Moving Minds Forward

Gary Johannes
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  • Mental Health

Most people know something's wrong. They just don't know why or what to do about it. Hosted by Gary Johannes , Solution focused hypnotherapist, founder of Inspired To Change, and senior lecturer at CPHT. Moving Minds Forward is a podcast about mental health, the brain, and what genuinely helps people change. One condition per episode. Anxiety, depression, panic, sleep, stress, trauma, OCD, overthinking, confidence and more, explored through honest conversation, grounded in neuroscience and current research. Some episodes are educational. Some include guests sharing their own experience of moving forward. No jargon. No blame. No dwelling on the past. Just straight answers about why the brain does what it does and what actually helps. Because people aren't broken. Sometimes the brain just gets stuck in patterns it learned to survive. And the brain can learn something different.

  1. 4d ago

    Trauma & PTSD: You Don’t Have to Go Back to Move Forward

    Trauma happens in the past. So why can your brain and body continue to react as though the danger is happening right now? In this episode of Moving Minds Forward, Gary Johannes explores trauma and PTSD, what they are, the difference between them, and what may be happening in the brain when traumatic experiences continue to affect everyday life. We look at why traumatic memories can feel so immediate, what happens when the brain’s threat system remains on high alert, and why flashbacks, hypervigilance, avoidance, disrupted sleep and seemingly unexplained triggers can persist long after the original danger has passed. Gary also explores the difference between PTSD and complex PTSD, some of the factors that can keep the threat response going, and why avoiding reminders of trauma can sometimes make life gradually smaller. Most importantly, the episode looks at what can help. While some established trauma therapies involve deliberately working with traumatic memories, Gary explains how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy takes a different approach, focusing on reducing the brain’s threat response, building a greater sense of safety and helping people move towards the life they want without requiring them to repeatedly revisit the traumatic event itself. There’s also a simple grounding technique you can use when you feel yourself being pulled into a flashback or overwhelmed by a sense of being back in the moment. If you’ve been living with the effects of trauma, or you’ve avoided seeking help because you believed therapy would mean having to relive what happened, this episode offers another perspective. You don’t have to go back there to move forward from here. Moving Minds Forward with Gary Johannes explores one condition at a time: what’s going on, what may be keeping it going, and what can actually help. Find out more about Inspired To Change and our nationwide network of Solution Focused Hypnotherapists at inspiredtochange.biz.

    Trauma & PTSD: You Don’t Have to Go Back to Move Forward

  2. Aug 9

    Stage Fright and the Yips: Why Experienced Performers Suddenly Lose Their Nerve

    You've done it a thousand times. The stage, the classroom, the microphone, the penalty spot. And then one ordinary day, with no warning, your body decides it isn't safe anymore. Your heart races, your hands shake, your mind goes blank. This episode is for the people that happens to. Not beginners, the ones with years of proof behind them, suddenly convinced they've lost it. Here's the good news: you haven't. This isn't skill running out. It's an alarm system misfiring at a moment it's never misfired before and a misfire can be corrected. Gary Johannes unpacks what sudden onset performance anxiety actually is, why it lands on seasoned performers out of the blue, why it sticks around once it starts, and what genuinely helps you get your nerve back. One condition. The same honest lens: what's going on, what's keeping it going, and what actually helps. If you've felt confident in your craft for years and then found yourself shaking, blanking or dreading the thing you used to do without thinking, this one's for you. To find your nearest solution focused hypnotherapist and book a free initial consultation, visit www.inspiredtochange.biz

    Stage Fright and the Yips: Why Experienced Performers Suddenly Lose Their Nerve

  3. Aug 3

    IBS Explained: The Gut-Brain Link Nobody Told You About

    If you live with IBS, you already know it's about more than symptoms.  It quietly shapes what you eat, where you go, and whether you say yes to things. This episode explains what's actually happening, in your gut, in your brain, and in the constant conversation between the two. We look at why the gut becomes hypersensitive, why stress triggers flares in nearly 60% of sufferers, and why the cycle of worry and avoidance keeps it going. Then we get to what helps, including gut-directed hypnotherapy, recommended by NICE and showing success rates of up to 95% in classic IBS cases. You'll leave with one simple technique you can use today to calm your nervous system and settle your gut. Because you don't have to keep planning your life around it. There's always a way forward. Find your nearest solution-focused hypnotherapist and book a free initial consultation at inspiredtochange.biz Link in the description.

