Dan Hawkes

There is an old Japanese tale about a samurai and a tea master. At first glance, it appears to be a story about fear, death, and pride. But hidden beneath it is one of the most powerful psychological lessons we can learn about the mind, anxiety, and how we meet the world. Let’s begin. The Story A respected tea master worked in the service of a noble lord. He was not a warrior. He had no sword training, no armour, no knowledge of battle. Yet his skill in chado—the art of tea—was so refined...

Client Name: Hannah (name changed) Age: 29 Main Difficulty: Anxiety when travelling or making plans, constant focus on “what could go wrong?” Approach Used: NLP Reframing, scenario work, and a focus on controlling what is controllable. Presenting Issue Hannah came to therapy feeling overwhelmed whenever she attempted to plan a trip or commit to travel. She described a constant internal voice asking: “What if something goes wrong?” As a result, she avoided travelling, cancelled plans at the...

There was once a man named Riku who lived in a quiet village at the edge of a river. The river ran calmly most days, but at certain times of the year it swelled with rain, rushing past his house with force and noise. The more Riku listened to the rushing water, the more he worried. What if the river flooded? What if it destroyed his home? What if it swept away his life? Riku began to panic with every change in the weather. A single dark cloud made his stomach twist. A distant rumble of...