✨Download The Soul Warrior’s Journey - a Free Roadmap & Hypnotherapy Session✨ https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/The-Soul-Warriors-Journey-Through-Childhood-Trauma-to-Transformation

✨Be the first to know when my book is published - From Trauma Survivor to Soul Warrior: Reconnect to Your True Self.✨ https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/from-trauma-survivor-to-soul-warrior

Healing is always possible. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible because love is what heals — and love is what we are at our core. When we can access that deeper part of ourselves, that higher vibration of love, it begins to shift the stuck energy that trauma leaves behind.

I see trauma as energy that was too overwhelming to process at the time, so it gets stored in the body, the heart, the mind. That stuckness can cast long shadows, sometimes for years. Shadow work isn’t about fighting the shadow itself, it’s about meeting and transforming the energy that creates it.

Light always dissolves dark, and love always transmutes fear. When we open up those hidden places within us — often slowly, carefully, with support we trust — the shift happens. Each layer we heal creates more space, more stillness, and more connection to the truth of who we are.

At our essence, we are not the dark, we are the spark of the divine — eternal soul, infinite love — having this human experience. And nothing can destroy that. That’s why I believe healing is always possible.

James Hands Holistic Psychologist Spiritual Hypnotherapist Author and creator of Awaken Therapy https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/

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✨ https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/The-Soul-Warriors-Journey-Through-Childhood-Trauma-to-Transformation

✨Be the first to know when my book is published - From Trauma Survivor to Soul Warrior: Reconnect to Your True Self.✨ https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/from-trauma-survivor-to-soul-warrior

I wanted to share a reflection on this polarity we all carry — the pull to be an individual, standing on our own two feet, and the deep desire to belong, to be in union and connection with others.

On a soul level, both of these exist within us. The feminine aspect longs for union, belonging, and returning to oneness. The masculine aspect seeks individuation — to know ourselves as a unique, creative drop in the ocean of the divine.

It can feel like a tension, but it’s really a dance between two essential forces. Both are part of our wholeness, and both belong.

James Hands Holistic Psychologist Spiritual Hypnotherapist Author and creator of Awaken Therapy https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/

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✨ https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/The-Soul-Warriors-Journey-Through-Childhood-Trauma-to-Transformation

✨Be the first to know when my book is published - From Trauma Survivor to Soul Warrior: Reconnect to Your True Self.✨ https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/from-trauma-survivor-to-soul-warrior

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 Holistic Psychologist Spiritual Hypnotherapist Author and creator of Awaken Therapy https://www.awakentherapy.com.au/

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.