Why Can't I Stop Overthinking Even When I Know I'm Being Irrational?
You know you're overthinking.
That's almost the worst part.
You know another hour analysing the conversation probably isn't going to change what happened.
You know reading the message for the twentieth time isn't going to suddenly reveal what they really meant.
You know Googling one more symptom won't finally give you complete certainty.
You know replaying the decision over and over isn't helping.
You know the thought is disproportionate.
You may even know exactly why you do this.
And yet your mind keeps going.
So you start becoming frustrated with yourself:
Why can't I just stop?
Why am I like this?
Why can't I think rationally when I know I'm being irrational?
Here is the first thing I want you to understand:
The problem may not be that you don't know how to think rationally.
In fact, many of the women I work with are extraordinarily insightful, intelligent and self-aware.
The problem is often that overthinking is doing something for you.
It is trying to create certainty.
Prevent regret.
Avoid rejection.
Anticipate danger.
Make sure you don't miss something.
Protect you from getting it wrong.
And until we understand the function of all that thinking, simply telling yourself to “stop overthinking” usually doesn't get us very far.
Because the deeper question isn't:
Why do I think so much?
It is:
What does my mind believe will happen if I stop?
Why can't I stop overthinking even though I know it isn't helping?
Because insight does not automatically switch off an emotional or behavioural pattern.
You can consciously recognise:
This thought isn't useful.
while another part of your system is still behaving as though continuing to think is necessary.
Perhaps the mind believes: If I think about this for long enough, I'll finally know what to do.
Or: If I replay what I said, I'll work out whether I embarrassed myself.
Or: If I consider every possible outcome, I can prevent something going wrong.
Or: If I understand why they haven't replied, I won't be blindsided by rejection.
Or: If I make the perfect decision, I won't have to experience regret.
When thinking becomes connected to safety, certainty or control, stopping doesn't necessarily feel peaceful.
It can feel dangerous.
And that is one reason rational arguments alone often struggle to end the cycle.
What actually is overthinking?
“Overthinking” isn't a formal diagnosis.
It is everyday language people often use to describe processes psychologists might call:
worry
rumination
repetitive negative thinking
post-event processing
mental checking
indecision
reassurance-seeking
repeated attempts to solve uncertain situations
These processes are not all identical.
Worry often points toward the future:
What if something goes wrong?
Rumination commonly circles around something that has already happened:
Why did I do that?
Why do I feel like this?
Post-event processing can look like repeatedly reviewing a social interaction:
Did I sound stupid?
Was she annoyed with me?
Why did I say that?
And sometimes they all blur together into the feeling most women simply describe as:
My brain will not shut up.
Researchers increasingly use the broader term repetitive negative thinking because worry and rumination share important characteristics.
The content may change.
The process often looks remarkably similar:
A thought feels important.
You engage with it.
You don't reach satisfying certainty.
So you think about it again.
Why does overthinking feel so urgent?
Because uncertainty can feel threatening.
This is one of the most important ideas in anxiety research.
Some people find uncertainty particularly difficult to tolerate.
When you don't know what will happen, your mind tries to close the gap.
And thinking feels like action.
Imagine sending somebody a vulnerable message.
They don't respond for three hours.
There are dozens of possible explanations.
They are working.
Their phone is away.
They are tired.
They don't know what to say.
They haven't seen it.
They are distracted.
But if uncertainty is difficult for you, the absence of an answer may quickly become:
Something is wrong.
And then your brain begins working.
What did I say?
Was I too much?
Should I have phrased it differently?
Did their last message sound distant?
Maybe they have changed their mind.
Should I send another message?
Should I pull away first?
You can spend hours analysing something for which you simply do not yet have enough information.
But analysis creates the temporary feeling that you are doing something about the uncertainty.
That is why I often say:
Overthinking can become an attempt to manufacture certainty where certainty does not exist.
Why do I replay conversations over and over?
Usually because some part of you believes the conversation still contains information you need.
Maybe you are searching for evidence that somebody was upset with you.
Evidence that they liked you.
