James Hands Awaken Therapy

You're not broken

➡️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

You are not broken, my friend. You're simply midway through your healing journey—a soul warrior in human form, navigating the rubble and residue of life’s challenges.

Yes, it’s tough down here. But seeking therapy doesn’t mean you’re weak or lacking. As we move through the old emotions and clear the residue of trauma, what often gets revealed is something extraordinary: your wise, loving, powerful self. That soul essence is always there—like the sun behind the clouds.

You’re a work in progress, not a problem to be fixed.

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.

What are the gifts of trauma?

➡️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

What are the gifts of trauma?

When we start to look at traumatic stress from a broader, more spiritual perspective, we begin to ask:

What positives can come out of the negatives?

What growth or evolution can come from struggle and adversity?

Instead of judging trauma purely on a human level—as something only bad—we start to consider that there may be gifts hidden within the pain and wounding.

We begin to see there’s something purposeful underneath it all.

Things like strength, resilience, courage, empathy, compassion, understanding, and wisdom—these are qualities that often only emerge from challenge.

They don’t typically come from the easy.

This perspective helps us heal.

It reminds us that beneath all the difficult, messy layers of post-traumatic stress, there are actual gifts.

And recognise that it can support our process of healing and release.

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.

Turning trauma into growth and resilience

➡️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

After a recent cyclone here, I found myself reflecting on how life’s challenges—whether it’s a weather event or deep personal trauma—push us to dig deep, respond, and grow. Over time, these experiences build resilience and confidence.

Many of us have been through significant hardship—abuse, neglect, complex trauma—and while we often see these as purely negative, I believe there’s a deeper perspective. On a soul level, there’s purpose in the contrast. We come into this world of polarity—light and dark, love and fear—not by accident, but to evolve.

It’s through adversity that we come to know ourselves as individuals, as unique expressions of the divine. And maybe, just maybe, the challenges we’ve lived through are the very things that wake us up to who we really are.

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.

How to use being triggered as a healing opportunity

➡️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

So, what’s triggering?

Triggering is a colloquial word for when a memory, an old emotion, or something stuck in our process—stuck in our experience—gets brought to the surface.

It can be triggered by an event, something we see on TV, or a song on the radio—it can be anything—even the temperature. Something activates the memory, and suddenly, we’re swamped with strong emotion, unsure of what’s going on.

We tend to relate to this negatively because what comes up—if it’s stuck—is, by definition, something difficult. In fact, it can be very intense and very painful.

But as we get more used to working with it—usually starting with a therapist to learn how—we can begin to recognise what’s happening and work with the material. 

The part of us that’s coming up is doing so for healing.

Over time, we can get more confident using those moments of being triggered to our advantage. They’re healing opportunities.

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.

Why Separation is Part of Your Spiritual Growth

➡️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

I wanted to talk about a soul journey aspect today—the journey as a soul warrior out from oneness, from the merged unity at the top of the pyramid. At the top, there’s harmony, unity, and wholeness. That’s where we came from, and deep down, it’s what we long for. But in that unity, we were half asleep, dissolved in oneness. The masculine aspect of the soul wanted to experience itself as an individual, while the feminine longs to return to unity.

So, we ventured out—into separation, into duality, into the human experience. Constantly experiencing contrast: light and dark, hot and cold, joy and sorrow. The desire to know ourselves in this polarity prods our consciousness, leading to growth, awareness, and the evolution of our soul.

But separation is hard. It can be painful. And so, like the prodigal son, we feel the pull to return to unity. Through healing, therapy, and spiritual growth, we find our way back—not as we were, but with a conscious awareness of self. It’s the out-breath and in-breath of God, the tide going out and coming back in.

There’s purpose in duality, even in struggle. Seeing it this way helps in healing, in letting go. The Soul Warrior book I’m writing explores this—how trauma healing is deepened by spiritual understanding. When we recognise light and dark as part of our evolution, it doesn’t take away the pain, but it helps make sense of it.

Brave you, for venturing into separation and duality. And Godspeed on your return journey to oneness—because you don’t go back as you left. You return with the awareness of self, individuation, and "I am-ness" that could only come from the courage to leave home in the first place.

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.

Stop Pushing Parts of Yourself Away – Here’s What to Do Instead

Stop Pushing Parts of Yourself Away – Here’s What to Do Instead

Healing is all about reintegrating the parts of ourselves that have been fragmented by trauma, fear, and pain. When we suppress or reject these parts, we stay stuck. But by embracing them with love and curiosity, we allow them to soften, transform, and reintegrate into our whole self. This process brings greater peace, spaciousness, and freedom in our lives. If you're on this journey, remember—each part of you matters. Each piece of the puzzle brings you closer to wholeness. I hope this video helps you understand why embracing is such a powerful healing principle. 

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.

The divine has its own gravitational pull

Just as Earth has its own gravitational pull, so does the divine.

I call it God Gravity—a force that calls us, pulls us, guides us, and leads us with absolute accuracy on our journey back to the ocean.

We might find ourselves in the mountains—a little pool, a small stream, a tiny rivulet. Lost, separated, and feeling far from our source. And yet, there is a purpose in that journey.

But God’s gravity is always pulling us back to the ocean.

Just as water inevitably finds its way home, so will we—returning, in time, to the absolute, greater reality of who and what we truly are.

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.

Loving your inner critic

Loving your Inner Critic

A common problem for people, especially trauma survivors, is a loud and vicious inner critic. This part attacks self in harsh, angry judgments. It doesn’t stop attacking until we have collapsed in a powerless, guilty mess.

My personal and professional experience with inner critic is a repetitive message that cuts us down and keeps us in our place. It sabotages success and joy, undermining positive experiences and feedback from others. It keeps us small and shamed.

When we reframe the critical voice with gentle curiosity, we find a strong part of self trying to protect us. By getting in first with the attack, we avoid a greater blow when the abusive parent, sibling or partner attacks us. Better to be in control of the process rather than caught by surprise. Better from inside than outside.

So turn our attitude around 180 degrees. Trust me, this part loves you and will do it’s new job with the same consistent dedication as before. Now it builds you up into the self-love you deserve.

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.