Why do some people constantly feel not good enough.

Even when they’re capable, successful, and doing everything they can to hold things together?

In this episode of Moving Minds Forward, Gary Johannes explores the psychology and neuroscience behind low confidence and self-esteem. From self-doubt and overthinking to comparison, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and the inner critic that never seems to switch off

This episode looks at what’s really going on beneath the surface.

Gary explains how confidence is shaped by past experiences, stress, relationships, and the brain’s threat system and why low self-esteem is not a personality flaw or weakness, but a learned pattern that can change.

You’ll learn:

• why confidence disappears
• what keeps self-doubt going
• how the brain reinforces negative beliefs
• why avoidance and comparison make things worse
• what actually helps rebuild genuine confidence

Grounded in neuroscience, therapy experience, and real human understanding, this is a calm, practical, emotionally honest conversation about rebuilding self-worth from the inside out.
Because confidence isn’t something you’re born with.
It’s something the brain can relearn.

Hosted by Gary Johannes, solution-focused hypnotherapist, founder of Inspired To Change, and senior lecturer with CPHT.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Episode Timeline

00:00 — Introduction
02:10 — What low self-esteem actually is
06:45 — Why confidence disappears
11:20 — The role of the brain and threat response
16:10 — Self-criticism and the inner voice
21:40 — Comparison, perfectionism, and people-pleasing
27:15 — Why avoidance keeps confidence low
31:50 — The neuroscience of rebuilding confidence
37:05 — What actually helps
42:20 — One practical step you can take today
45:10 — Final thoughts and encouragement

Most people with social anxiety don't look like they have social anxiety.

They show up. They function. They get through the day.

But on the inside, before every social situation, during it, and long after it's over, something exhausting is happening.

The monitoring. The self-scrutiny. The replay. The dread.

In this episode, Gary Johannes, solution focused hypnotherapist, founder of Inspired To Change, and MSc in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health, breaks down what social anxiety actually is, what's happening in your brain when it kicks in, what keeps it going, and what actually helps.

This isn't generic advice. It's a clear, honest explanation of one of the most misunderstood conditions there is and one practical thing you can do today to start shifting it.

If social anxiety has been quietly shaping your decisions and shrinking your world this episode is for you.

TIMELINE

00:00 — Introduction & Gary's story

01:30 — What social anxiety actually is — and why it's not just shyness

03:30 — The gap between what you know and what you feel

05:00 — What's happening in your brain — the amygdala and the threat response

07:00 — The self-monitoring spiral — why you can't just relax in social situations

08:30 — The replay — what happens after and why it's so exhausting

10:00 — What causes social anxiety — biology, early experience, and social media

12:30 — What keeps it going — avoidance, safety behaviours, and withdrawal

16:00 — What actually helps — the solution-focused approach

18:00 — The preferred future — where the work starts

19:30 — Rebuilding gradually — how the brain actually changes

22:00 — One thing you can do right now

24:00 — The closing message — you're not broken, you're stuck

Your Brain Isn't Broken. Depression, Anxiety and Mental Health with Gary Johannes

Episode 3: Depression - What's Really Going On, What Keeps It Going, and What Actually Helps

Depression isn't weakness. It isn't laziness. It isn't something you can just think your way out of.

It's a serious mental health condition that affects how you feel, how you think, and how you function and most people who are living with it have no idea what's actually happening in their brain.

In this episode, Gary Johannes, solution focused hypnotherapist, founder of Inspired To Change, and MSc graduate in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health from King's College London, breaks down everything you need to understand about depression.

What it actually is. What's happening in the brain. What keeps it going. And what the evidence shows actually helps.

This isn't a self-help episode. It's an honest, grounded, neuroscience-backed conversation about one of the most common and most misunderstood mental health conditions there is.

If you're living with depression — or you love someone who is, this episode is for you.

In this episode:

• Why depression is so much more than feeling sad
• The physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms most people don't recognise
• What's actually happening in your brain when depression takes hold
• Why men experience depression differently, and why so few seek help
• The patterns that keep depression going (and how to break them)
• What solution-focused hypnotherapy does differently
• One practical thing you can do today, however bad things feel

Timestamps:

00:00 — Who is Gary Johannes 02:30 — What depression actually is 05:00 — Physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms 07:30 — Crisis support — please read this first 08:30 — What causes depression 11:00 — Genetics, brain chemistry and lifestyle 13:00 — Men and depression — why it looks different 15:30 — What's happening in the brain 18:00 — Neuroplasticity — why the brain can change 19:30 — What keeps depression going 21:00 — Withdrawal and why it feeds the cycle 23:00 — Sleep disruption and negative thinking loops 25:00 — What actually helps 27:00 — Solution-focused hypnotherapy and the preferred future 29:30 — Rebuilding sleep and the nervous system 32:00 — Small steps and how the brain actually changes 34:30 — One thing you can do today 37:00 — A message to anyone struggling right now 40:00 — Where to get help

If you're struggling right now, please reach out: Samaritans — 116 123 (free, 24 hours a day) Your GP is also a good first step. You don't have to be at the bottom before you ask for help.

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one condition, the same lens. What's going on, what keeps it going, and what actually helps.

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