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In this video, I want to talk about trauma reactions that move inward—what I call the inverted ones.

We often hear about fight and flight, which are the outward expressions. But freeze and please are more inward, and I’ve noticed over the years that stronger people, those with more capacity to take responsibility for themselves, often lean on these strategies.

Both freeze and please are survival strategies, and both can follow us into adulthood, showing up as hiding away, difficulty setting boundaries, or always putting others first.

Understanding these patterns is powerful, because it helps us see how our trauma responses developed and how they may still be playing out today. And most importantly, it’s worth remembering: these inward reactions, as tough as they are, come from a place of enormous strength.

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.

✨Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session✨

You’ve probably heard of fight, flight, freeze, please. The first two – fight and flight – are outward, automatic responses. We don’t choose them; they’re our subconscious body–mind going on autopilot, trying to protect us.

The problem is, these reactions can be completely out of proportion to what’s actually happening now. When we’re triggered, we can be pulled back to an early trauma, and all that old energy comes rushing out in the present. In fight mode, that might look like rage or attack – even directed at someone who’s innocent. In flight mode, it might be ghosting, running, leaving situations or even whole relationships.

These reactions are primitive survival strategies, but left unchecked they can be so damaging – to our relationships, our work, and our lives. That’s why doing the inner work matters. When we start clearing the underlying energy, we have more choice, more control, and gradually those automatic reactions ease and heal.

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.

✨Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session✨

In this video I talk about your power to heal, and how important it is to trust in that ability. Our power to heal doesn’t come from the small, separated self. Healing is love dissolving fear, the greater self subsuming the contracted parts of us that are stuck in trauma.

When we’ve been through abuse, neglect, criticism, or any difficult experience, what remains is residue, that stuck energy. Therapy is about bringing the loving, gentle awareness of our greater self, our soul, to those wounded parts. As adults, we already have resources, wisdom, and love that we didn’t have as children. And when we open to our soul, we have even more light to bring to those darkened places.

Your ability to heal is built into who you are. You are an eternal child of the Divine, nothing can change or destroy that. Don’t underestimate your strength, courage, wisdom, and love. No part of you is beyond healing. With the right support, with love, all things are possible.

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.

✨Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session✨

Commission vs. Omission Trauma: Understanding the Two Types of Childhood Trauma and Their Lasting Impact

You’re a mighty soul having this human adventure. Along the way, we can pick up a lot of traumatic residue, and that’s what I’m here to help with. I’m a psychotherapist, psychologist, and Clinical Hypnotherapist, and my life’s work has been helping people through significant difficulties—usually childhood trauma, but plenty of adult trauma too.

Trauma comes in two forms: overt (getting what we don’t need, like being attacked or criticised) and covert (not getting what we do need, like love, attention, and support). Overt trauma is more obvious; covert trauma is hidden and can leave deep, invisible wounds.

We often start healing with the obvious trauma before uncovering the hidden patterns. I cover all this in my upcoming book From Trauma Survivor to Soul Warrior, out late 2025. Add your name to the list to be the first to know - https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/from-trauma-survivor-to-soul-warrior

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.

✨Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session✨

As we go through these times of change and transition, anything stuck inside us — anything unprocessed — is going to feel heavier than ever.

Trauma is stuck energy, stuck life experience that hasn’t moved through. It weighs us down like a heavy ballast. And if we’re not clearing it, we’ll feel the burden of it even more.

A lot of trauma is invisible. Childhood trauma especially can be really deep, really buried — things we had to push down just to survive. That doesn’t mean it’s not having an impact. It just means we’re incredibly creative and powerful at surviving. But surviving and healing are two different things.

These unresolved experiences live on in our body-mind — in our subconscious, in our emotions, even in our cells. They show up as symptoms: anxiety, depression, rage, people-pleasing, withdrawal, ADHD, addictions. 

We need our therapy, our hypnotherapy, our inner work, our kinesiology, our breathwork — whatever helps unjam the energy and move it through. It’s not easy, but it’s possible. Life gets freer and better when we clear the ballast.

So if you haven’t started that deeper work yet — now’s the time. It’s never been more important.

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.

✨Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session✨

Over the past few weeks we’ve explored the roots and trunk of healing, and now we’re moving into the branches – the stage where we connect with spirituality.

