Juliet Hollingsworth Hypnotherapy

08/12/2025

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚?

You know you have trauma when your nervous system responds to past events as if they are happening now. Trauma lives in the body. It shows through hypervigilance, shutdown, anxiety, nightmares, emotional overwhelm, or a sense of constant threat long after danger has passed. These patterns reflect a nervous system stuck in unfinished survival responses.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞?

When something feels overwhelming – or your brain perceives it as life-threatening – your body shifts into the survival cycle. This process is your body’s call to action. It mobilises energy for movement, confrontation, or repair. When action happens, the signal fades. But if your brain perceives you as powerless, it moves into the freeze response, an ancient survival technique from our reptilian ancestors. Any of these responses can remain unprocessed in your system, and that is trauma. People experience emotional trauma when the stress response continues long after the threat ends. The brain cannot down regulate, and the nervous system stays dysregulated.

https://www.juliethollingsworth.com/2025/12/08/how-do-you-know-if-you-have-trauma/

Find out how to know if you have trauma by recognising the body’s survival patterns and learning how the nervous system heals through hypnotherapy.

05/12/2025

Body dysmorphia can feel like all your attention collapses onto one part of your appearance. For example, a feature other people barely notice, yet your brain flags as a threat. It’s exhausting, consuming, and often misunderstood. But it isn’t a flaw in who you are. It’s a signal from a nervous system trying to protect you in a world it didn’t evolve for.

For most of human history, safety came from connection, belonging, and being part of the group. Today, the pressure to look a certain way, perform a certain role, and live under constant scrutiny keeps many people in a state of alert. When the body feels unsafe (socially, emotionally, or physically), it redirects that tension somewhere. For some people, it lands on the body.

https://www.hypnotherapy-directory.org.uk/articles/body-dysmorphia-test-do-you-have-body-dysmorphia

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A hypnotherapist explores the symptoms of body dysmorphia disorder and how hypnotherapy can help.

01/12/2025

The most recent research shows that screens affect sleep, but the effect of blue light itself is far smaller than we once believed. The bigger issue is sleep displacement. Screens pull us away from the biological rhythms that make hypnotic receptivity and deep rest possible.

For years, we’ve believed the same story: screens ruin sleep. It makes sense, blue light affects the circadian rhythm and screens emit blue light. The circadian rhythm is your body’s internal 24-hour clock. It runs quietly in the background, telling every system when to wake, when to be alert, when to wind down and when to sleep. It responds mainly to light and darkness: morning light signals the body to wake and release daytime hormones, while evening darkness tells the brain to produce melatonin and prepare for rest. Although modern life often pulls us away from natural patterns, the circadian rhythm still follows the same ancient cycle it always has. Rising and falling in a predictable rhythm designed around the rotation of the earth.

Zeitgebers are the external cues that keep our circadian rhythm on track. The strongest zeitgeber is light. Morning light tells the body it’s time to wake, and evening darkness signals the approach of rest. There are others too, movement, food timing, temperature changes, and social interaction all act as gentle timekeepers, helping the body stay aligned with the 24-hour day. Our internal clock is powerful, but it still relies on these daily signals to stay steady and predictable.

Logically, your brain receives an input of blue light from the sun, logs it as morning, and signals your body to wake up. When the input stops coming after sunset, the brain logs it as nighttime and releases melatonin to signal sleep. The understanding is that when we subject the eyes to artificial blue light via unnatural lighting and screens, the brain perceives it as daylight and doesn’t release melatonin.

However, there is a subtle shift in science that changes this conversation.

https://www.juliethollingsworth.com/2025/12/01/do-screens-affect-sleep-what-the-new-science-actually-shows/

Do screens affect sleep? Why does content matter more than blue light? How can you support your natural night rhythm?

28/11/2025

If you smoke, you know all the reasons you should stop smoking. Other than it’s not pleasant for everyone around you, you put yourself at a higher risk of health issues, the smell might linger in your house and car, even if you do not smoke in them, and it might influence how you feel about your appearance, too. The problem is, you know all that and you love it, or you hate it and desperately want to stop but find it too dam difficult.

When I tell people I work as a hypnotherapist, most assume my days revolve around stop-smoking hypnosis or helping people overcome fears and phobias.

What usually surprises them is that the work goes far deeper than any single habit or symptom. Whether someone comes to me for addiction, anxiety, fears, trauma, or anything else that feels overwhelming, so much of it boils down to the same thing. A nervous system nudging them to act, protect, or cope and somewhere along the way, you missed the message.

My work isn’t about forcing change from the outside; it’s about helping someone hear what their nervous system is trying to say, and supporting them to respond in a way that makes sense for their life.

https://www.hypnotherapy-directory.org.uk/articles/how-to-stop-smoking-with-hypnotherapy

Breaking the habit of smoking can be tough. Can hypnotherapy help address underlying problems that could be causing you to smoke?

26/11/2025

I've built a simple way to understand what your body is trying to tell you in a world it didn’t evolve for.

Introducing The Nervous System Coach.
A gentle, grounded guide based on my Human Mismatch Theory.

