Christopher Paul Jones: The Breakthrough Expert

22/09/2025

We often treat behaviour as something to control. A reaction to manage, a problem to solve. However, behaviour is communication, and when someone is dealing with anxiety or fear, it is often messy, loud, or misunderstood.

It’s important to remember that fear doesn’t always manifest in words. It shows up in what someone avoids, what makes them lash out and what shuts them down.

Fear-driven behaviour is often mislabelled as attention-seeking or defiance, especially in children and teens. In adults, it may show up as cancelling plans, snapping under pressure, or obsessing over small details to feel in control. But what you’re usually seeing is a nervous system stuck in survival mode: fight, flight, or freeze.

Misunderstood behaviour often comes with shame. The more a person is judged, corrected, punished or dismissed for how their fear or anxiety shows up, the more they internalise the belief that something is wrong with them.

That said, what helps to promote change is safety. That doesn’t mean excusing behaviour, but it does mean asking better questions: “What’s underneath this?” or “What is this person trying to manage internally?”

Better questions offer alternative solutions, and when people feel supported and understood, the nervous system can start to relax. Once they feel safe, they stop needing to protect themselves with behaviour that looks unhelpful on the outside but feels vital on the inside.

When fear no longer has to drive the behaviour, there’s finally space for something new.

19/09/2025

This is what one reviewer said about Face Your Fears, and it’s exactly what I aimed for when I wrote this book.

No jargon, no fluff, no one-size-fits-all advice. Just a clear guide to how fear works and how you can shift it. It’s not about managing fear. It’s about unlearning it, right at the level where it began.

Whether you’re dealing with anxiety yourself or work with others who are, Face Your Fears will walk you through the process I use with clients every day.

Simple. Practical. Deep-level change. Get your copy here: https://bit.ly/4oBdcuQ

16/09/2025

When people think about su***de, we often imagine a sudden decision, a single act. However, in reality, su***de is usually the end of a long road. For many, that road begins with anxiety and depression — two states that can feel like constant companions, whispering doubts, weighing us down, and draining colour from our world.

Left unchecked, it doesn’t just make life difficult; it can convince us that life isn’t worth living. Many believe they have to carry that weight in silence. While that silence can feel like the safest option, reaching out is often what makes the difference.

📝 Read on in my latest blog: https://bit.ly/46wf80p

***deAwareness

12/09/2025

As we approach the end of World Su***de Prevention Week, I want to shine a light on the quieter suffering that anxiety can bring. The kind that doesn’t always get noticed.

People tend to associate su***de with depression, but anxiety can be just as isolating. Just as heavy. And it rarely walks alone. Often, it brings exhaustion, hopelessness, and a quiet sense of “I can’t do this anymore.” The constant fight-or-flight, the fear of fear itself, and the belief that something terrible is always around the corner wear people down. And because anxiety doesn’t always “look” severe, many people struggle in silence, feeling like they don’t deserve help.

If this is you, you’re not failing, and you’re not weak. You’re exhausted. If you’re feeling like it’s all too much, it’s not a character flaw. It’s a sign that something needs more. More help. More understanding. More compassion.

Whether you’re in crisis, feeling overwhelmed, or just need someone to talk to; there is always someone ready to listen. You can call Samaritans any time, day or night, on 116 123, from any phone in the UK. If you’re in the U.S., you can call or text the Su***de and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Both services are free and available 24/7.

Mental health support isn’t only for those at rock bottom. You matter. You always have. And you are not alone.

***dePreventionWeek

11/09/2025

For many, 9/11 is a moment in history. For others, it’s personal: raw, physical, and still echoing.

So, today we pause.

For the lives lost.
For the lives forever changed.
For those who ran towards danger.
For those who couldn’t run at all.

And for those still carrying the echoes of that day in their body and mind.

This is a moment to honour what was lost and to acknowledge what still lives on in the nervous systems of so many. 9/11 didn’t end when the buildings fell. For many, the impact continued — in grief, in trauma, in silence.

If today brings something up for you — a memory, a feeling, a heaviness you can’t quite name — give yourself the space to feel it. 9/11 shaped more than history — it shaped lives. That matters. And it always will.

#9/11

09/09/2025

When fear takes over, most people try to calm themselves down with logic.
But fear doesn’t live in the logical part of the brain; it lives in the body. So the solution has to involve the body too.

One of the techniques I use with clients is anchoring. It’s a way of teaching the nervous system to respond differently — by creating a direct, physical link to a positive emotional state.

Here’s how to do it:

👉 Think of a time when you felt calm, safe, or powerful — a real moment where that emotion was strong.
👉 See what you saw. Hear what you heard. Feel what you felt.
👉 When the feeling’s at its peak, gently squeeze your fist.
👉 That simple action becomes your anchor.

Repeat it a few times. Recall the emotion, squeeze your fist, release. Then the next time anxiety creeps in, try squeezing your fist again. You’re not just “remembering calm”, you’re giving your body a shortcut back to it.

It takes practice, but over time, that movement sends a new signal to your system: You’re safe now. You don’t need to run.

It’s simple. It’s powerful. And it works.

06/09/2025

🎙️ New Podcast Episode – Breathing for Mental Health

I recently joined Melissa Vera on Chats from the Blog Cabin to talk about how simple breathing practices can help manage anxiety, phobias, and everyday stress.

In this episode, we explore:
✨ Why breathing is essential for calming the mind
✨ How emotions and beliefs impact anxiety
✨ Practical breathwork you can use daily
✨ Managing phobias and fears with consistency
✨ A guided breathing exercise to help you center yourself

If you’ve ever struggled with stress, public speaking nerves, or phobias, this conversation is packed with tools you can put into practice right away.

🎧 Listen here: Breathing for Mental Health – Chats from the Blog Cabin

In this episode of Chats from the Blog Cabin, Melissa Vera sits down with expert Christopher Paul Jones to talk about how breathing can help manage anxiety, phobias, and everyday stress.They explore the science of breathwork, heart math, and emotional regulation, and share simple daily practices tha...

31/08/2025

August always feels like a strange kind of pause; like the world’s still in motion, but somehow slower. For some, it’s a break; however, for others, it’s a pressure point.

And for many of the people I speak to, it’s when old fears get louder. Less structure, more social plans, travel, heat, crowds — it can stir up everything we’ve been pushing aside.

However this month unfolded for you, it's good to remember that fear might have shaped your past, but it doesn’t have to shape your future.

📰 Read on in my latest newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Hzk9vS

29/08/2025

Can’t even bring yourself to look at a spider without shivering? You’re not alone. Arachnophobia – the extreme fear of spiders – is one of the most common phobias in the world. And while most spiders are completely harmless, the fear can feel overwhelming, irrational, and very real.

For some, it’s not just an “ugh” moment in the bathroom; it’s an instant flood of panic, avoidance of certain places, and even a sense of being unsafe in their own home.

📝 Read on in my latest blog: https://bit.ly/47HnCTu

26/08/2025

You’re sharp, articulate, and good at what you do. But when it’s time to speak up — on stage, in meetings, or on camera — something inside you freezes.

It’s rarely the act of speaking that’s the problem. A lot of the time, it’s the feeling of being seen. The fear is usually based on what might happen if you don’t get it right.

What might people think? How might they judge you? What might it confirm about you to them, and how will that affect you moving forward?

However, the story your mind is holding isn’t fixed. It was shaped somewhere along the way by experiences, comments, or moments where being seen felt risky. Your survival system has learned to perceive visibility as a threat, so it intervenes to protect you by shutting things down.

One approach I often use is a version of the Fast Phobia Technique. We take a triggering memory — it might be the first time you froze, or a moment that made you dread speaking up — and change the way your mind stores it. By mentally replaying it from a safe, detached perspective, running it backwards and forwards, and altering the sensory details, we disrupt the link between that experience and your body’s fear response. Your nervous system stops treating it as a threat, and the old freeze pattern no longer gets triggered in the same way.

Once the root association is gone, you’re not forcing yourself through with willpower; you’re speaking from a place where your body actually feels safe. The spotlight stops being a threat and starts being somewhere you can stand with confidence.

If fear of public speaking is stopping you from achieving your potential, I’m here to help. Visit my website to book a clarity call, and let’s talk: https://bit.ly/4hSZ5wv

24/08/2025

Arachnophobia Cured
Katie has been terrified of spiders for as long as she can remember. In this short clip from Face your Fear Street Phobia: phobia specialist Christopher Paul Jones meets her in a London pub garden and takes her on a powerful journey.
What begins with panic at the sight of a tarantula turns into a surprising transformation as Christopher helps her shift the way she experiences fear.
This video is the intervention itself from the first encounter to the conclusion. To see the full Street Phobia episode, including all the background, reactions and build-up, watch Face Your Fear in full.
⚠️ Warning: This video contains real spiders.

23/08/2025

Many people appear confident and in control in every other part of life, until getting on a flight is mentioned. Then panic takes over, and they find themselves cancelling trips, numbing the fear, or depending on medication just to get through.

Fear of flying often isn’t about the plane. It’s about loss of control, feeling trapped, past experiences, or sometimes, something so random that you never would have made the connection. The real fear is stored deeper, tied to earlier events and associations, and the plane is simply the trigger..

By working at that deeper level, it’s possible to change how the body holds that fear and how the mind responds to it. Once the old pattern is gone, there’s no need to rely on willpower or “push through.” You no longer have to brace yourself with medication or distraction — you can simply get on the plane and feel calm at 30,000 feet.

Learn more about fear on my website: https://bit.ly/4hSZ5wv