By this point, much of the heavy emotional work has been done. We’ve processed old pain, created space within ourselves, and gained deeper understanding. But without a spiritual perspective, it can feel like we’ve hit a ceiling – freer, yet still questioning why things happened.

Branch-level healing helps us find meaning and purpose in our experiences. It’s where we start unwrapping the hidden gifts that trauma leaves behind – resilience, courage, compassion, and wisdom. Many people reach a place where they transform their pain into service, becoming more loving, empathetic, and strong.

This stage can even open up deeper conversations about forgiveness and the bigger picture of life. From a soul perspective, what happened doesn’t define or diminish who we truly are – instead, it becomes part of our growth and evolution.

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.

➡️Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session 

In this video, I want to talk about trunk level healing — the second stage in the Healing Tree model.

If the roots are where we process raw emotional material from trauma, the trunk is where we bring in our adult self — our psychological understanding, our life wisdom, and tools like hypnotherapy.

Most trauma happens in childhood, when we don’t have the brain development to process it properly. Those experiences go straight into the subconscious — and often leave us stuck in confusion or self-blame.

Trunk level healing is about helping those younger parts understand the truth: it wasn’t your fault. That pain was never about you.

We use modern psychology and deeper modalities like hypnotherapy to bring that awareness down into the body — to reach the parts that need it most.

Next time, we’ll head up into the branches.

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.

➡️Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session 

In this video I talk about the Healing Tree — and why we start at the roots.

The root system is where the heavy lifting happens. It’s where we meet the raw material of our pain — the unprocessed emotions, memories, and beliefs stuck in the body and mind.

Healing means facing that residue with support, compassion, and curiosity. It’s not about fixing or rejecting parts of ourselves — it’s about embracing them so they can shift.

The work can be intense. Old emotions, even violent fantasies, can surface. But that’s just energy trying to move. It doesn’t make you a bad person — it makes you human.

Go gently, stay steady, and get support when you need it. This is the work that will change your life.

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.

➡️Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session 

I've had a lot of people asking about the shift we're in right now—this time of transition that’s stirring up so much in us and around us. I won’t pretend to have all the answers, but I wanted to share my current understanding, in case it helps you feel a bit less alone. 

From what I can tell, we’re living through a kind of energetic split—an intensification between light and shadow, both globally and personally. You might have noticed how much more amplified everything feels lately—when it’s good, it’s amazing… when it’s hard, it’s confronting. It’s like we’re being asked to choose which direction we’re leaning into: love or fear, connection or separation, old patterns or new ways of being. 

The inner work we’re doing matters now more than ever. This isn’t about being perfect, it’s about showing up—being willing to face what’s in us, heal what we can, and stay grounded through it all. I believe we’re on the biggest ride in the park right now, and the more we surrender to it, trust it, and stay connected to what truly matters—nature, community, creativity, love—the more peaceful and empowered we’ll feel. If this resonates with you, I hope it reminds you you’re not alone. We’re in this together.

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.

➡️Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session 

There’s an incredible principle that operates in the subconscious mind — I call it “same, same, same.” That means when we live something, see something on a screen, or even just imagine it vividly, our subconscious experiences it as the same.

That’s why worry, negative thinking, and overexposure to distressing media can have such a powerful effect on our body-mind system. It’s not just psychological — it creates a real physiological response. Our nervous system reacts as though it’s actually happening, even when it’s not.

The good news is, this also works in reverse. When we visualise something peaceful, loving or empowering, our subconscious experiences that as reality too. This is where deep healing becomes possible — not by pretending the past didn’t happen, but by changing the internal residue it left behind.

That’s why I’m so passionate about this work. Inner child healing. Hypnotherapy. Guided visualisation. These are tools that help us shift from fear and wounding to freedom and wholeness — even if our external circumstances haven’t changed yet.

In this podcast, I take you through a short guided process to show you exactly how this works. You’ll create a peaceful sanctuary in your imagination — and notice how quickly your nervous system shifts in response. It’s a beautiful demonstration of just how powerful the subconscious mind really is.

James Hands

Disclaimer: this episode is for education and information purposes only. It does not constitute individual advice and the information contained may not be applicable or appropriate for everyone. If you need support, consider seeking individualised support from a qualified health professional.