Autumn: A Season of Change — and How to Navigate It

Autumn leaf symbolising change and the journey of transition — hypnotherapy for anxiety and resilience

September always feels like a time of change, doesn’t it? The long, light days of summer fade, routines return, and suddenly life feels like it’s shifting gears again. For families it often means school bags, new teachers, new friends — sometimes even a whole new school. For teens and young adults, it could be heading off to university, starting a job, or facing the uncertainty of “what comes next.” And for adults, September can bring its own questions: Am I happy at work? Am I coping with the juggle of family life? Am I looking after myself enough?

Change can be exciting, but it can also feel unsettling. For many of the people I see here at The Nest, September is one of the most emotional times of the year.

Why change feels so hard

When things shift around us, our minds and bodies react. For children, that might show up as school anxiety — worrying about friendships, struggling to sleep, or complaining of tummy aches before school. For teens, it might mean exam stress, fear of failure, or social anxieties that make everyday life feel overwhelming. And for adults, it can creep in as overthinking, burnout, or even phobias that quietly hold us back from living the way we’d like to.

I often describe myself as a change therapist because at the heart of it, that’s what I do — I help people navigate change. Anxiety is often about being stuck: stuck in cycles of worry, stuck in patterns that keep us small, stuck in fear of “what if.” My job is to help people break those cycles, so they can move through change with more calm, more confidence, and more resilience.

My own experience of change

Even as a therapist, I’ve felt how painful change can be. When my eldest daughter left for university, I was hit with a wave of grief I wasn’t prepared for. I still had three younger children at home, yet there was an empty space that felt enormous.

I’d lay the table and cry as I set one less place. I’d watch The Great British Bake Off on my own and sob, because it was something we’d always watched together. She had always been the sunny personality in the house — and suddenly that sunlight was missing.

It taught me something important: grief and anxiety aren’t just about obvious losses. Sometimes change itself brings grief, because it forces us to let go of a chapter of life we weren’t ready to end.

The cost of avoiding change

Research shows that children who miss more school are more likely to struggle with their mental health — and that the link works both ways. Poor mental health leads to absence, and absence makes mental health worse.

For many families I’ve worked with, school refusal or avoidance isn’t just about schoolwork. It’s about anxiety getting louder, until it shrinks a child’s world down. The same is true for adults. A fear of flying, public speaking, or social situations can quietly shape your choices until life feels smaller than you want it to be.

Avoiding change might feel safer in the moment, but in the long run it keeps us stuck. The good news is that the very thing we’re avoiding — change — is also the thing that sets us free!

3 gentle ways to handle change this autumn

Here are three small but powerful shifts you can try as you step into this new season:

1. Hold onto what’s steady
   Change doesn’t mean everything is shifting. Anchor yourself with something familiar: a favourite breakfast, an evening walk, or a calming audio before bed. These little routines remind us that not everything is changing at once.

2. Voice how you feel
   Anxiety grows in silence. Whether you talk to someone you trust, write it in a journal, or even say it out loud to yourself — naming your feelings takes away their power. It helps you understand what you need.

3. Start small
   Don’t expect yourself or your child to climb the whole mountain at once. Begin with one step — one deep breath, one school day at a time, one small act of courage. Every little win builds momentum.

Embracing change with support

Change will always stir something in us. That’s human. But it doesn’t have to spiral into overwhelm. With the right tools and support, change can become an opportunity to grow, not just something to survive.

At The Nest Hypnotherapy, I help children, teens, and adults learn practical ways to calm anxiety, build confidence, and create lasting resilience. Whether it’s through 1:1 sessions, personalised recordings, or my online self-hypnosis course Mind Alchemy, my aim is always the same: to give people tools they can keep using long after therapy ends.

So as the leaves turn and autumn unfolds, I invite you to ask yourself: What change do I want to make this season?

It doesn’t have to be big. But it could be the start of something really important.

And remember — you don’t have to do it alone. 🍂