In this episode Cath speaks to self abandonment and how for many of us this feels absolutely necessary. She links it to childhood patterns and speaks to how unfamiliar it can be to start tending to needs, making some suggestions around prioritising your needs.

Please also find details about my forthcoming workshop I mention listed here here.

You can also read more on abandonment on substack (link to Nurture.Heal.Grow below).

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

Follow Cath on social media here:

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In this episode Cath speaks to the desperation that can arise when we are cycle breaker and are working really hard to give our kids a different experience to the experience we had in childhood. It can feel like we have to get everything RIGHT (whatever that means) and when we overgive and abandon ourselves it is unhelpful (and damaging) for both us and our kids.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

Follow Cath on social media here:

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This episode is a continuation of some of the themes from episode 94 (and can also be listened to alone).

Cath speaks about the core of people pleasing and how carrying this into parenting sets us up to feel bad, she touches on ‘metrics’, getting to know ourselves and having an embodied sense of our enough-ness. There is also discussion around values.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode we discuss hard days in parenting and how often our coping mechanisms from childhood can make these days harder.

We discuss the development of perfectionism and some pointers about why this is decimating in motherhood. Cath also talks about our inner critics. Including some suggestions on what else we could focus on and words of encouragement to support you on the inevitable hard days.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

Follow Cath on social media here:

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In episode 4 we continue with the theme of needs and this episode is packed with suggestions, tips and ways to support yourself around boundaries and needs.

In this episode we look at:

The consequences of not meeting needs and why it is therefore so important to tend to ourselves.

How tending to our needs is inextricably linked with boundaries.

The challenges of boundaries and what this has to do with our own nervous system.

Practical suggestions and guidelines to assist in putting down boundaries.

New parents and boundaries and needs and the complexities of this.

Book Cath mentioned by Gabor Mate is called 'When the Body Says No'.

Stackable habits is an idea from Atomic Habits by James Clear, this is a useful concept when we are time and energy poor.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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Cultivating joy is a really important aspect of healing and recovery. As well as working to change dysfunctional patterns in our lives it is also important to bring in that which nourishes us, sustains us, and brings in love and beauty. In this episode we look at:

Do you have an idea of what those joyful things might be? For your? For your family? What do you want your family culture to look like?

Here also we need to consider how we can work with (as opposed to against) our nervous system so that we don't traumatise/re-traumatise ourselves in the pursuit of this joy.

Examples and anecdotes to demonstrate these points.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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Coming into relationship with our needs is a process, an ongoing investigative journey. In this episode we look at:

1.Some of the blockers to this.

2.How being in a dysfunctional family is like all being stuck in the same jam and what we would like to create instead.

3.We do a dive into some nervous system science (based on the work of Stephen Porges and Deb Dana) to explain how your own body may hamper your ability to meet your needs.

4.Explanation of how meeting your needs may threaten your sense of self depending on how love was considered to operate in your family.

5.Discussion of how meeting your needs is necessary as opposed to selfish.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode we cover:

Why meeting our needs is the gateway to personal agency and being in our own power in our lives.

A discussion of how we first come into contact with our needs.

Explanations of why what happened in our childhood is so important and how this relates to how we tend to ourselves now.

Some suggestions and tips about what to start focusing on if you have no idea about how to tend to your needs.

An anecdote from Cath's life.

There is no need to have shame if you don't know how to meet your needs. Many of us grew up tending to the needs of our parents and as a result are disconnected from what we may need. This can be changed in adult life. There is SO much hope. Referenced the work of Allan Schore and Dan Siegel.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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Grow Yourself Up is a podcast to support all of us in our adult lives. Many of us did not get our needs adequately met in childhood. The devastating legacy of childhood trauma, wounding and traumatic stress lives on in our brains, our bodies, our nervous systems and our behaviour/reactions impacting the way we turn up to our lives in many ways.