Evidence that you embarrassed yourself.
Evidence that you missed a warning sign.
Evidence that you said the wrong thing.
So you replay it.
Then replay it again.
You inspect tone.
Facial expression.
Word choice.
Timing.
What you should have said.
What they might have meant.
The mind behaves as though there is a final answer hidden somewhere in the memory and one more review might uncover it.
But often there isn't.
There is simply ambiguity.
And when ambiguity is what you are struggling to tolerate, more analysis rarely creates lasting relief.
Why do I overthink after social situations?
Social situations contain enormous amounts of uncertainty.
You cannot directly access another person's mind.
You don't know exactly what they thought of you.
You cannot guarantee that everybody liked you.
And if your sense of safety has become strongly tied to approval, belonging or avoiding criticism, that uncertainty can become highly activating.
You may get home and immediately begin:
Was I too loud?
Did I talk too much?
Was that joke awkward?
Why did she look at me like that?
Did I overshare?
Was everyone else prettier or more interesting than me?
Do they secretly dislike me?
This is one reason overthinking often isn't purely an intellectual habit.
Beneath the thought may be something much more emotionally meaningful:
Do I belong?
Am I safe with these people?
Did I do something that might make connection disappear?
The mind isn't analysing because it loves analysis.
It is often trying to protect belonging.
Why do I overthink when someone doesn't text me back?
Because unanswered messages create uncertainty.
And uncertainty becomes particularly potent when attachment and self-worth are involved.
Perhaps the thought appears:
They're pulling away.
Then:
What did I do?
Then:
Maybe I was too keen.
Then:
I shouldn't have sent that message.
Then:
I knew this would happen.
Within minutes, three hours without a text has become an entire narrative about your desirability, worth and future relationship.
The conscious part of you may know:
They could simply be busy.
But emotional learning can be faster than rational explanation.
If distance has historically predicted rejection, inconsistency, abandonment or disconnection, your system may become very skilled at detecting possible withdrawal.
So the therapeutic question isn't only:
How do I stop analysing the message?
It may also be:
Why has uncertainty in connection become so difficult for me to hold?
Why do I need reassurance all the time?
Reassurance can reduce anxiety.
That's precisely why it can become so compelling.
You ask:
Do you think they're mad at me?
Someone says:
No, definitely not.
You feel better.
For ten minutes.
Then another thought appears:
But what if they only said that to make me feel better?
So you ask again.
Or Google again.
Or check again.
Or send another message.
The reassurance wasn't useless.
It worked.
The problem is that it worked temporarily.
And sometimes the mind begins learning:
Whenever uncertainty feels uncomfortable, I need external confirmation before I can settle.
This can gradually undermine self-trust.
The goal of therapy isn't necessarily to strip away reassurance and leave someone terrified.
It is to increase their capacity to experience uncertainty without always needing it immediately resolved.
Why does thinking about something make me feel temporarily better?
Because thinking can create a sense of control.
Imagine you are anxious about an upcoming conversation.
You rehearse every possibility.
If they say this, I'll say that.
If they react badly, I'll respond this way.
If they ask this question, I already have an answer.
For a moment, you feel better.
You are prepared.
Then your brain produces a new possibility.
But what if they say something else?
So the rehearsal starts again.
This is why worry can become self-reinforcing.
Thinking reduces some uncertainty in the short term.
That relief can teach the mind:
Good. Thinking kept us safe. Do it again next time.
The strategy continues even when it begins exhausting you.
Why do I overthink decisions so much?
Because making a decision means giving up every alternative.
And it means accepting that you cannot completely control the outcome.
For someone who struggles with uncertainty, this can feel intolerable.
Which job should I take?
Should I stay in this relationship?
Should I send the message?
Should I move?
Did I choose the right practitioner?
Should I go to the event?
You compare.
Research.
Ask friends.
Make a decision.
Then reopen it.
But what if the other option was better?
The hidden goal becomes:
I need to be certain that I will never regret this.
But that standard is impossible.
Every meaningful decision contains uncertainty.
