Advice from a hypnotherapist on how to overcome mental blocks

Overcome emotional or mental blocks, and get yourself back on track

From that familiar feeling of struggling for the word that’s on the tip of your tongue, to decision paralysis, writer’s block, or persistent procrastination, many of us will have faced mental and emotional ‘blocks’ over the years. In the moment, it can feel like hitting an invisible wall that you just can’t break through. It halts you in your tracks, leaving you confused and stuck – but why does it appear, and what can you do to overcome it?

Why do we develop mental blocks?

A mental or emotional block is essentially a stress-response issue, triggered by the brain’s primitive survival system – this is where instinctive reactions and unhelpful behavioural patterns are generated. As extraordinary as the human brain is, its survival mechanisms have not evolved at the same pace as the areas responsible for fine motor skills, creativity, rational thought, and emotional regulation. When the survival system switches on unnecessarily, it can override these higher-level functions, and create an involuntary block.

Many people experiencing a block will say: “But I don’t feel anxious.” This can make the loss of fluidity or control even harder to understand. Whether the challenge appears in speaking, writing, competing, problem-solving, or creative expression, the root cause is often the same: the brain has activated the fight-or-flight response automatically, often without conscious awareness. Two of the main triggers are:

1. Fight-or-flight activation due to a perceived threat.

Imagine walking down a street and seeing a lion. You wouldn’t stop to analyse the situation; you would run. That instinctive reaction ensured our ancestors’ survival.

The challenge today is that the brain can trigger the same response to situations that are not dangerous: public speaking; taking a shot that ‘matters’; making decisions; or even simply being observed. In those moments, the primitive brain reacts as though your safety is at risk, and performance becomes disrupted.

2. A build-up of unprocessed negative thoughts.

Over time, negative thoughts or worries that have not been processed properly can accumulate, pushing the brain into a heightened state of stress. These thoughts may include: dreading performing in front of others; fear of failure or judgement; worries about personal or everyday pressures; internal expectations to ‘get it right’.

These thoughts, even if subtle, can overload the emotional system, and lead to an involuntary block. But while these blocks can feel sudden, confusing, and deeply frustrating, it’s worth keeping in mind that they are not permanent. With a solution-focused, neuroscience-based approach, it is entirely possible to remove them, and return to performing naturally and confidently.

Why does the brain struggle to process thoughts properly?

A major factor in emotional processing is sleep, particularly the rapid eye movement (REM) stage. REM sleep, which is responsible for dreaming, is the brain’s natural mechanism for sorting, processing, and resolving emotional material, accounting for about 20% of total sleep.

If REM sleep becomes disrupted, the brain may struggle to process thoughts effectively. Some signs of this include:

• Not remembering dreams*.
• Difficulty falling asleep.
• Waking during the night with a racing mind.
• Feeling tired, despite a full night’s sleep.

When REM processes break down and stress levels rise, the brain can become stuck in fight, flight, or freeze mode. In this state, the primitive brain dominates, making fluid, skilled performance far more difficult.

Breaking the loop

Restoring healthy REM sleep and lowering overall anxiety levels is essential to breaking the cycle of a mental or emotional block. Hypnosis can be a powerful tool for achieving this. Just half an hour of trance can simulate several hours of REM-like processing, helping the brain rebalance and reduce stress. Over a few weeks, this can lower anxiety enough for the block to dissolve naturally.

However, long-term change requires more than just reducing stress. High anxiety often stems from accumulated negative thoughts, unprocessed emotions, and worries about past, present, or future experiences.

‘We are a product of our thoughts’

Negative thoughts are stored in the subconscious mind – the same mind that governs automatic behaviours, movements, habits, and emotional responses. The subconscious accounts for around 95% of brain activity.

Through hypnosis and solution-focused brief therapy, it is possible to address various issues, including quietening the primitive brain, processing stored or unhelpful thoughts, restoring natural confidence, replacing negative patterns with positive ones, and harnessing neuroplasticity to rewire emotional and behavioural responses.

By lowering anxiety and retraining the brain, a mental or emotional performance block can be removed entirely, allowing you to return to performing at your very best.

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*Everyone dreams. A lack of dream recall is often linked to being in a state of high-functioning anxiety, where the brain is too overwhelmed to form accessible dream memories.