to other people when you think you've failed in case that's the end for you. 

'I think I would absolutely be much kinder to myself now.' 

Sian was also forced to think about how she wanted her life to look in 2014, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is now in remission after a double mastectomy