Juliet Hollingsworth Hypnotherapy

05/01/2026

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧?

Anxiety is your brain’s built-in safety system. When the amygdala senses threat, it floods the body with stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. This prepares you to act, but also switches off the thinking brain. Understanding how anxiety works in the brain helps you see anxiety as protection, not failure.

Anxiety is your body’s natural response to threat. It is your brain’s way of trying to keep you alive. When something happens that feels dangerous or overwhelming, the brain’s oldest part – the reptilian brain – steps in before conscious thought. This automatic system triggers a series of chemical and physical changes designed to protect you, even when the danger exists only in your imagination.

When your amygdala senses a threat, it releases adrenaline and noradrenaline, preparing your body for survival. Your heart rate increases so blood can flow to the muscles, your lungs expand to take in more oxygen, and your pupils widen to let in more light. This quick reaction fuels the energy you’d need to fight or flee. If the stressor doesn’t disappear, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone, prompting your adrenal glands to release cortisol. Cortisol keeps you on high alert, suppresses your immune system and holds your body in a state of readiness.

https://www.juliethollingsworth.com/2026/01/05/how-does-anxiety-work-in-the-brain/

Discover how anxiety works in the brain and why your body reacts this way - the science behind your nervous system’s safety signal.

04/01/2026

One of the things I notice in my work is how many people are living with this kind of tiredness quietly.

Not burned out enough to stop.
Not rested enough to feel okay.

If you recognise it, you’re not alone.

03/01/2026

In my work, I get a quiet window into many lives.

People who look like they’re doing well. People with responsibility. People others assume are confident, capable, sorted.

And underneath the different jobs, titles and circumstances, the same story comes up again and again.

Life looks fine on paper.

And yet something doesn’t quite add up.

If this resonates, you’re not unusual. You’re not failing.
You’re having a very human response: one many people carry quietly.

02/01/2026

For a long time, we’ve been taught to treat symptoms in isolation.

I work from a different starting point, one that asks what the body is trying to communicate.

This is the lens I bring to my work.

31/12/2025

29/12/2025

26/12/2025

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 #𝟐𝟑 I’ve been following 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 on social media for a while but it took me to listening to her on a podcast to actually go ahead and order her newest book. I wanted to enjoy 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 in a different way to the way I did.

This book is the journey of Elizabeth Gilbert and Rayya Elias and I hoped to pick up a beautiful story that would capture me in the way a trashy romcom does. It didn’t, and that was a bit annoying; but perhaps that’s the point. A s*x and love addict in recovery isn’t likely to write a novel that leans on the very thing they’re learning not to use.

Instead, I read a book that educated me on subject matters that I’m familiar with but not an expert – after all there is always more to learn.

The book moves in logical order, from their first meeting to becoming best friends and then enmeshed in romantic love after Rayya’s terminal cancer diagnosis. The story isn’t beautiful, it is factual and harsh.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤?

🧐 Understanding: about myself and others.
💉 A greater insight into the mind of an addict.
💓 A greater insight into the mind of a codependent.
🤥 It deepened my understanding of how strong self-deception can be when someone isn’t yet ready to seek help. You can’t take someone from zero to ten; they have to walk through the numbers themselves.
🔥 Sacrifice isn’t love

I know (from experience) that as therapists we can attend courses and read academic textbooks, but we often learn far more from the stories of our clients. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬. There is a great deal to learn here, and 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑠, 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑐𝑜-𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠. I didn’t feel the wonderful love story – I actually think this was deliberate because through recovery I believe that Elizabeth realises it wasn’t that. This is quite clear in the way she defines Rayya as her friend throughout most of the book.

What stayed with me most is the honesty. Not a softened version of love, illness or devotion, but a clear-eyed account of attachment, sacrifice, and the stories we tell ourselves when we are not yet ready to see differently. This isn’t a book that comforts. It’s a book that reveals. And sometimes, those are the ones that teach us the most.

25/12/2025

𝐀 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮:

However this season meets you, may there be less pressure, more ease, and moments of genuine connection.

24/12/2025

In years gone by it was magazines that dampened body confidence. When we opened the cover of Just 17 at 13 years old, “the perfect image” was staring back at us. Through this medium, we were told that there is an ideal body shape and way to look. And when faced with this at such a young age, it’s hard not to compare and focus on the parts of yourself that do not meet this ideal.

In more recent years, this became less accepted. We started to encourage conversations about body neutrality, body positivity and self-love. started using people of all shapes, sizes, looks and colours in their publications. Wonderful.

Except, in its place is social media.

Social media has the power to affect body confidence both positively and negatively. Unlike magazines, it is constant, personal and always available. We are no longer occasionally exposed to idealised images; we carry them with us.