And sometimes the real work isn't becoming better at finding perfect answers.
It is becoming more able to trust yourself without one.
Why does perfectionism make overthinking worse?
Because perfectionism turns ordinary decisions into evaluations of your worth.
A mistake isn't just:
That didn't work.
It becomes:
I should have known better.
A social interaction isn't simply:
That was slightly awkward.
It becomes:
I embarrassed myself.
A piece of work isn't:
good enough to submit.
It becomes:
What if somebody sees that I'm not actually competent?
Perfectionism often promises safety:
If I can perform perfectly, prepare perfectly, look perfect, say the right thing and never make a mistake, perhaps I can avoid criticism, shame or rejection.
But perfection is not an achievable endpoint.
So the mind remains active.
There is always one more possibility to check.
One more thing to improve.
One more mistake to prevent.
That is exhausting.
Why do I overthink more at night?
Because there is finally less competition for your attention.
During the day there are emails.
Work.
People.
Appointments.
Noise.
Movement.
Then you get into bed.
The lights go off.
And suddenly the thoughts that have been waiting quietly in the background have an empty room.
You remember the conversation.
Tomorrow's meeting.
Your relationship.
The health symptom.
The decision you haven't made.
What somebody said three years ago.
And because sleep requires a degree of letting go, the pressure to solve everything before bed can become especially frustrating.
Then another problem emerges:
I need to stop thinking or I won't sleep.
Now you're overthinking the overthinking.
And your mind has another problem to solve.
Why can't I just distract myself?
Sometimes distraction is useful.
Human beings do not need to deeply process every thought they have.
But if distraction is your only strategy, the original uncertainty often remains unresolved.
You watch television.
Scroll.
Work more.
Exercise.
Clean.
Stay busy.
The thought quietens.
Then the activity stops.
And it returns.
The goal isn't necessarily to eliminate distraction.
It is to develop a wider range of responses so that every uncomfortable thought does not require either:
analyse it
or
escape it.
There is another possibility:
notice it without immediately obeying it.
Does overthinking mean I have anxiety?
Not necessarily.
Most human beings worry, ruminate and replay situations sometimes.
Overthinking can occur without meeting criteria for an anxiety disorder.
But repetitive worry can also form part of:
generalised anxiety disorder
social anxiety
obsessive-compulsive presentations
depression
trauma-related difficulties
health anxiety
perfectionism
relationship anxiety
chronic stress
If worry is persistent, difficult to control, significantly affecting your sleep, work, relationships or functioning, it may be worth discussing your symptoms with your GP or a qualified mental-health professional.
Clinical Hypnotherapy can form part of appropriate support, but it does not replace psychological, psychiatric or medical care when those are indicated.
Is overthinking a nervous-system response?
Sometimes nervous-system activation is part of the picture.
But I think we need to be careful with this language.
Not every thought is a nervous-system problem.
And not every anxious experience can be reduced to:
“Your nervous system doesn't feel safe.”
Overthinking can involve cognition, learning, emotion, behaviour, temperament, uncertainty, habit, environmental stressors and physiological arousal.
These processes interact.
When you feel threatened, thinking may become faster and narrower.
When you keep thinking about threat, your body may remain more activated.
When your body feels activated, your brain may interpret that activation as evidence that something is wrong.
The relationship can become circular.
So yes, the body matters.
But I don't want to replace:
“Just think positively.”
with another oversimplification:
“Just regulate your nervous system.”
Both can become frustrating when they are presented as universal answers.
Why doesn't knowing why I overthink make it stop?
Because explanation and change are different processes.
This is one of the central ideas in my work.
I regularly see women who can explain themselves beautifully.
They know their attachment style.
They recognise the childhood pattern.
They understand why uncertainty scares them.
They know exactly why they seek validation.
They have listened to the podcasts.
Read the books.
Journalled about it.
Discussed it.
And still:
the body reacts.
The thought appears.
The reassurance is needed.
The spiral begins.
I call this the difference between insight and integration.
Insight is:
I understand the pattern.