No fixing.
No pressure.
No lists of things you “should” be doing.
Just clarity. The kind that helps you say,
“Oh… this is a signal, not a flaw.”

You can check in with your system in 60 seconds, explore which pillar (Sleep, Movement, Nourishment, Connection) might be out of sync, or get a small, realistic adjustment for the moment you’re in.

Built for the days you feel overwhelmed, restless, wired-but-tired, or unsure what your body needs.

If you’d like to try it, you can find it here:

https://chatgpt.com/g/g-691ffdfb09e08191958c8c699b7738fa-the-nervous-system-coach

As always, take what feels workable and leave the rest. 🌿

24/11/2025

Reversal Therapy is a hypnotic-imagery technique that helps the brain change its internal picture of a threat. By reversing or reshaping a fearful image, the nervous system learns that the danger is over, reducing the physical reactions linked to trauma, phobias, fears and recurring nightmares.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚?

Trauma often lives in the brain as a “snapshot”, a frozen internal image that the amygdala still treats as life-threatening. Image Reversal Therapy updates that snapshot. By altering the mental image, the nervous system no longer reacts with adrenaline, cortisol, or fight-or-flight responses. The memory remains, but the body no longer braces for impact.

𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬?

Yes. Phobias begin when the brain stores something as a threat. Even thinking about it can set off a full physical fear response. Image Reversal Therapy changes the internal representation of that trigger (shrinking it, reversing it, distorting it, or changing its meaning) until the nervous system recognises it is safe. This reduces avoidance, anxiety and anticipatory fear.

𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬?

Nightmares repeat when the brain is trying, and failing, to process emotional material. By changing the frightening image while awake, Image Reversal Therapy gives the dreaming brain a calmer “template” to work with. This helps reduce recurring nightmares and restores a sense of internal safety before sleep.

When people come to me with phobias, fears, trauma memories, or recurring nightmares, they often describe a single problem:

“𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑.”

The brain does not differentiate between real and imagined threats. When you picture something frightening, your amygdala responds just as if you were facing the danger in front of you. Your heart rate increases, muscles tense, breath shortens, and the thinking brain begins to switch off. This is your ancient survival system doing its job. Fast, emotional, protective, and often out of date.

Image Reversal Therapy works directly with this system. It offers a way to update the brain’s stored image, so the body no longer reacts as if the threat is happening right now.

https://www.juliethollingsworth.com/2025/11/19/image-reversal-therapy-how-your-brain-rewrites-traumatic-experiences-that-lead-to-fears-phobias-and-nightmares/

Image Reversal Therapy rewrites the brain’s fear images to reduce trauma, phobias, anxiety and nightmares.

21/11/2025

I have worked with many pregnant women and their birth partners as a hypnobirthing practitioner, friend, and doula for many years. Unless something traumatic happens, anyone who has witnessed a birth will probably agree it is one of the most extraordinary things a human can see. It never dulls for me. Birth always leaves my jaw dropped in awe. If you ever have the chance to sit beside someone as they bring their baby into the world, I urge you to take it.

Those (typically long) hours are spent moving together as midwives, birth partners, and birthing people find their rhythm. A small, temporary tribe working through an intense, often overwhelming experience. Birth partners can feel powerless, yet their presence, reassurance, and simple cheerleading are the most powerful support of all.

Then comes that slow dance of emergence. The glimpse of a baby’s head, disappearing again, reappearing, inching forward in its own time. It feels like forever, though it never is. And then, suddenly, a whole new life appears. Moments earlier, that same baby lay curled inside the body, fitting there with impossible perfection.

Alongside my hypnobirthing work, I support pregnant women as a birth doula. A doula is a trained companion who walks with you through a major health-related experience. Offering emotional, informational, and practical support, but not medical care. There are doulas for birth, abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, and end-of-life. My role is to help people feel safe, settled, and resourced while the clinical team provides medical expertise.

In 2010, I co-wrote the fertility2birth hypnobirthing programme with a colleague. At the time, hypnobirthing felt niche. I could name perhaps five other schools in the country. We believed all pregnant people and their birth partners could benefit from this preparation, yet it mainly attracted those seen as “alternative”. Even a straightforward home birth was sometimes viewed as unusual, or in some countries, illegal.

Today, hypnobirthing is mainstream. Many hospitals include it in their antenatal education, and most people have at least heard of it, especially since the Duchess of Cambridge spoke openly about using hypnobirthing with all three of her children. Click through to read more.

Learn how hypnobirthing supports calm, confident births through understanding and informed decision-making.

18/11/2025

We often speak about addiction as if it’s a flaw in someone’s character. Perhaps a lack of willpower, a weakness, or a sign that something is fundamentally wrong. But when you look closely at the human body, the nervous system, and the world we evolved in, addiction begins to look like something very different.

We are ancient bodies trying to survive in a world we didn’t evolve for. Our world has changed beyond recognition, but we haven’t. For almost all of human history, life followed the rhythm of sunrise and sunset, of movement and rest, of deep social bonds and constant interaction with the natural world. Today, we live under fluorescent light, surrounded by noise, overstimulation, ultra-processed food, and the pressure to perform. We have built a world that keeps our nervous systems in survival mode.