We are going to unpack all of this on Grow Yourself Up. This podcast will be a companion as you journey on your own road of healing and recovery. You will learn you are not alone. Someone has been where you are. There is hope. We will break down shame together and learn to cultivate self compassion. There is always the possibility for change. And regardless of what has happened in our past, as adults we have to take responsibility for our own lives. We have to tend to our pain, our sadness and our dysfunction so that we can live a life we love and shift toxic patterns for our children. 

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In today's episode Cath focuses on people pleasing. She looks at how and why it arises in our family of origin, how it manifests in the way we are in relationships and how it can turn up in parenting. She suggests ways in which to counteract this urge. And next week there will be more on this subject.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath is joined by author and journalist Lucy Jones. Cath and Lucy discussed Lucy's matrescence journey, her most recent book (Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood), how she makes sense (and continues to) of the huge transition to motherhood, what Lucy finds supportive, how we are all eco systems and some of the realities of mothering at this time in our history.  

Lucy Jones is an award-winning journalist and the author of four books including the best-selling book Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild (Allen Lane), a Times and Telegraph Book of the Year, and most recently Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood. Her writing on science, health and ecology has been published in BBC Earth, The Sunday Times, GQ, the Daily Telegraph and the New Statesman. Lucy is a mother of 3 and lives in Hampshire in England.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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Cath was joined by Coach, Trainer and Supervisor Nicola Rae in episode 92. Cath and Nicola talked about Nicola’s path to motherhood, how she came into relationship with her needs, her divorce and how this relates to growing herself and much more. Nicola shared what she focuses on instead of focusing on being liked and how this gives her freedom. 

Nicola Rae is a Coach Supervisor, Life & Careers Coach, Coach Trainer and experienced Creative Strategist who works with ambitious brands and leaders to help them to fulfil their potential and speak-up and show-up with heart and make a meaningful difference in the world.

Nicola is the founder of 'A Life More Inspired' where she combines her 20 year corporate communications/marketing experience with a values-led and compassion-centered coaching methodology rooted in Neuroscience, Positive Psychology and Transactional Analysis.

Her uniquely positioned supervision and coaching practice helps move her clients into possibility, overcome challenges and step into a more fulfilling way of working, leading and living.

Nicola works with both organisations and individuals and is committed to bringing nuance to the personal growth, wellness and coaching space, so that it is development for the many and not the few.

Nicola is trusted by a number of innovative and industry leading brands including being the resident life coach for the global creative agency D&AD, Career Coach for the women’s only private members AllBright and a Coach Trainer for Optimus Coach Academy. In addition to working with Warner Music and Google alongside her thriving private client-led coaching practice.

Social media - 

https://www.instagram.com/nicolaraewickham/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaraewickham/

https://nicolarae.substack.com/

https://www.alifemoreinspired.com/weekly-letter

Ways to work with Nicola:

As a private client 121. 

In her coaching subscription, ROOOTED. 

In her supervision 121 practice which is for coaches and mentors. 

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it. To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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Cath was joined by Kate Codrington in this episode. Cath and Kate talked about Kate’s path to motherhood, perimenopause in early postpartum, how Kate cares for and supports herself in her life and more. We also talked about breaking free from what the patriarchy says we are allowed and how we can empower ourselves with play, creativity and joy.

Kate is a mentor, author, speaker, facilitator, artist and podcaster. The author of 'Second Spring: The Self-Care Guide to Menopause', which is part of the 'menopause cannon' according to the New York Times. Kate mentors people in perimenopause and beyond, 1-2-1 and in groups, and is a nature-based Yoga Nidra meditation guide, and hosts 'Life - An Inside Job' podcast. Kate has been a therapist for more than 30 years and creates multi-level art textile projects. When she’s not doing these things you’ll find her playing in her compost heaps. Her second book, 'The Perimenopause Journal, will be out in September 2024. 

To find out more about Kate, click the links listed below.