Integration is:
I can experience the trigger without automatically having to repeat the pattern.
Understanding can be an important first step.
But sometimes we need a different kind of learning as well.
The question I ask instead of “How do we stop the thought?”
In my work, I am rarely interested in getting into an argument with every anxious thought.
Because there will always be another thought.
Instead, I want to know:
What is the thinking trying to accomplish?
What happens if you don't analyse it?
What uncertainty becomes intolerable?
What are you afraid you'll miss?
What are you afraid you'll feel?
What does making the “wrong” choice mean about you?
What would happen if somebody misunderstood you?
What would happen if someone didn't choose you?
What would happen if you had to experience regret?
What would happen if you genuinely didn't know?
This is often where the real pattern becomes visible.
Overthinking may not be the problem itself.
It may be the strategy.
What is overthinking protecting me from?
Different things for different women.
It might protect you from:
Uncertainty
If I analyse enough, maybe I can know what will happen.
Rejection
If I inspect every interaction, maybe I can catch the moment somebody begins pulling away.
Shame
If I rehearse everything, maybe I won't say something embarrassing.
Regret
If I consider every possible outcome, perhaps I can make a decision I will never regret.
Failure
If I prepare enough, perhaps I won't get anything wrong.
Loss of control
If I'm mentally prepared for everything, nothing can catch me off guard.
Feeling
Sometimes analysing an emotion is easier than experiencing it.
You can spend two hours trying to understand why someone rejected you without allowing yourself to feel:
I'm hurt.
Thinking can sometimes create distance from feeling.
And this is why telling somebody:
“You're thinking too much”
doesn't necessarily help.
The thought may be carrying out an important protective job.
Women are often praised for the very patterns exhausting them.
This is a part of anxiety and overthinking that I think deserves more attention.
Many women who overthink are described as:
responsible.
prepared.
thoughtful.
conscientious.
easy to work with.
emotionally perceptive.
good at anticipating other people's needs.
good at keeping everything together.
You may have built an identity around being the woman who notices everything.
Who remembers everything.
Who considers everybody.
Who doesn't make mistakes.
Who anticipates problems before they happen.
Who reads the room.
Who manages the emotional climate.
And those qualities may genuinely be strengths.
But there is a difference between being thoughtful because you choose to be and being unable to stop thinking because your system believes something terrible will happen if you do.
Sometimes the behaviour looks identical from the outside.
The internal experience is completely different.
Why do high-functioning women overthink so much?
Because competence does not protect you from anxiety.
Sometimes competence becomes one of the ways anxiety hides.
You are productive.
Organised.
Reliable.
Successful.
People may tell you:
“You've got everything together.”
And meanwhile your internal world is running fifteen simulations ahead.
You prepare excessively.
Double-check.
Second-guess.
Replay.
Research.
Stay ahead.
Nobody sees how much mental energy it costs because you still perform well.
This is one reason women can live with significant anxiety for a long time without recognising it as anxiety.
They aren't falling apart.
They're functioning beautifully.
They're just exhausted.
Why do I overthink relationships more than anything else?
Because relationships ask us to tolerate enormous amounts of uncertainty.
You cannot guarantee that someone will stay.
You cannot perfectly control how they feel.
You cannot ensure you will never be rejected.
You cannot read their mind.
And intimacy requires being seen without complete control over the outcome.
If your history has taught you that connection can be inconsistent, conditional or suddenly withdrawn, relationships can activate powerful monitoring.
You notice tone.
Response times.
Energy.
Changes in affection.
Who initiated the last conversation.
Whether they used a full stop.
Whether their message feels slightly colder.
The mind becomes a detective.
But what you're often looking for isn't simply information.
You're looking for safety.
Why do I assume I've done something wrong?
This can happen when you have learned to organise yourself around other people's emotional states.
Someone is quiet.
You think:
Was it me?
Someone seems distant.
What did I do?
Someone's mood changes.
Are they angry with me?
Before you've even checked in with yourself, your attention has moved toward managing the other person.