When the body feels unsafe, under threat, or out of balance, it searches for relief. In this instance, addiction is the nervous system trying to regain equilibrium in an environment it doesn’t expect to navigate.

https://www.juliethollingsworth.com/2025/11/17/six-modern-mismatches-that-drive-addictive-patterns/

Discover why modern life drives addictive patterns. Learn how ancestral biology explains addiction, and how hypnotherapy supports recovery.

16/11/2025

I’ve had the most incredible weekend at the UK Hypnosis Convention . I said to a couple of people I feel like I’ve missed three nights sleep because from Thursday night to last night I couldn’t sleep through excitement about the next day. These weekends provide me with one of the most welcoming, supportive environments I know. Listening to the speakers and having chats in the breaks makes me feel proud to be part of this profession - and surely it’s the only one that can provide its own evening entertainment! So much gratitude to the UKHC team, Steve, Sarah, Adam and co.

My highlights:

💙Catching up with my old training buddy Gary, we did our original training together in 2007/08 and found each other again at this conference some years ago. We had many laughs this weekend.

💛Time with Steve my hypno geek friend. We met at Adam’s hypnogeek dinners and supervision way back in the early 2000s. This year we’ve enjoyed hypnogeeking over zoom but it’s a real treat to catch up face to face.

💜The bonus surprise of Martin Taylor popping in. Martin is another hypnogeek friend, Derren Brown’s inspiration and my normal conference buddy. He wasnt planning to come this year and I missed having the comfort of him there to chat to for the whole weekend.

♥️ Giggling about cemeteries and navigating the world with David Bolton.

✨Jason Simmons’ stage hypnosis show was absolutely hilarious and so skilful. Please check out Jason if you ever want this kind of show. You cannot go wrong. I was grateful to get the opportunity to chat with Jason today and tell him how I’ve gained more helpful knowledge about this job from the stage hypnotists than the therapists. If you wonder about these guys please know they are incredibly hard working, they put tremendous amounts of thought into what they do and the way they relinquish control and throw themselves into their shows, stepping into the unknown with so much acceptance and tenacity is a massive thing to acknowledge and learn from.

☀️Meeting the Hypnotherapy Directory ladies.

✨Graham Webber brought us all together in the best way - the only thing missing was a campfire.

✨Learning about the Humanitarian trip to Ukraine.

✨Paul McKenna totally exceeded expectations - who knew he did all his one to one therapy sessions for free, asking people for a donation (amount of their choice) to charity. What a guy.

☀️I particularly enjoyed meeting and will definitely be googling … maybe you should too Ellen McNally, Hanna Yurchyk, Fatima Martindill and Eleena Takashima

15/11/2025

My favourite bit was the singing and dancing at the beginning!

Juliet Hollingsworth discusses the menstrual cycle and how understanding it can benefit our work.

14/11/2025

I was so pleased to meet the ladies from the Hypnotherapy Directory today at the UK HYPNOSIS CONVENTION. I email them every week with and about my article submissions, and have written for Happiful a couple of times. Their offices are just down the road in Camberley - I always want to pop in and say hi, now I think I will!

Pure coincidence that Garry and I were in the middle of chatting before the photo was taken. Garry is also a hypnotherapist in Farnham - we manage to catch up once a year at the UKHC! Ridiculously ridiculous!

I'm looking forward to more chats over the remainder of the weekend.

Great to catch up with our members at the UK Hypnosis Convention. 🙌💜

UK Hypnosis Convention

14/11/2025

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 #𝟐𝟏 There were two strange coincidences a couple of weeks ago which included me seeing and borrowing this book. Not a book I’d have ever found, let alone picked up, without some kind of external influence.

This book - 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 is his take on why we like war. Looking pre agricultural revolution, Junger explains that we need and want 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, to feel "in it together".

The book is an easy to read book - I read it in a few days.

It was strange to find a book laying at the top of a pile of someone’s stuff … we’re talking garage stuff, those boxes that pile up full of things we forgot we ever had … that spoke to me so directly. Not only have I been writing about the same thing but so relevant to the last book I read (Boiling Energy) and my work.

I set up The Burrow as a way to help the people my clients represented. People struggling with life but I could see needed more than a therapist. Sweat lodge ceremonies based on Lakota tradition are something we have there. Junger speaks about a Vietnam vet;

"𝐻𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝐴 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘: "𝑊𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑖-𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛," he told me. "𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟-𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ"

In the 1980s Gomez underwent an extremely painful ceremony called the Sun Dance—a traditional Lakotah ceremony that was banned for many years by the US government. It was finally made legal again in 1934. At the start of the ceremony, dancers have wooden skewers driven through the skin of their chests. Leather thongs are tied to the skewers and then attached to a tall pole at the center of the dance ground. To a steady drumbeat, the dancers shuffle in a circle and lean back on the thongs until, after many hours, the skewers finally tear free.

"𝐼 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑓𝑙𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒," Gomez told me about the experience. "𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑢𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒."

𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡! 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐈’𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡.