Diary of a Hypnotherapist, Episode 13 | Adapt to Change | @caroline-cavanagh | Anxiety Specialist

Hi there and welcome to the latest edition of Diary of a Hypnotherapist, my way of practicing what I preach in the purpose of reflection, using looking back as a way of actually guiding the future. And that's a big difference for a lot of people who look backwards and then get stuck there. And therapeutically, we do spend a lot of time looking backwards, but as a way of informing the future— what was good, Repeat it. What didn't work, change it. And that means that the future becomes different to the past. So I started doing these diaries a few months ago now. I've forgotten what number this is, but it doesn't matter. And we're now well into November, so it's been a couple of weeks since the clocks went backwards. And this is a time of year where a lot of people can start to feel their mood really drop. Because fundamentally, we are still cavemen. We're just a little less hairy now because we have brick walls and radiators. But our inbuilt psychology is still very much aligned with how a caveman would have thought. And at this time of year, he would have been going to bed much earlier. But we don't do that, and that creates an additional stress on the body. And that stress then releases chemicals which can also inhibit us sleeping, and it becomes a little bit of a downward So even though I am an anxiety specialist, I often see at this time of year more people coming to me struggling with depression, and that's precisely what has happened this week. And there were 2 people that have particularly stood out. Now most people I have spoken to on the phone before they book in, but this particular person I wasn't aware that they had booked in until I checked my diary on a Sunday night to see that there was a booking on the Monday morning. This person turned up and, long story short, said that on the Saturday they had stockpiled enough paracetamol for the intention to then end their life, but then when it came to it, they couldn't do it and instead booked a session with me. And that is quite a phenomenal step to take, to go from, I'm about to take my life, I've got no reason to stay, through to reaching out for specific help. And that, for me as a therapist, is all I need to help someone that's in the bleakest of places, is a little spark of hope. That there is something that can be done to change those feelings for the better. And even after that first session, talking through where they were, where they wanted to be, they could see that there was a possible path. And I'm very much looking forward to the next session with them, which will be in a few days' time. The other session is one that I confess really got under my own skin, and as a therapist, it's really important That other people's issues don't then get laid at my door, and even more importantly, I don't then pick them up. But this one— and occasionally things do slip under the radar— and this was a young child, someone who is not yet 12, who is also considering taking their life. And maybe this isn't the opportunity or the right place to get into that debate, of why should someone that young be feeling so desperate that that seems to be the only route that they see forward. So working with this young child will hopefully give them the tools that can not only change their life around but give them the skills, the optimism that will make their future when they get into adulthood completely different. Because when you hit the lowest of lows, often the highs become even higher. And I see this as a real privilege in the work that I do. I often call it the ripple effect, that I pass information, tools, resources onto someone, that they then pass it forward. And the one smile that I got from this young child was when I said to them, just imagine if you in 20 years' time could be working with someone that was like you now and you could share your experience and save them from feeling in the way that you do now. And this little girl lit up. That's the hope, that's the energy that I can use as a therapist to move someone from where they are to a better place. So working with depression is something that I see as a privilege. My work largely as an anxiety therapist is to avoid people slipping into depression because that is commonly what happens when the chemicals that we call anxiety in the body start to dominate and moods fall until depression becomes the outcome. So if you are feeling like the world is closing in, it is very dark, not only on the real outside but on the inside as well, even if there is the slightest bit of hope, do reach out to someone. I would love to help you, but there's many people out there too. And I will also put a link to this video to a series of other videos of people who have been in very bleak places and have managed to turn their lives around too. And if these people can, from the real desperate situations they were in, I believe it's possible for anyone, and I hope you have that hope too. I'll leave that with you for now, and I look forward to sharing my next week with you next week. Bye-bye for now. Bye-bye.