A Change of Mind

17/03/2026

Excellent Series of Essays by Donnacadh Hurley on CSA

I have known Donnacadh for many years and am familiar with his own long battle with the consequences of CSA. Over the past decade, he has extensively researched the field and written a meticulous and searching book. He has recently begun publishing a series of ten essays on the subject on Substack.

Essay 3 is particularly hard-hitting and is a must-read for anyone professionally involved in the field of trauma or CSA therapy, or for survivors of CSA. It outlines the massive psychological impact it had on his life.

https://substack.com/inbox/post/191003259?inbox=true&triedRedirect=true

I applaud his vulnerability and bravery in looking so honestly at himself and in exposing this pervasive, entrenched and insidious reality within our society.

What it feels like to be caught in the current

22/02/2026

Support as a mature choice

There is a point in life where support takes on a different meaning.

It is no longer about fixing what is broken or compensating for weakness. It becomes about refinement, integration, and completion.

For capable adults, asking for support can feel unnecessary or indulgent. “I am functioning. Others have it worse.” This belief is often held by people who have been carrying more than they realise for a long time.

Support at this stage of life is not about dependency. It is about no longer doing everything alone simply because you can.

Sometimes what is needed is not more effort, insight, or discipline, but the right conditions for something old to finally settle.

That is not a failure of independence. It is a sign of maturity.

If you find yourself at this point, it is worth knowing that there are forms of support designed specifically for people who are already capable, conscious, and functioning, but who sense that something in them is ready to shift.

15/02/2026

Coping versus resolving (Deep Resolution)

Most high functioning people cope extremely well.

They regulate themselves. They manage stress. They know how to bring themselves back into balance, at least enough to keep going.

But coping is not the same as resolving.

Coping requires ongoing effort. There is a sense of monitoring, adjusting, managing internal states. For many people this becomes so normal that they no longer question it.

Resolution feels different. There is less management because there is less to manage. The system no longer needs the same strategies because the underlying drivers have softened or completed.

This is not about becoming passive or losing edge. In many cases, it frees energy, clarity, and responsiveness that were previously tied up in self regulation.

The difference is subtle, but once experienced, unmistakable.

If this distinction matters to you, it is often a sign that you are no longer looking for better coping strategies, but for conditions that allow something deeper to resolve.

08/02/2026

Old survival patterns in a new life

One of the most confusing experiences for successful adults is this.

Life is stable. There is more choice, more safety, more agency than there once was. And yet the inner system still behaves as if something is at stake.

Urgency without necessity. Vigilance without danger. Self monitoring without a clear reason.

This is not a failure of growth. It is a sign of how deeply early adaptations are wired.

Patterns formed under pressure do not dissolve simply because circumstances improve. In fact, success can stabilise them. The very strategies that helped you function early on are often rewarded later in life.

The system does not automatically update itself just because the context has changed.

Understanding this can be quietly relieving. It shifts the question from “What is wrong with me?” to “What is still operating as if the past is present?”

This is often the point where self understanding stops being enough on its own, and something more relational and experiential becomes necessary.

04/02/2026

The hidden cost of being competent

There is a cost to being the capable one.

The one who adapts. Who carries responsibility. Who figures things out rather than falling apart.

Over time, competence can become an identity. Not in an obvious or arrogant way, but as a quiet organising principle. “I handle things. I do not need much.”

This works, until it does not.

What often gets missed is that self regulation without support slowly becomes self containment. Emotions are managed internally. Stress is absorbed rather than shared. Vulnerability is allowed in theory, but rarely inhabited.

From the outside, this looks like strength. On the inside, it can feel like effort.

Many people do not realise how much energy is going into holding themselves together until they experience what it is like not to have to do that anymore.

If you are honest with yourself, it may be worth asking how much of your current stability is being actively maintained, rather than naturally present.

01/02/2026

When insight is not enough

Many of the people I work with understand themselves very well.

They can see their patterns. They know where they come from. They have reflected deeply, read widely, perhaps worked with teachers, therapists, or coaches before.

And still, certain reactions persist.

The body tightens in familiar situations. Old emotional responses appear before choice is available. Stress shows up even when there is no obvious threat.

This often leads to frustration. A quiet inner commentary that says, “I know better than this.”

Insight is valuable, but it is not the same thing as change. Understanding a pattern does not automatically dissolve it, especially when that pattern lives in the nervous system rather than the thinking mind.

Much of what shapes our day to day experience is procedural, not conceptual. It was learned early, often before language, and it continues because it once worked.

When insight is asked to do the job of integration, people can end up blaming themselves for something that simply requires a different kind of support.

If this lands for you, it may be worth noticing where you are still trying to think your way through something that is already understood, but not yet settled.

27/01/2026

Success without inner ease

There is a particular kind of discomfort I see often in capable, intelligent people.

Life is working, at least on the outside. There has been achievement, progress, responsibility carried well. From the perspective of earlier versions of yourself, you have “arrived”.

And yet something has not quite settled.

There may be a low level tension that never fully switches off. A sense of being driven rather than moved. Or a quiet dissatisfaction that feels difficult to justify, given how things look from the outside.

Many people assume this means they are ungrateful, overly demanding, or somehow broken. In my experience, it usually means something else.

Outer success can arrive long before the inner system has reorganised itself. The nervous system, identity, and emotional habits that were formed under pressure often keep operating even when the pressure has eased.

Nothing is wrong. But something is unfinished.

For people who are thoughtful and self aware, this can be particularly confusing. There is often an expectation that maturity, insight, or spiritual understanding should have resolved this by now.

Sometimes the issue is not a lack of understanding at all. Sometimes it is that success has outpaced integration.

If this resonates, it may be worth noticing where your life has moved on, but some part of you is still living as if it has not.

19/01/2026

Advanced Hypnotherapy Award for Trauma Informed Therapy

Though I have been qualified as a hypnotherapist for 28 years, I continue to educate myself each year with up to date courses. I just received an advanced hypnotherapy diploma related to trauma informed therapy, from the highly professional and experienced traumatologist Susan Wallace.

Though I have always worked with trauma in its widest sense, the understanding of how to work with it has advanced considerably in recent years. No longer is the hypnotherapy approach simply about finding and resolving past events. Instead there is a much deeper understanding of how to regulate and stabilise the nervous system first, and then how to resolve trauma without reactivating a trauma response.

Dr Dan Siegel defines trauma as as an experience that overwhelms the nervous system’s ability to process and integrate information.

In Polyvagal theory Trauma is defined as a chronic state of nervous system dysregulation in which the organism remains oriented toward threat long after the danger has passed.

We can see from this that many experiences - including entire childhoods, not just individual traumatic events, can lock someone into a long term state of trauma.

I therefore offer advanced Clinical Hypno-Psychotherapy for anyone with an unresolved past or ongoing stress responses that may not even be understood. Get in touch if you wish to explore further

14/10/2025

The Real Power Lies Beneath the Surface

Most people try to change their lives by changing what is around them: their work, their habits, even their relationships.
Yet what truly shapes our experience is not out there. It is in here.

The subconscious mind quietly runs the show, influencing how we think, feel, and respond long before the conscious mind has a say.

Old beliefs, early conditioning, and emotional imprints form hidden patterns that keep us repeating the same experiences, even when we “know better.”

You may notice the same kinds of relationships, challenges, or emotional reactions showing up again and again, even though the circumstances seem different. That is the subconscious at work, recreating the familiar until awareness changes the script.

Real change begins when we stop fighting the outer world and start exploring the inner one.

The first step: become aware of the pattern without judgement.

When you can see it clearly, you no longer have to be it. Awareness itself begins to rewrite the subconscious story.

02/09/2025

The Hidden Key to Real Success

Most people think success is about working harder, learning new strategies, or pushing through with sheer willpower. And yes, those things can bring results, but usually only temporary ones.

Here’s the truth:
Real and lasting success comes from shifting your subconscious frequency.

Your subconscious mind quietly runs the show. It holds your beliefs about money, worth, confidence, and what is possible for you. If those deep patterns are not aligned with success, then no matter how hard you try consciously, you will eventually slip back into the old cycle.

That is why true transformation can never be just a conscious decision. It requires a subconscious shift. When that happens, success stops being a struggle and starts to feel natural.

This is the work I do with clients every day at A Change of Mind using Hypnotherapy & Coaching. Together, we uncover the patterns that hold you back and rewire them so your subconscious is working with you, not against you.

When you change your frequency at the deepest level, money, success, and opportunity begin to flow in ways that last.

Ready to find out how this could work for you? Email me today: Steven@achangeofmind.ie or Facebook message me.

05/08/2025

Who’s REALLY in charge of your life?

Science suggests that up to 95% of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours are driven by your subconscious mind and not your conscious decisions.

This means:

• That habit you can’t seem to break?
• That anxiety that shows up uninvited?
• That inner voice that says “you’re not good enough”?
• The patterns you keep repeating
• Never quite reaching your goals

These are all likely programs running beneath the surface, often formed years ago.

Think about what that means – these parts of yourself that you have probably tried to change unsuccessfully:

You didn’t choose them consciously, but you can change them.
This is where hypnotherapy works.

It helps you gently access your subconscious, understand the root cause, and rewire it for peace, confidence, and clarity.
Imagine feeling free of the old stories that keep looping in your head.

Recently I helped a client who over and over got rejected in relationships. We found in the subconscious mind a memory where she concluded she wasn’t pretty because her older sister was always the one who was told she was pretty. So she ran a programme that simply mirrored the belief, and sooner or later subconsciously she did something to wreck the relationship. We released and repatterned that memory. It is too soon to know the long term outcome in this case, but I am confident her relationships will now change.

This is why hypnotherapy can be more powerful than any other psychotherapy. “It reaches the parts that other therapies cannot reach!”

Interested to explore – sign up for an initial hypnotherapy session:

https://achangeofmind.ie/hypnotherapy/

26/06/2025

Why Hypnotherapy Deserves More Respect

I’ve been working with clients using hypnotherapy for nearly 30 years. And I can say without hesitation: when it’s practiced properly, hypnotherapy isn’t just powerful. It’s transformational.

I’ve seen anxiety, depression, phobias, and trauma dissolve. Physical conditions often improve too. One woman I worked with had suffered from chronic back pain for over a decade and was facing spinal surgery. After just two sessions, she experienced complete relief from the pain for the first time in years. Her doctors were stunned, and the surgery was no longer needed.

Yet because of how hypnosis has been portrayed in films and media, and the existence of a few poorly trained practitioners, hypnotherapy is often not taken seriously. That needs to change.

The science backs it up:

• CBT with hypnosis is significantly more effective than CBT alone
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7751482/
• Hypnotherapy relieves severe IBS where medicine fails
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6150275/
• It shows lasting improvements in digestive disorders
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6850508/
• It improves outcomes in smoking cessation better than many standard treatments
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24559809/
• Brain imaging confirms hypnosis changes the way the brain processes emotion and self-perception
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8773773/

Years ago, I also trained in a method called Focusing, developed by psychologist Eugene Gendlin. He found that therapy worked best when people connected with a bodily felt sense, a deep inner awareness. It was clear to me this is the same space we enter through hypnotherapy.

Hypnotherapy is not stage performance. It is a structured and effective approach that accesses the subconscious mind and facilitates deep, lasting change. It deserves to be recognised and respected as a serious therapeutic discipline.

If you're curious about how hypnotherapy might help you, feel free to get in touch.