Those who have a positive body image often have the following traits:

an overarching love and respect for their body
appreciate the unique beauty of their body and the functions it performs
accept and admire their body, including what doesn't match idealised images
glow and radiate feelings of beauty, comfort, confidence, and happiness with their body
emphasise their body’s assets rather than dwell on imperfections
protect their body by internalising positive information and rejecting or reframing negative information
This is a lot to hold on to when constantly observing images of people showing only their best side.

Many people in the public eye know how to apply makeup, style their hair, and pose for a photograph to look somewhat different from any photo taken off the cuff. Images are carefully selected, filtered and curated. When this becomes the backdrop to everyday life, comparison can creep in quietly, and confidence can take a knock.

Research shows a correlation between the time spent on social media and negative body confidence. One study investigating the effect of Facebook usage on the body image and mood of women explored the difference between Facebook and fashion magazines. Participants who spent time on Facebook reported more negative moods than those on an appearance-neutral control website. The women also reported more facial, hair and skin discrepancies after Facebook exposure.

There is an association between excessive time on social media and increased body image concerns among pre-teenage girls, teenagers and university students. Another study demonstrated that maladaptive Facebook usage increased the body dissatisfaction of females four weeks later.

It isn’t possible to control what other people post on their social media accounts, but it is possible to control what you view. If you struggle to take control of your scrolling, a hypnotherapist can support you in becoming more aware of these patterns and how they affect you.

I’m never quite sure whether the best thing is to stop using social media so much or to follow people who encourage body positivity. Those who promote body positivity often have something specific that goes against society’s idea of the ideal. Perhaps they are overweight or underweight, maybe they have scars or a skin condition, but still, the focus remains on appearance.

https://www.hypnotherapy-directory.org.uk/articles/the-impact-of-social-media-on-body-confidence

*w

Constant comparison online can affect how you feel about your body. Learn why social media impacts body confidence and what can help.

22/12/2025

𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧?

Yes. Anxiety can cause chest pain. When your body flicks into the fight or flight response, muscles tighten, breathing changes, and pressure builds in the chest. The sensation can feel intense and frightening, even though this is a response to perceived threat rather than danger.

𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭?

Chest pain immediately signals danger. The brain treats it as urgent.

Anxiety is your nervous system preparing your body to survive. Your blood pressure rises, breathing becomes shallow, and muscles across the chest, ribs, shoulders, and diaphragm tighten. The purpose of these changes is to protect vital organs and prepare you for action.

Because the body does not pause to assess context. This response occurs whether your life is genuinely at risk or not. From an evolutionary perspective, this speed kept humans alive at times when a normal day posed many threats to survival.

In modern life, the trigger is rarely a true threat to your life. Your brain responds to thoughts, memories, internal sensations, and prolonged period of stress in the same way it does direct physical threats.

This is why anxiety can cause chest pain, even when medical tests show nothing is wrong with your heart. The sensation is real because the physiological response is real.

https://www.juliethollingsworth.com/2025/12/22/can-anxiety-cause-chest-pain/

Can anxiety cause chest pain? Learn why anxiety creates chest pain, what it means, and how hypnotherapy helps.

18/12/2025

Hypnosis is widely recognised as a supportive tool for weight management. Many people seek out a hypnotherapist when they want to change their relationship with food, their body, or long-standing patterns around eating and movement.

Most hypnotherapists have a working understanding of nutrition and lifestyle factors and can help clients build healthier habits. However, we are not nutritional therapists. Clients still need a basic awareness of what may need to change for their body to move towards a healthier weight.

It is generally accepted that weight change involves eating differently, moving more, or a combination of both. Current research suggests that food choices and eating patterns often play a larger role than exercise alone, although movement remains an important part of overall health and nervous system regulation.

https://www.hypnotherapy-directory.org.uk/articles/safe-methods-for-fast-and-effective-weight-loss

Explore how hypnotherapy can support healthier habits, motivation, and a more balanced relationship with food and body.

15/12/2025

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝟓 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬?

Stress shows up in the body before it shows up in your thoughts.
Disrupted sleep, persistent muscle tension, emotional reactivity, difficulty concentrating, and withdrawal from connection. These are signs of a nervous system working hard to keep you safe.

Most people search: what are 5 warning signs of stress, because something feels off.
The deeper question is why will the body not settle?
The question that brings someone to therapy is usually why this keeps happening even when life looks “fine”.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲?

Stress is a biological response, not a personality trait.
Your nervous system evolved to detect danger and mobilise energy to survive. When the brain senses threat, real or imagined, it activates the fight or flight response. This evolved for short bursts of danger followed by movement, rest and connection.

Modern life rarely completes that cycle.
Deadlines, notifications, pressure and isolation keep the body alert without resolution. This is the human mismatch. A stone age nervous system living in a digital world.

Hypnosis helps the nervous system update its sense of safety. It creates the conditions where the body can finally stand down.

https://www.juliethollingsworth.com/2025/12/15/what-are-5-warning-signs-of-stress/

What are 5 warning signs of stress? Learn how stress shows up in the body, why it happens, and when support can help you feel settled again.