The Power of the Mind | Caroline Cavanagh: Anxiety Specialist | @caroline-cavanagh

12 Mar 2025 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:33

In this brief monologue, anxiety specialist Caroline Cavanagh recounts a recent hypnotherapy session with a client who experienced a variable phobia of swallowing that was mild at breakfast, harder at lunch, and severe at dinner. Using hypnosis, Caroline quickly identified the underlying trigger within the session, performed desensitization work, and observed an immediate shift in the client’s emotional state—from dread to excitement about dinner. She highlights how hypnotherapy can access root causes of acute anxieties, emphasizing the power of the mind to transform fear into confidence. The story concludes with a light‑hearted sign‑off.

Chapters

So I've just worked with a client who has a phobia of swallowing, but it's a really interesting one because she could eat breakfast, lunch was a little trickier, but then dinner was really difficult. And it just shows the power of the mind because it's not something that's consistent. So many different factors needed to come into place for that acute anxiety to really be stimulated. Which is great because the method of therapy that I use is, is hypnosis, and hypnotherapy is brilliant at actually getting to the root cause and understanding what the trigger is. And we did a little bit of work together, and in less than an hour we identified that trigger, we desensitized it, did some therapeutic work, and when she then opened her eyes, she looked at me and said, I'm really looking forward to my supper tonight. I can't wait. To see if it's worked. And just that change in emotion from something that being dreading to actually going, I'm excited to see if I can, already gives me great confidence that her experience for dinner tonight is going to be very different. So that's the power of the mind. That's why I love doing what I do, whether it's a very acute anxiety like a phobia or something that's more generalized, getting to the root cause. is really the secret to it all. So, yeah, just my little story. Have a great day, and I'm off to have my tea now. Bye! Bye!