Hypnotherapy for Creative blocks

Generating ideas used to feel effortless.

You’d sit down and the ideas and the words would flow.

But lately you sit down and you feel stuck. You know you’re capable and creative but now there’s just an uneasy silence.

The flow has disappeared and your feel stuck in a muddy mess of fear and procrastination.

What’s changed? Where’s your ability gone?

And, more to the point, how can you unfreeze your flow?

What is Blocking Your Creative Mind?

A creative block or a chronic habit of procrastination is rarely about a lack of talent, motivation or willpower.

It is almost always about fear and perfectionism: subconscious patterns that operate automatically outside your conscious control.

Creativity requires you to be vulnerable.

Putting your work out there into the world comes with a real risk of judgment, rejection and criticism.

And by this point in your life, you have likely experienced a little more of that than you’d have liked to…

Alongside this, there could be a fear that you’re not good enough and this will impact your career and even your livelihood.

Fear that what you’re working on is frivolous and you should be doing something more serious or important.

Fear of wasting your time on something that won’t work; fear of being seen as a fraud; fear of being ignored.

Fear = danger to your subconscious

Even if your conscious mind can rationalise these fears, your subconscious is hearing them and interpreting the fear as danger.

And when your subconscious mind detects danger it activates the stress response – fight/flight/freeze: survival mode - sending cortisol and adrenaline coursing through your body.

When the nervous system is in survival mode, the brain naturally prioritises protection over clear thinking.

And then you experience:

• racing thoughts

• difficulty switching off

• shallow breathing and tension in the body

• irritability

• difficulty concentrating

The more logical, thoughtful part of the brain - the pre-frontal cortex, which is the part responsible for perspective, decision-making, and rational thinking - becomes harder to access.

And clarity and inspiration become horribly elusive because getting to work on your article, project or book is at the bottom of your brain’s priority list now.

Its priority is to get you away from the danger.

So put this way, can you see how creative blocks are simply your subconscious mind trying to protect you?

Introducing: The Inner Critic

This defence response leads to very real responses you experience in your body:

• tightness in the chest

• knots in the stomach

• jaw tension

• headaches

• fatigue

• feeling restless or unable to fully settle

But unfortunately, the physical response all too often comes with a harsh inner voice that tells you you’re not good enough.

Hello Inner Critic.

This "itty bitty shitty committee" in your head hurls all sorts of insults at you:

 “This is rubbish …No-one wants to read this… It’s all been said before… Who are you to think anyone is interested in what you have to say anyway … There’s no point trying, because no-one is going to publish this … Get a grip otherwise you’re going to end up on the street…”.

And so it goes on … and on - getting louder the more you try to ignore it.

The Perverse Protector

While this inner critic may be behaving like a hypervigilant security guard … it is just trying to protect you from your own worse fears – which it is all too skilled at listing.

But this paralyses your creativity.

Motivation disappears and your mood nosedives. Curling up under the duvet for the day seems like the better option.

Trouble is, the blank page itself is perceived by your subconscious mind as a threat too.

And all these threats activate your primitive survival brain, sound the emergency alarm and hijack your nervous system, forcing your body and mind into a state of freeze.

Now you cannot tap into any sense of perspective, focus or inspiration.

Hello procrastination: second-guessing, triple-checking or distracting yourself with your dopamine hit of choice (doomscrolling, comfort eating, reaching for a glass too many of something relaxing, and so on…).

This inner critic’s voice often stems from past experience: a critical parent or teacher; a past rejection or a perceived failure.

It doesn’t matter that this may have happened years or even decades ago.

Your subconscious primitive mind at some point learned it’s not safe to create and so it will do its best to block your creativity.  

If it thinks that procrastination or distraction or giving up saved you from the existential danger of the blank page or putting your work out there in the past, it will make you do it again to save you from the threat.

The primitive brain is not creative! It won’t come up with new ways of trying to solve the problem.

So, I hope this helps you see that what you are experiencing is not a personal failure or a lack of talent.

No, this creative freeze is just the natural response of a subconscious mind that thinks you’re in danger; a form of protection.

And unfortunately you cannot simply think your way out of the freeze.

How Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy can help

You might be thinking that you need to get to the bottom of that inner critic and where it came from.

Perhaps you should analyse your childhood and all the ways your parents or teachers undermined you, for example.

And yes, that can help you understand from a logical point of view why you’re feeling as you do.

But, as we’ve seen, the primitive response is not logical.

Your subconscious primitive mind just wants to feel safe.

And only when it feels safe will let you get on with your life - and release your creativity.

So my practice offers an entirely different, forward-looking path: Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy.

We do not get stuck digging up past failures and the whys and wherefores.

Instead, we work to calm your nervous system, relax the grip of the inner critic and use relaxing hypnosis to shift your nervous system state so you can access the vast resources of your creative subconscious.

By returning your mind and body to a physiological state of safety, we naturally restore access to the creative cognition and inspired flow state that were always there inside you.

Getting your subconscious mind back on side

Several hypnotherapy techniques can help writers, academics and other creatives calm the inner critic and activate that flow state where your work comes naturally.

Here’s how we work in Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy.

Focusing on what’s working

Anxiety forces the brain to focus on worst-case scenarios.

In Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy we work to help you notice small moments of safety, progress and ease alongside life's challenges.

I’ll encourage you to focus on and notice positive actions, interactions and thoughts; on your accomplishments each week, no matter how small.

And we’ll help you focus on what you want more of – and the simple, realistic steps you can take in that direction.

Progressive relaxation

Hypnosis always begins with guided relaxation, calming the body, settling the nervous system and quieting your mind.

It takes you into brain wave states such as Alpha and Theta which are associated with relaxed reflection, creative thinking, intuitive problem-solving and breakthroughs.

Visualisation

Through guided imagery, you can visualise yourself in the flow state, fully immersed in your creative process.

This allows your subconscious mind to become familiar with what it is you want to do differently, making it easier to experience in real life.

For example, a writer might visualise start work on a new chapter, finishing their book, or having a positive conversation with a publisher or someone who can help them promote their work.

An academic might visualise themselves feeling motivated and capable working on an article or giving a keynote lecture at a conference.

An artist might visualise themselves painting confidently or accessing the flow state where their work almost creates itself.

Anchoring

In hypnotherapy we can create a positive association with a specific trigger such as a hand gesture to help you access a state of flow, confidence, focus or motivation.

This gives you a tool for life to help you activate the feeling state you most want and need to work in creative flow.

Affirmations

As your therapist, I can introduce positive words affirming your abilities. For example, related to confidence, motivation or letting go of self-doubt.

When introduced during a relaxed state of hypnosis, the affirmations bypass the inner critic and are planted as seeds in your subconscious mind, helping you tap into a more beneficial mindset when approaching and engaging in your work.

Rediscover your flow

You do not have to figure it all out alone, and you do not need to spend months dwelling on the past to find relief.

If this approach resonates with you then you are so very welcome here.

Together, we can restore your creative confidence and access the ideas that are ready to flow through you, once again.