Anxiety Is Your Dog: Train It, Don't Fear It! | @caroline-cavanagh | The Anxiety Alchemist

23 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief talk, hypnotherapist and public speaker Caroline Cavanagh shares a metaphor that likens anxiety to a dog. She explains that, like a poorly trained dog, unmanaged anxiety can cause significant stress, but when "trained," anxiety becomes a valuable resource that supports you. Using this relatable analogy, she aims to shift listeners' relationship with anxiety from fear to partnership, encouraging them to view anxiety as something that can be cultivated rather than merely endured.

Chapters

And whilst I'm a hypnotherapist, I also do some public speaking. And I did have a talk to a group of people up in Nottingham last week, where I was talking about how anxiety is much like a dog. If you have a badly trained dog, it can cause an awful lot of stress in your life. So can anxiety. Whereas if you train your dog, you have a phenomenal resource that's by your side. So does anxiety. And it's a very relatable metaphor of training a dog that helps people to really change their relationship with anxiety.