This can be connected with people-pleasing, hypervigilance, relationship anxiety or earlier experiences where correctly reading somebody else's mood mattered.
Again, this is why I don't think the solution is:
Just stop caring what people think.
That skips over the reason monitoring became important.
Is there a difference between useful thinking and overthinking?
Yes.
Useful thinking generally moves you toward something.
You identify the problem.
Gather enough information.
Make a decision.
Take an action.
Then disengage.
Overthinking often creates the sensation of problem-solving without meaningful movement.
You return to the same information.
Ask the same question.
Generate increasingly remote possibilities.
Seek reassurance.
Feel temporary relief.
Then reopen the issue.
A useful question is:
Is this thinking producing new information or am I trying to produce certainty?
Those are not always the same thing.
How do I know when I should stop thinking about something?
There isn't one perfect rule.
But try asking:
Do I actually have new information available?
Is there a concrete action I can take?
Am I solving a problem or repeatedly reopening one?
Would another hour of thinking materially change my decision?
Am I trying to know something that cannot currently be known?
Am I looking for an answer—or relief from uncertainty?
That final question can be especially revealing.
How do I stop overthinking?
I don't think the most useful goal is to never overthink again.
Humans think.
We worry.
We reflect.
We sometimes obsess over situations that matter to us.
The goal is greater flexibility.
That may involve learning to:
recognise when thinking has become repetitive
tolerate uncertainty for longer
reduce compulsive reassurance-seeking
distinguish a solvable problem from an unknowable question
notice thoughts without immediately engaging with them
make decisions without perfect certainty
allow uncomfortable emotions without analysing them away
recognise when perfectionism is driving the process
shift attention deliberately
trust yourself to handle outcomes you cannot predict
And sometimes this work is much deeper than learning another thought-stopping trick.
Why “just stop thinking about it” doesn't work.
Because trying not to think can itself become another mental struggle.
You tell yourself:
Stop.
The thought returns.
I said stop.
It returns again.
Then:
Why am I still thinking about this?
Now the original thought has a second layer:
I shouldn't be having this thought.
This is often why I prefer changing someone's relationship to the thought rather than treating every thought as something that needs to disappear.
A thought can exist without becoming an instruction.
A question can exist without being answered immediately.
Uncertainty can exist without automatically becoming an emergency.
Can Clinical Hypnotherapy help overthinking?
Clinical Hypnotherapy may be useful as part of support for anxiety, particularly where overthinking has become connected with automatic emotional responses, imagery, expectation, uncertainty or learned patterns.
A meta-analysis examining hypnosis for anxiety included 17 controlled trials and found meaningful reductions in anxiety overall, with hypnosis appearing particularly useful when combined with other psychological interventions.
That does not mean hypnosis is a guaranteed cure for overthinking.
And I don't use hypnosis with the aim of making your mind completely blank.
I use it differently.
I am interested in the automatic expectation underneath the thinking.
For example:
If I stop analysing, I'll miss something.
If I make the wrong choice, I won't cope.
If I don't prepare for everything, I'll lose control.
If someone is disappointed in me, I won't be okay.
If I don't understand exactly what happened, I can't move on.
Clinical hypnosis uses focused attention, imagery, suggestion and therapeutic rehearsal.
That gives us another way of working with these responses beyond endlessly debating the content of every thought.
What might hypnotherapy for overthinking actually involve?
My sessions are 90 minutes.
We begin by understanding the pattern.
I may ask:
When does the overthinking happen?
What topics trigger it?
What are you hoping thinking will give you?
What happens when you try to stop?
Do you seek reassurance?
Do you check?
Do you replay conversations?
Do you struggle with decisions?
Are you trying to prevent criticism?
Rejection?
Regret?
Failure?
Loss of control?
What would happen if you allowed yourself not to know?
That conversation gives us much more useful information than simply saying:
“I overthink.”