Website: https://www.katecodrington.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kate_codrington/

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it. To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In episode 90 Cath was joined by Integrative Educational Therapist and Nutritionist Lorraine Driscoll. Cath and Lorraine talked about PANs/PANDA’s and how Lorraine supported her daughter in her healing. The impact of retained primitive reflexes and how Lorraine’s teaching career informed her move into being a therapist and educator, and much more.

Lorraine Driscoll is the founder of the Building Better Brains Learning Clinic. She is an Integrative Educational Therapist and Nutritionist (and former teacher) who is known for her radically different approach to overcoming challenges related to learning and behaviour issues. As a former teacher, she is passionate about addressing the root cause via nutrition, gut health, cognitive therapies and neuro-technologies that strengthen weak areas of the brain. Her goal is to help kids move beyond the limitations of IEP's and tutoring so they can reach their full potential.

Contact Info:

www.lorrainedriscoll.com

info@lorrainedriscoll.com

Instagram: @building.better.brains

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buildingbetterbrainsLD

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it. To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In episode 89 Cath answers a listener's letter. The content of this episode deals with the question: ‘How can we tend to ourselves when we realise some of our parenting has come from our own pain and trauma?’ How do we deal with the guilt and shame arising from this? What helps this shift?

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it. To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In episode 88 Cath focuses on our needs and why starting to meet/meeting them can be so complex. Building on earlier episodes on this topic, listen to episodes 1-4 and 26. She makes a suggestion for how you can reframe times when there is self abandonment (needs not being met) to reduce shame. Having our needs met is a huge contributor to being in our own sense of power and agency.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it. To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In episode 87 of Grow Yourself Up Cath was joined by Clint Davis. Cath and Clint talked about culture and patriarchy, how Clint parents differently to how he was patented and how he continues to grow himself up in fatherhood. Cath and Clint talked about Clint’s book and how the conversations you have with your kids when they are young provide an important basis for later communication and much more.

Clint Davis is an Army veteran, ordained minister, and licensed professional counselor trained in trauma and addiction. Clint is a speaker and hosts the 'Asking Why' podcast. He is also the author of 'Building Better Bridges', a guidebook to having difficult conversations that can save our children.

Clint has a large team of mental health professionals that work together to make a difference in their communities.

Resources for Clint Davis Counseling

TEDx Talk:  https://youtu.be/k5bxxen5cAo

Instagram: @clintdaviscounseling

Facebook: @clintdaviscounseling

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com

Website: www.clintdaviscounseling.com

Email: Clintdaviscounseling@gmail.com

BBB: www.buildingbetterbridgesbook.com

Amazon: (Building Better Bridges) https://a.co/d/bbkF1FL

Asking Why Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/asking-why/id1527892108

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it. To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In episode 86 Cath was joined by Psychotherapist, Speaker and Clinical Supervisor Kemi Omijeh. Cath and Kemi talked about Kemi's journey to motherhood, how her own parenting differs from the parenting she received and how she centres her children and supports them in getting their needs met. Kemi talked about being a changemaker in workplaces which are predominantly white and how exhausting that is, fawning, people pleasing and much more about Kemi continues to grow herself up and be her authentic self wherever she goes. 

Kemi Omijeh is a registered psychotherapist and clinical supervisor working with children and families for over 15 years. She is also a trainer and speaker with her specialist subjects being cultural competence, racial identity, racial trauma and antiracist practices in education.

Kemi champions inclusive mental health for children and young people and states that support for young people should include a consideration of the child’s context, culture and identity. Kemi believes in preventing the onset of significant mental health difficulties in children and young people by fostering an environment that is child centred and fosters connection and belonging. She works with organisations to support them to develop antiracist practices and a trauma informed approach. Kemi passionately believes that good mental health is the foundation for success across all areas of life. She has a special passion for and extensive experience working in schools, and with families.

Kemi is a Black woman in a leadership position and has both lived experience and psychological understanding of the impact of navigating a predominantly white workspace. As a result, is passionate about providing awareness and tools to support and advance Black women in leadership roles without sacrificing their mental health and wellbeing.

Kemi’s passion is normalising talking about mental health and ensuring we are all investing in our mental health as we would our physical health.

