Hold On to Joy For Dear Life

Judith A. Swack Ph.D. • November 29, 2023

Kathleen finished her Ph.D. in 3 ½ years instead of 5 by taking a heavier course load than required, spending 7 days a week doing research, and writing her dissertation. One month before her dissertation defense, she discovered that her post-graduation job had fallen through. Expecting to start the new job immediately, she had used up the last of her funds. Already exhausted, the prospect of having to find a new job was overwhelming. The next morning she woke up with the peculiar and insistent sensation of wanting to die.

Hoping the sensation would just dissipate, she ignored it, and continued studying for her defense. The feeling persisted. On the advice of a girlfriend who convinced her that this feeling was not normal, Kathleen saw a psychiatrist. He informed her that she was depressed and prescribed an antidepressant. He also cited a study in which rats continually run through mazes with no rest and no reward all became depressed. (You can tell a rat is depressed when you put it in a new cage and it does not explore.) Until that moment, she had never realized the importance of joy.



Over the years, my clients and I have explored the importance, cultivation and preservation of joy. Joy rejuvenates and refreshes us. It makes us glad to be alive. But joy is fragile. Joy can be poisoned or destroyed in many ways.


We discovered that at the body level, Kathleen was blocked from feeling joy because of phobias from early childhood experiences with her family. She was afraid that if she felt joy she would be:


  • disloyal to her family and rejected
  • criticized for being lazy
  • let her guard down and be attacked.


At the unconscious level, Kathleen poisoned her joy by having internalized her mother’s bitter habit of having to find something wrong with everything. Whenever there was an occasion for joy, Kathleen found herself compulsively focusing on and magnifying anything that could possibly be wrong.


It required 1 ½ years for Kathleen’s depression to lift completely. She cleared her dysfunctional family patterns and internalized bad habits with HBLU methodology. She also made significant lifestyle changes (nutrition, rest, exercise), and participated in weekly fun activities with friends. She found a new job, continued to advance her career, and met and married a wonderful husband.

Joyce had different strategies for destroying her joy. She believed her elementary school nuns who taught that everything in life had to be hard to be worthwhile. So, she discounted the gifts and accomplishments that came naturally to her and chose as her career the field she found to be most difficult (rather than most enjoyable). She also believed the teaching that we’re all sinners and suffering is the way to get to heaven, so you’re not allowed to feel too much joy. After clearing the religious brainwashing with HBLU, Joyce changed careers.


How do we protect and preserve our joy?
It is important to not only clear patterns to experiencing joy but to actively cultivate joy. Joy can come from exceptional experiences such as falling in love, getting married, having a baby, or traveling. Joy can also come from everyday experiences such as hearing beautiful music, wearing clothes or colors that you like, seeing something beautiful in nature, feeling your body’s joy that you are exercising, etc.


  • My clients and I have devised the following Joy Strategy:
  • Notice when you are feeling joy.
  • Pause what you’re doing in that moment, tune inwards, and take a deep breath.
  • Savor the feeling of joy. Drink it in. Feel it filling and nourishing your body.
  • Acknowledge with gratitude the things in the world that bring us joy.
  • Do something everyday that brings you joy. On days when you’re feeling lousy and life feels hopeless or difficult, find at least two things to remind you that joy exists all around you and let that experience be your oasis.


What is HBLU ™ ?
HBLU ™is an innovative, rapid, and powerful new mind/body/spirit healing methodology developed by Judith A. Swack, Ph.D., a Biochemist/Immunologist, Master NLP Practitioner, Mind/Body Healer, and leader in the field of Energy Psychology. HBLUTM integrates biomedical science, psychology, hypnosis, Neuro Linguistic Programming, applied kinesiology, and other energy psychology techniques with original research on the structure of complex damage patterns. HBLUTM is so effective because:


  1. The client’s deepest wisdom guides the healing,
  2. It has menus of well characterized patterns and effective healing techniques,
  3. It clears blocks to success at the conscious, unconscious, body, and soul levels.


HBLU ™ helps people rapidly achieve the results they want to live full, happy, healthy, and satisfying lives. Maybe it can help you, too.

Dr. Swack and her associates work with people in person or by phone. Healing from the Body Level Up, Inc. is located in Needham, MA. Call 781-444-6940 to book an appointment, order a free information package, and order audio and videotapes. Visit our website at www.HBLU.org.


Boston Women’s Journal April/May 2008

Judith Swack Of ‘Healing From The Body Level Up’ On Five Things We Can Do To Develop Serenity And Support Each Other During These Anxious Times

By Authority Magazine Editorial Staff • July 23, 2026
As a scientist I appreciated the NLP concept that all damage has structure, and that specific damage patterns can be cleared using reproducible protocols.
Text reading “YOUR BODY REMEMBERS TRAUMA...” with two portrait photos on dark background.

Why Trauma Keeps Repeating: Dr. Judith Swack on Healing the Nervous System & Unconscious Mind

By Judith A. Swack, Ph.D. • July 10, 2026
Your body remembers trauma. Hear Dr. Judith Swack discuss Healing the Nervous System & Unconscious Mind on the James Granstrom Podcast - Super Soul Model series
Logo reading “tonic for what ails you” beside a bald man in glasses with folded arms on a gray textured background

The Tonic - #441 Why You Should Take Vitamin B12 ...And Much More!

By Terry Furman • June 29, 2026
The Hidden Cause of Erectile Dysfunction On the podcast, The Tonic, terrestrially broadcast on June 20 and 21, 2026 on AM740 and FM 96.7 in Toronto. Topics covered on the show track the lifestyle articles and themes published in The Tonic Newsletter and on the Tonic Website. We’ll discuss why you should take vitamin B12 with Master Herbalist, Joel Thuna, the hidden cause of erectile dysfunction with biochemist Dr. Judith Swack, the impact of thyroid disease with patient advocate Joanne Koskie and Thyroid Foundation of Canada President Laz Bouros, and how epigenetics can impact your biological age with fitness coach Jason Nelson. where we discuss healing Diagnosis shock and original trauma Performance anxiety Instead of treating the cause, men treat the anxiety The physical sources of erectile dysfunction Muscle testing “Releasing Stuck Energy”  “When a man experiences erectile dysfunction for the first time, the physical symptom is often only the beginning,” Swack says. “The real problem can become the shock of what he tells himself it means. Many immediately jump to, ‘I'm impotent,’ or ‘I'll be rejected.’ That emotional imprint can create anticipatory anxiety that follows them into every future sexual encounter.” The result is a cycle in which anxiety itself becomes a contributing factor to ongoing performance issues. “Sex becomes tinged with anxiety,” she explains. “The fear of it happening again can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.” She emphasizes that ED is rarely a one-size-fits-all condition. “For some men, there may be emotional conflicts, relationship concerns, unresolved trauma, hormonal issues, or physical injuries contributing to the problem,” she says “If you don't address the root cause and the original diagnosis shock, you're often only managing symptoms.” The same trauma response, she says, frequently appears in patients diagnosed with any type of serious illness.