During the hypnotic component, which is commonly around 30–45 minutes in my sessions, we may work experientially with things such as:
uncertainty
automatic expectations
emotional responses
imagery
self-trust
decision-making
perfectionism
reassurance-seeking
future situations that typically trigger anxiety
feeling safe enough not to solve everything immediately
the ability to notice thoughts without automatically following them
The work is individual.
There is no generic script called Stop Overthinking that I read to every woman.
What does change actually look like?
Maybe your thoughts don't disappear.
But they become less urgent.
The message goes unanswered and you notice anxiety—but you don't construct an entire relationship ending around it.
You leave a social event and resist conducting a full forensic investigation of every sentence you said.
You make a decision and allow it to remain made.
You experience uncertainty without immediately asking five people what they think.
You notice:
I might have done something wrong.
and can also think:
If I did, I can deal with that.
That second sentence matters.
Because real safety does not come from eliminating every possibility that something difficult could happen.
It also comes from trusting your ability to meet life when it does.
My perspective on overthinking.
I don't believe the goal is to become a woman who never thinks deeply.
I don't want to take away your intelligence.
Your sensitivity.
Your discernment.
Your ability to notice things.
Your capacity for reflection.
I want to distinguish those qualities from a mind that believes it has to remain constantly vigilant in order for you to be safe.
There is a difference between:
I am thinking because I am curious
and
I am thinking because I am afraid to stop.
There is a difference between:
I am considering my options
and
I need certainty before I can trust myself.
There is a difference between:
I care how my actions affect other people
and
I have to analyse everybody's response to know whether I am still acceptable.
And there is a difference between:
I want to understand myself
and
I believe one more insight will finally make me immune to discomfort.
Sometimes the deepest work isn't learning how to control the mind more effectively.
It is learning that you don't need to control every possible outcome in order to be okay.
Perhaps your mind isn't asking for another answer.
Maybe it's asking for certainty.
And those are not the same thing.
You can answer the question:
Why haven't they replied?
with:
I don't know yet.
You can answer:
Did everybody like me?
with:
I can't know that.
You can answer:
Am I definitely making the right decision?
with:
There is no way to know with complete certainty.
At first, these answers may feel deeply unsatisfying.
Because the mind wants closure.
But slowly, something else can develop.
Not certainty.
Capacity.
The capacity to wait.
To feel.
To choose.
To not know.
To make a mistake.
To be misunderstood.
To change your mind.
To disappoint somebody.
To survive an uncomfortable outcome.
To trust yourself.
And perhaps that is what freedom from overthinking actually looks like.
Not finally finding the thought that answers everything.
But no longer needing every question answered before you allow yourself to live.
Frequently asked questions about overthinking
Why can't I stop overthinking?
Overthinking can become a learned strategy for managing uncertainty, anxiety, rejection, regret or fear of making mistakes. Because it may provide temporary relief or a sense of control, simply recognising that it is unhelpful does not always stop the pattern.
Is overthinking anxiety?
Overthinking is not a diagnosis by itself, but repetitive worry and rumination commonly occur alongside anxiety disorders, depression, chronic stress and other emotional difficulties.
Why do I replay conversations in my head?
You may be trying to determine whether you made a mistake, were judged, missed something important or risked rejection. Replaying the interaction can feel like an attempt to resolve uncertainty even when no further information is available.
Why do I assume people are angry with me?
For some people, changes in other people's mood, tone or availability become strong cues of possible rejection or conflict. This can be associated with anxiety, people-pleasing, relationship patterns or previous experiences where monitoring others felt important.
Why do I overthink texts?
Texting removes many contextual cues and often requires tolerating delayed responses and ambiguity. If relational uncertainty is particularly activating for you, that gap can create fertile ground for anxious interpretation.
Why do I need reassurance even when I know I'm probably fine?
Reassurance often reduces anxiety temporarily. The mind may therefore learn to seek reassurance repeatedly whenever uncertainty appears, even if the relief does not last.
Why can't my brain switch off at night?
Night removes many daytime distractions, making worry and rumination more noticeable. Anxiety about needing to sleep can then create another layer of mental activity.
Is overthinking caused by trauma?