She has been featured on BBC Bitesize, Huffpost UK and The Irish Times, and was the Resident Therapist for the BBC Docuseries 'Mimi On a Mission'. She has worked with many organisations including the NHS, Anna Freud Centre and Kings College.

Connect with Kemi Omijeh below

Web: kemiomijeh.com/

Instagram: therapy_with_kemi

Twitter: therapy_with_kemi

LinkedIn: Kemi O

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it. To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath talks about how emotional health is connected to emotional flow and how this has been the absolute opposite of what many of us have learnt in our families of origin. She provides context about why it is important to learn to actually BE with our emotional selves and shares some personal examples of this.

This episode also covers hate, dissociation, Cath's concept of Emotional Flow, what we are aiming for with flow and why this may be so hard for many of us.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

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In this episode Cath answers a question she receives a lot which is some version of 'why do I identify so much with your content when I did not think I had childhood trauma'.

Cath speaks to this through the lens of culture, what we learnt as children would keep us safe, generational trauma and parenting practises to explain why this might be the case. 

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

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In this episode Cath is joined by Emily Adler Mosqueda. We discuss Emily's mothering experience. Emily shares how her postpartum time after the birth of her second daughter was much more challenging than her first. We examine what contributed to this touching on cultural expectations, perfectionism, rage, meeting our inner child in parenting, mental health, support and learning to make space for ourselves as mothers. Emily shares the arc of her journey explaining how she has landed in her own good enough space. 

Emily is a clinical professor, pediatric speech-language pathologist, postpartum activist, author and mother. She blends her knowledge of motherhood studies and personal mothering experiences in her work with graduate students and pediatric clinical training at the University of Oregon, in the US.

In her memoir, Unexpected: A Postpartum Memoir, Emily shares the arc of her mothering experiences and life experiences earlier in life that put her at risk for mental health struggles she experienced late in her postpartum with her second child. Readers witness Emily’s personal evolution through an internal review and deconstruction of self and her examination of maternal expectations. It is through this journey of examining and feeling that truly opens up the unexpected possibilities of understanding what it means to be content in motherhood.

Motivated to support and advocate for mothers, Emily has spoken at state and national-level professional conferences to educate paediatric professionals on the prevalence of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and their symptoms, in efforts to normalise mental health conversations and get support to more families.

Get her book wherever you buy books, or from motherhood studies publisher, Demeter Press https://demeterpress.org/books/unexpected-a-postpartum-memoir/

Learn more about Emily and connect with her at www.emilyadlermosqueda.com or on Instagram @emily.adler.mosqueda and @postpartum365. Her Instagram is another platform Emily uses to share matricentric feminism concepts and mental health information in the hope of educating mothers and professionals.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In episode 83 Cath was joined by Nutritional Therapist Thalia Pellegrini to talk about her mothering experiences, how she learnt to support herself better with nutrition and how she centres her own well being in motherhood. Thalia shared how she continues to grow herself up in motherhood and how changing her perspective supports her in tricky times and more.

Thalia Pellegrini is a registered nutritional therapist (DipION mBANT CNHC). After graduating from Cambridge University, she spent a decade as a presenter for the BBC before deciding to embrace a new career.

She retrained, qualifying as a nutritional therapist in 2009 following a three-year course at the Institute of Optimum Nutrition in London. Her specialist interest is women’s health. She runs her signature perimenopause group program The Energised Mum Method online as well as working 1:1 with women worldwide to address hormonal health issues ranging from PCOS, PMS to perimenopause, as well as low energy and fatigue. Known as the Knackered Mums Nutritionist, she is passionate about empowering women to hold their own well-being sacred.

You can find Thalia on Instagram listed here: @thaliapellegrini_nutrition

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In episode 82 Cath was joined by Dr Caroline Boyd to discuss her experience of motherhood and intrusive thoughts in the postpartum period. Caroline shares some of her own experience of intrusive thoughts and she highlighted how these thoughts are driven by anxiety and our stress response being dialled up in early parenthood. Caroline shares her own research into intrusive thoughts, the different types of thoughts and what our own emotional response to these thoughts indicates (based on research) and lots more.