    IBS Explained: The Gut-Brain Link Nobody Told You About

  4. Jul 28

    Why Chronic Pain Doesn't Mean You're Broken | Claire Noyelle

    Chronic pain doesn't always mean ongoing damage, sometimes it's a nervous system stuck on high alert, sounding the alarm long after the danger's passed. In this episode of Moving Minds Forward, Gary Johannes is joined by Claire Noyelle, a solution-focused hypnotherapist who spent over thirty years as an NHS pharmacist before retraining. Claire has seen chronic pain and fibromyalgia from both sides: the prescription pad and the therapy room. Together they talk through: — Why pain can persist long after the body has healed — The biggest myth about chronic pain (and where it comes from) — What solution-focused hypnotherapy actually does for pain and fibromyalgia — How the nervous system learns pain — and how it can learn something different If you're living with chronic pain, or love someone who is, this conversation is for you. 🔗 Find out more about solution-focused hypnotherapy for chronic pain and fibromyalgia, or book a free consultation with Claire or one of our nationwide team: inspiredtochange.biz #ChronicPain #Fibromyalgia #Hypnotherapy #MovingMindsForward #NervousSystem #PainManagement

    Why Chronic Pain Doesn't Mean You're Broken | Claire Noyelle

  5. Jul 20

    Why Do I Get So Angry?

    Why do I get so angry?  If you've asked yourself that question after saying or doing something you regret, this one's for you. Anger can feel like it owns you. The heat rises, the words are out before you've had a single useful thought, and twenty minutes later the calm, sensible version of you turns up with all the right things you could have said. In this episode, I want to explain what's actually going on because once you understand it, anger stops feeling like a character flaw and starts making sense. We'll look at what anger really is, and the difference between anger and aggression. We'll go into what's happening in your brain in that moment, why "just calm down" doesn't work, and what your amygdala is doing when it takes over from the thinking part of your brain. We'll talk about anger management, why it keeps coming back even when you don't want it to, and the difference between anger and the anxiety or hurt often sitting underneath it. And I'll leave you with one simple thing you can start noticing today, to widen the gap between the trigger and the reaction. You're not broken. You're not weak. You have a brain that learned, somewhere along the way, to reach for anger to keep you safe. And the same brain that learned that can learn something different. That's not wishful thinking. That's neuroscience. If this helps, subscribe and leave a review, it means more people find their way to this. If you'd like support with anger, Inspired to Change has a nationwide network of solution-focused hypnotherapists across the UK. Find your nearest therapist and book a free initial consultation at www.inspiredtochange.biz. If anger is frequent, intense, or affecting your life, please speak to your GP, it can sit alongside things worth checking. And if it's ever spilled over into harming yourself or someone else, please get proper support quickly. #WhyDoIGetSoAngry #AngerManagement #InspiredToChange #SolutionFocusedHypnotherapy #MovingMindsForward #MentalHealthPodcast #Neuroscience #AngerIssues #EmotionalRegulation #HypnotherapyUK

    Why Do I Get So Angry?