Not all overthinking is caused by trauma. Repetitive thinking can arise for many reasons. For some people, however, earlier experiences of unpredictability, criticism, rejection or threat may contribute to heightened vigilance or attempts to anticipate what will happen next.
Is overthinking a nervous-system response?
Physiological arousal can interact with anxious thinking, but overthinking cannot always be reduced to nervous-system dysregulation. Cognition, learning, emotion, habit, uncertainty and environmental stressors can all contribute.
Can Clinical Hypnotherapy help me stop overthinking?
Clinical Hypnotherapy may support anxiety-related patterns by working with focused attention, imagery, suggestion, emotional responses and learned expectations. It is not a guaranteed cure and should complement rather than replace other psychological or medical care when indicated.
Do I need to stop thinking completely?
No. The goal is generally greater flexibility rather than eliminating thoughts. You can learn to recognise when thinking is useful and when you are repeatedly pursuing certainty that is unavailable.
When should I get professional help for overthinking?
Consider seeking professional support if worry or rumination is difficult to control, significantly affects sleep, relationships, work or quality of life, causes substantial distress, or occurs alongside symptoms of an anxiety disorder, depression, OCD or another mental-health concern.
Where can I see a Clinical Hypnotherapist for overthinking and anxiety in Brisbane?
I offer Clinical Hypnotherapy for women experiencing anxiety, overthinking, perfectionism, chronic stress and emotional overwhelm from The Work Well in Paddington, Brisbane, as well as online throughout Australia.
Clinical Hypnotherapy for Anxiety and Overthinking in Brisbane.
If you're reading this because your mind feels constantly “on”, I don't think you need another person telling you to relax.
You probably already know you overthink.
You probably already know some of the thoughts aren't rational.
You may even understand where the pattern came from.
The more interesting question is:
What does your mind believe all this thinking is doing for you?
Because when we understand the function of the pattern, we can begin working with something much deeper than the latest thought.
I'm Prue Walmsley, a Clinical Hypnotherapist specialising in women's health and emotional wellbeing.
I hold a Bachelor of Psychological Science and a Diploma of Clinical Hypno-Psychotherapy, and I am a member of the Australian Hypnotherapists Association.
I work with women experiencing anxiety, overthinking, emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, relationship patterns, hypervigilance, persistent pain, body image concerns and other automatic emotional patterns that can continue even when you understand them logically.
I offer 90-minute Clinical Hypnotherapy appointments at The Work Well in Paddington, Brisbane, as well as online appointments throughout Australia.
My aim isn't to teach you how to win every argument with your mind.
It is to help you create enough flexibility that every uncertain thought no longer requires an answer.
Because perhaps the opposite of overthinking isn't: certainty.
Perhaps it is: self-trust.
Explore Clinical Hypnotherapy for Anxiety, Overthinking & Emotional Overwhelm →
Read: What Is Clinical Hypnotherapy — And Does It Actually Work? →
Read: What Does a Clinical Hypnotherapy Session Actually Feel Like? →
Explore Trauma & Emotional Patterns →
Learn more about Prue Walmsley →
Book a Clinical Hypnotherapy appointment →
References & further reading
Dugas MJ, Koerner N, Freeston MH. State of the Science: Intolerance of Uncertainty. Behavior Therapy. 2026.
A hierarchical uncertainty framework of anxiety: Preregistered meta-analytic structural model of intolerance of uncertainty and worry across anxiety disorders. Clinical Psychology Review. 2026.
Gustavson DE, du Pont A, Whisman MA, Miyake A. Evidence for Transdiagnostic Repetitive Negative Thinking and Its Association With Rumination, Worry, and Depression and Anxiety Symptoms. Collabra: Psychology. 2018.
McEvoy PM, Watson H, Watkins ER, Nathan P. The relationship between worry, rumination, and comorbidity: evidence for repetitive negative thinking as a transdiagnostic construct. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2013.
Valentine KE, Milling LS, Clark LJ, Moriarty CL. The efficacy of hypnosis as a treatment for anxiety: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2019.