Chartered clinical psychologist Dr Caroline Boyd has over 10 years experience working in the NHS and mental health settings, and she supports parents from

pregnancy to childbirth and beyond. Caroline is the author of Mindful New Mum, and her published research explores mothers experiences of intrusive

thoughts about their babies. Her work has been featured in You magazine, Grazia, BBC Radio Scotland and Womans Hour on BBC Radio 4.

Caroline specialises in supporting parents around anger and anxiety in her independent psychology practice, Parent Therapy Hub. She shares psychology ideas on Instagram and in the media to help parents feel more connected - to themselves and their children - and less alone. 

You can find Caroline here:

www.drcarolineboyd.com or via Instagram @_drboyd

Caroline’s next maternal anger course starts on January 12th

https://drcarolineboyd.com/course-mum-rage

Caroline’s book, Mindful New Mum: A Mind-Body Approach to the Highs and Lows of Motherhood, is available to buy online at Amazon, Waterstones or Bookshop.

**Trigger warning – talk of intrusive thoughts of harm. Please take care when listening.

Note – Fathers also report experiencing these thoughts, but to a slightly lesser degree than mothers.

If this episode raises any concerns for you please talk to a trusted health professional such as your GP.

You can also reach out to the services below:

UK: PANDAS - 0808 1961 776

Samaritans – 116 123

For emergency help - call 999 or visit your local A&;E department

US: Postpartum Support International - 1-800-944-4773 (4PPD)

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this the first episode of 2024, Cath shares some reflections on how complex it is to move away from perfectionism and how when we have these tendencies we are never satisfied with where we are in life.

Many of us have scripts (or radio shows!) running in our heads that are much more about the past and hamper our enjoyment of our lives. Cath shares an example of this from her own life and suggests an exercise for you to do at the beginning of 2024, an exercise to celebrate and honour yourself and your journey.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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Substack: Nurture.Heal.Grow

Facebook: Cath Counihan

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In this special bonus episode released on Christmas Day, Cath speaks about relationships, family of origin, expectations and obligations. And how we can get all tangled up with our childhood roles when we are back in our family of origin.

She suggests some ways to protect your peace and honour yourself, your family and others as sometimes it can be tricky to extend to others what we are trying to extend to ourselves.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In the episode this week, Cath is joined by Colleen Adrian. Colleen is an author, and a connected parenting coach for parents of sensitive spirited kids. She’s a Mom, a Stepmom, and a Grandma, and lives on a small island on the west coast of Canada.

Cath and Colleen talked about how Colleen has grown herself up in motherhood, how discovering neuroscience and better understanding her nervous system and that of her child's shifted everything for her and how she continues to surrender to her journey. Colleen shared about how astrology has supported her and how she tends to anxiety when it comes up.

Colleen helps parents of sensitive spirited kids who struggle with intense emotions, including anxiety, aggression, perfectionism, tantrums, rebellion. Through parent coaching, somatic therapy, and online courses, she helps the parents learn skills for connection and emotional regulation, both for themselves and their children so they can leave behind authoritarian parenting methods, and have the strong bond with their kids that they’re deeply longing for. She specialises in creating secure attachment and somatic healing.

She’s passionate about nurturing authenticity, connected relationships, creativity, and supporting kids to grow into their unique selves. She believes the world needs more compassionate human beings who are living authentically from their hearts. 

You can find Colleen here:

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@colleenadrian1590/videos
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colleen.parentwriter/
• Website: https://colleenadrian.com/

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

Follow Cath on social media here:

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In this episode Cath speaks about resourcing yourself over the holiday period and what that might look like. There may be more rage and ruptures at this time and she speaks to how you might support yourself and the benefits of working through ruptures, why these are so important and welcoming in repair. 

