In this reflective diary episode, hypnotherapist Caroline Cavanagh uses a driving metaphor—glancing in the rear‑view mirror—to review a busy week of clinical work and extract lessons for future practice. She discusses several client cases: a smoker who quit through a purpose‑driven hypnotherapy protocol; a homeschooled teenager with severe anxiety who is making incremental progress and showcases animation work; a client with a romantic‑dining phobia causing nausea on dates; patients facing invasive medical procedures who received hypnotherapy for anxiety and healing; and a person burdened by shame from a narcissistic parent, learning to release inherited guilt. Across these stories she identifies a recurring theme: anxiety and excitement share the same physiological cues, and reframing the interpretation can shift outcomes. She offers a simple self‑check (body sway vs full‑body resistance) to distinguish the two emotions. The episode ends with gratitude, a wish for listeners to benefit, and a forward‑looking plan for the next week.
Chapters
And welcome to Diary of a Therapist. This is something I'm doing, to be honest, largely for myself, because one of the regular metaphors that I use when working with people is driving. And you wouldn't set off without glancing in your rearview mirror to make sure it's safe, to see what's behind you before you move forward. And that is also a great metaphor as you end a week, And I'm starting thinking about planning next week, is to just glance behind. What's gone on that I can use from the past that means next week is going to be even better? And also, if it helps others to get a bit better of an understanding of what does a hypnotherapist, what does an anxiety specialist actually do, and it helps them, then that's just a bonus too. So this week has actually been a really busy week. I worked with someone on smoking cessation. It's not something I tend to do very much. Um, and people need to convince me that they want to give up. But when they have a strong enough purpose, hypnotherapy is really, really effective. And I've developed a process that can really help someone to quit that nicotine habit once and for all in a relatively short period of time. I've also been working with someone, a teenager who has extreme anxiety, meaning that they attended very little of secondary school and had to homeschooled. They are making phenomenal steps forward, just little incremental steps that's building their development and confidence to keep stepping out the comfort zone into the fear zone and into then the subsequent learning zone. And they have a phenomenal talent in animation, and they're documenting the steps that they're taking. And I had a quick peek at what they've done so far this week, and it's stunning, brought me to tears. And I hope that one day that may even be something that becomes in the public domain, because I think it really would inspire many others, whether that's teenagers or adults who have found themselves in a very, very anxious and lonely state, to have the confidence to come back out and realise that there really is a life for them too. I've worked with someone with an acute form of anxiety. We often call that a phobia. And theirs was interesting in that it was a very specific one related not just to eating out, but eating out in a romantic situation. So whenever they were going on a date, they would feel a huge amount of nausea to the point that they often had to actually end the dinner and leave. So obviously very frustrating for them. And really interesting how the mind had come to that being a solution, because in all other ways, They were very confident, loved the food, but obviously having a really big impact on the quality of life. And yep, that's working very well too, and they have a date set up for Tuesday next week, which I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes. I had a number of clients this week that I've worked with medical problems, one of them who had to have quite an invasive procedure. and needed some emotional support to face that anxiety. And also people who are wanting to use hypnotherapy for healing. It's not something that is perhaps as well known, but the power of the mind is phenomenal. And when you tap into that, it's incredible what can happen. And most people are aware of the placebo effect. That in itself is using the power of the mind, the belief that if you take a tablet, even if it's only a sugar tablet, it can cure you. So obviously it's not the sugar tablet that's doing it, it's the mind. And when you tap into that power, as I said, some familiar— sorry, phenomenal changes can really come about. And then working with someone yesterday with a very narcissistic parent, and they were carrying a huge amount of shame and guilt of some of the things that had happened to them, and helping them understand that it wasn't Their guilt. It was the guilt and shame that had been handed over to them from the parent, and it was time for them to just give it back. They'd only been a custodian of it, and it was no longer theirs to carry. And the change in them again in one session was just beautiful to see. And often when I think back over the sessions that I've run in the week, look at what are the common common themes, common tools that I use, and something that I'm aware of this week. is talking to people about how anxiety and excitement are very, very similar emotions. How they feel in our body, the butterflies in the tummy, the racing heart, the sweaty palms, are very common to both emotions, but we often interpret it as anxiety. And that's where we could argue about what that is. I think it's a social thing, but it's recognizing that quite often it is excitement. And it becomes a choice. I say to people, it's like you get to a junction. Left is anxiety, right is excitement. Choose which path you want to go down because they're equally as present, but they do lead to very, very different outcomes. And an easy way, or an easier way, to understand which of those emotions it really is, is just to stand up really still and think about what the event is that you're considering. If you feel a slight sway forward, that's excitement. If your whole body is going, oh, I don't want to do this, that's anxiety. And sometimes it can be really, really subtle. But the love— the message that I give to all of those clients I've spoken to today, and I'd love to share with you today as well, is when you feel those physical feelings, don't just assume It's anxiety. Check in with yourself. Could it be that you're actually excited and you're about to go on an adventure? And when you position it in that way, your experience is going to be very, very different. So thanks for listening to another episode and of the— I can't even speak, it's Friday, it's late, I'm tired. Thank you for listening to the last episode of Diary of a Hypnotherapist. I hope you've learned something from it. I hope you've gained something from it. I've certainly gained something by sharing and reflecting, and I'm going to be now looking forward and setting off to plan for my next week. Wishing you a wonderful weekend in the meantime. Bye-bye for now.
