Ep. 60 Undoing the Not Enough Story: Hypnosis and the Subconscious Mind with Christina Woods

Ever feel like you’ve checked every box—career, family, the house—and still carry that quiet hum of “not enough”? On this episode of Insights from the Couch, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Rapid Transformational Therapist Christina Woods sits down with us to demystify hypnotherapy, illuminate the power of working with the subconscious, and explain why insight alone doesn’t always unlock change—especially at midlife.

The Midlife Wall—and the Permission to Pivot

Christina spent three decades as a corporate VP, super-doer, and the midnight go-to. She had the home, the title, the color-coded calendar—and a body and marriage that were waving every red flag. What looked like success from the outside felt like depletion on the inside: auto-pilot people-pleasing, perfectionism, and a nervous system stuck on overdrive. That crash—what she calls her “garden moment”—sent her toward therapy, then hypnotherapy, where she uncovered a buried core belief: “I’m bad.” Naming it changed the path of her life and work. Christina left corporate and built a practice devoted to helping other women meet the beliefs driving their choices—and rewrite them from the inside out.

Hypnotherapy, Minus the Myths

Forget stage tricks and quacking ducks. Hypnotherapy is a natural brain state—think highway hypnosis—where you’re relaxed, alert, and talking the whole time. In that calmer theta state, your mind becomes more receptive to suggestion. Together, you and your clinician trace everyday scenes and memories (not necessarily Big-T trauma) to discover the meanings you attached long ago: the moment you felt different, the time you decided you had to be perfect to be safe, the instant “not enough” snuck in and set up camp.From there, Christina creates a short custom audio in your own words to rehearse the new belief daily. It’s not about white-knuckling “positive thinking”; it’s about speaking the language your subconscious actually understands—images, repetition, and felt sense—until the new story fits like skin.

EMDR and Hypnosis: Sisters, Not Rivals

If you’re EMDR-curious (or already doing it), you’ll feel right at home here. EMDR reprocesses stuck material with bilateral stimulation; hypnotherapy locates the root meaning and rehearses a new internal reality. Christina often blends both, and sometimes adds energy work, depending on what a client’s nervous system can hold that day. The point isn’t to pick a perfect modality; it’s to choose the next door that opens toward relief.

The Part Everyone Skips: Matching Energy to Mindset

You can decide you’re worthy of higher rates or a nourishing relationship—and still watch yourself undercut, delay, or push love away. That’s not a failure of willpower; it’s a capacity issue. Your body has to feel safe carrying the new identity. Christina teaches clients to build that capacity—slowing down after wins, tending the nervous system, and letting “good” land—so the change sticks instead of snapping back.

What a Session Actually Feels Like

A session starts with gentle relaxation and clear consent. You stay in control; you can open your eyes and speak freely. As scenes surface, the work is surprisingly ordinary—cereal at a kitchen table, a throwaway comment from a teacher, a slammed door you heard as a baby that tightened your whole body. The power lives in the meaning you attached and the compassion you bring to it now. Many clients don’t visualize in pictures; they sense colors, textures, or shifts in temperature. That’s more than enough. The goal is not drama—it’s precision and relief.

When Talking Isn’t Enough

So many of us arrive in midlife with plenty of insight and not enough movement. We understand our patterns and still can’t unhook from them. Hypnotherapy offers a way to work with the part of the mind actually driving behavior. If talk therapy has helped you name things, hypnosis can help you renegotiate them.

Listening for Intuition (and Making Room for Fear)

One of Christina’s favorite reframes: intuition is calm. It doesn’t rush or threaten. Panic masquerades as urgency; intuition feels like a quiet yes or a grounded no. That doesn’t mean fear is useless—sometimes it’s a vital signal. The skill at midlife is learning to distinguish the two, and then making decisions from the steadier place. Hypnotherapy supports that shift by clearing the noise that drowns out your inner compass.

A Gentle Way to Begin

If “not enough” hums under your days, start small. Notice where it shows up this week; give the sensation a moment of attention in your body; choose one tiny action that contradicts the old story; and, if you can, rehearse a kinder line in your own voice each night. Change doesn’t have to be theatrical to be real. It just has to be consistent enough that your system believes you. Work with Christina + Helpful LinksYou can find Christina and her free resources (including a 10-day workbook and audios) at christinalwoods.com and on Instagram @christina.elwoods. Everything she does is virtual, and she works with clients around the world.

Final Thought

You weren’t born believing you were too much, not enough, or fundamentally wrong. Those conclusions were inherited, rehearsed, and reinforced. The same brain that learned them can learn something new. Midlife isn’t a failure point; it’s an opening. And you get to walk through it with steadier breath, a kinder story, and a nervous system that knows how to hold the life you’re building.

Listen Now: Ep. 60 Undoing the Not Enough Story: Hypnosis and the Subconscious Mind with Christina Woods