  6. Jul 13

    Procrastination Isn't Laziness - Here's What's Really Going On

    You're not lazy. You never were.If you've spent years calling yourself lazy for putting things off, this one's for you.Procrastination isn't a time management problem, it's an emotional one. When a task stirs up discomfort, your brain does exactly what it's built to do: it moves you away from the bad feeling and towards relief. That's not a character flaw. It's wiring, and wiring can change. In this episode of Moving Minds Forward, Gary Johannes, solution focused hypnotherapist and founder of Inspired to Change, unpacks what's really driving the avoidance, what's happening in the brain when you reach for your phone instead of the task, and why guilt and self-criticism keep the cycle spinning rather than breaking it. You'll learn: Why a procrastinator cares too much, not too littleThe argument between the planner and the limbic system  and who usually winsHow shame acts as a brake, not a fuelWhat solution-focused hypnotherapy does to lower the dread around startingOne simple five-minute technique you can use todayPeople aren't broken. They're capable of change. And the version of you who starts sooner and carries less guilt may be a lot closer than you think.If procrastination has been weighing on you, Inspired to Change has solution-focused hypnotherapists across the UK, in person and online. Everything's at inspiredtochange.biz when you're ready. No rush. 

    Procrastination Isn't Laziness - Here's What's Really Going On

  7. Jul 6

    Grief and Loss: There's No Wrong Way to Grieve

    Grief is one of the most human things we go through  and one of the things our culture handles worst.  We're quietly expected to be "back to normal" far sooner than any of us actually are. So if you've ever wondered whether you're grieving wrong, taking too long, or not feeling the "right" things, this episode is for you. In this one I look at what grief actually is, why it hits the body as hard as the mind, and why there's no set timeline and no single path through it. I talk about why the pressure to "move on" does so much harm, and what genuinely helps, from talking and remembering, to looking after your physical health, to the support that's there when you need it. Grief isn't a problem to be fixed. It's love with nowhere to go. But healing is possible, at your own pace, in your own way, and you don't have to do it alone. I'm Gary Johannes - solution-focused hypnotherapist and founder of Inspired to Change. 🎧 New episode every week. Subscribe wherever you're listening. 🔗 More about our work: www.inspiredtochange.biz

    Grief and Loss: There's No Wrong Way to Grieve

  8. Jun 29

    Phobia: Why You Can't Think Your Way Out of them

    You already know the spider won't kill you. You know the plane is one of the safest places you can be. You know the needle will be fine. And none of that knowing makes the slightest difference. That gap between what you know and what you feel is the most frustrating part of living with a phobia. It's also the key to understanding what's actually going on and how to change it. In this episode, Gary walks through what a phobia really is, what's happening in the brain when one fires, why it took hold in the first place, and what keeps it running long after the original event.  You'll hear why the fear lives in the amygdala rather than the rational part of your brain, why that's exactly why willpower doesn't work, and how avoidance quietly keeps the whole thing alive. Then we get to what helps. Not white-knuckle exposure, but the rewind technique, a calmer, solution-focused approach that lets the brain refile a memory it filed in the wrong place to begin with. In this episode: What separates a phobia from ordinary fearThe difference between specific and complex phobiasWhat the amygdala is doing, and why it doesn't wait for the rational brainHow phobias develop, and why the origin matters less than you'd thinkWhy avoidance and safety behaviours keep the fear intactHow the rewind technique works, and why it doesn't re-traumatiseOne thing you can take away todayIf you've been told you just have to live with it, or you've tried to push through on willpower and found it doesn't work, this one's for you. The brain that learned fear can learn something different. One condition. The same lens. What's going on, what's keeping it going, and what actually helps. Subscribe wherever you're listening. There's a lot more to come.

    Phobia: Why You Can't Think Your Way Out of them
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About

Most people know something's wrong. They just don't know why or what to do about it. Hosted by Gary Johannes , Solution focused hypnotherapist, founder of Inspired To Change, and senior lecturer at CPHT. Moving Minds Forward is a podcast about mental health, the brain, and what genuinely helps people change. One condition per episode. Anxiety, depression, panic, sleep, stress, trauma, OCD, overthinking, confidence and more, explored through honest conversation, grounded in neuroscience and current research. Some episodes are educational. Some include guests sharing their own experience of moving forward. No jargon. No blame. No dwelling on the past. Just straight answers about why the brain does what it does and what actually helps. Because people aren't broken. Sometimes the brain just gets stuck in patterns it learned to survive. And the brain can learn something different.

Information

  • Creator
    Gary Johannes
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Gary Johannes
  • Show Website
    Moving Minds Forward