Sally Garozzo | Clinical Hypnotherapist Brighton & Online

There’s a moment in the evening that many women recognise once they reach perimenopause or menopause.

The day has been full.
Productive, even.
You’ve eaten properly, moved your body, done what needed to be done.
You may even be on a medication that is supposed to quiet appetite altogether.

And yet, as the light fades, something wakes up inside you.

Not hunger exactly, not even emotional eating in the way it’s usually framed.

More like… a pull.
A niggle.
A sudden and very specific interest in something crunchy, sharp, stimulating.
An oral something.

It can feel slightly perplexing. You might even translate it as a lack of willpower, even though somewhere deep down you know that’s not really true. (And for the record, it definitely isn’t.)

This is especially uncomfortable for women who are used to being capable, regulated, and in control. Women who don’t usually find themselves circling the cupboards but well…. are.

Your body isn’t being difficult. 

It’s trying to find a way of r...

What happens when you want to connect with others but your nervous system finds connection a threat? 

This is a dichotomy that many people face as they long for connection but also find it difficult [enter social anxiety].

Let’s start at the beginning. Why might someone feel this?

If we’ve had adverse relational experiences in childhood or adulthood (either through abuse, neglect or enmeshment) we may find it difficult to trust that others will be able to meet our needs. 

Maybe we’ll feel that...

We’ll be judged for who we are.

Our needs won’t beacknowledge.

We’ll be ignored.

We’ll be taken advantage of.

Boundaries will be overstepped.

We’ll be scrutinised and those observations will be used against us.

It's not a co-incidence that we worry about these things.  Somewhere in  our past we had a very good reason to worry about them.

For many, these concerns are paralysing because when you have these beliefs AND a desire to form connections, you’re in confl...