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

Follow Cath on social media here:

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In the episode this week Cath was joined by Stephen Terrell. Steve Terrell is a Healer, Teacher, and Author and sees clients at Austin Attachment and Counseling Center in Austin, Texas. He founded this center over 20 years ago for the treatment of Developmental Trauma and Adoption related issues. He has a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and a Doctorate in Psychology California Coast University and sees his clients under his license as a professional counselor in Texas. 

Steve and Cath discuss Steve's path to fatherhood, what he learnt about parenting from his first son, healing work and the importance of turning up in the relationship. Steve shared about what has been most important in terms of supporting himself and how he breaks things down to make them manageable/achievable. There is so much wisdom in this episode, I hope you find this supportive ahead of the festive period.

It was his experience as a clinician and single parent of two adopted sons, along with his understanding of the ACEs that Steve came to the realization that there needed to be a way to reach non-verbal, or early developmental trauma, without spoken language. Out of this realization he developed Transforming Touch® and a training program designed for understanding and healing developmental trauma: “Transforming the Experience-Based Brain: A Regulation-Based Approach to Working Developmental Trauma” (which is offered internationally and offers an understanding of developmental trauma through a new lens). This new lens includes working with primitive reflexes, learning the language of early trauma, working with physiological regulation, understanding the neuro sequential development of the brain, working with survival parts, understanding attachment in the somatic relationship, and more.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this deeply heartfelt and personal episode, Cath speaks to the complexity of managing family relationships around the holidays and high days (particularly when we have not had our needs met in

childhood).

How can we remain in touch with people who we may deeply love, have a lot of history with and yet the relationship may also have a lot of potential for pain? How can we turn up in these relationships, own our own stuff and still find joy in the present moment? Through the use of personal anecdotes Cath makes various points about how we can manage and even thrive at these times. This episode has lots of practical tips and suggestions so that you can craft the holiday period that will be best for you and your family, and allow this for others.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath shares about some of her personal journey with unwinding from chronic stress, the patterns that perpetuate chronic stress, burnout, how we are set up for this in childhood and much much more.

Healing is a layered and ongoing journey, in service of breaking down shame Cath speaks to parts of her journey and how she has negotiated chronic stress, physical symptoms and challenge this year.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In the episode today Cath was joined by author and Early Years consultant Mariana Castaman. Cath and Mariana talked about slow parenting, being present for the children we have, growing up in parenthood, learning to hold space for our children when that was not done for us in childhood and honouring the work done in mothering/parenting. 

Mariana is an Early Years Consultant, Published author — of a book written in her mother-tongue Portuguese (the title of the book is 'Esse Não é Mais um Livro Sobre o Sono', and a Sleep Specialist.

You can connect with Mariana on Instagram here: @marianacastaman

She is currently working on a new offering and has 3 in-depth free guides to support moms, parents and families and their children with improving sleep. 

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath was joined by Resilience and Breathwork coach Josh Connolly. The discussion focused on Josh’s path to parenthood, becoming sober, the importance of rupture and repair and how Josh grows himself up as he lives, works and parents. We talked about the importance of self honesty and how it is impossible to be a perfect cycle breaker/parent.

Josh Connolly is a Resilience and Accredited Breathwork Facilitator. He is also a mental health advocate in the UK featured regularly in the press. He has spoken in the House of Commons (related to adult children of alcoholics), contributed to mental health policy and even advised the scriptwriting team on Hollyoaks. Josh runs resilience workshops for village schools and global brands alike. He is an ambassador for Nacoa a national charity supporting people affected by a parent’s drinking.

Josh's Socials

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Tiktok @josh_ffw

YouTube: JoshConnolly_FFW

How individuals can work with Josh

Inner You: his flagship online 6 week programme - www.joshconnolly.co.uk/inner-you

Breathing Space: his online community away from social media - www.joshconnolly.co.uk/breathing-space

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath returns to the content of episode 72 and discusses how secure attachment impacts how we turn up in life. She uses family history and context to show the power of cycle breaking and how creating secure attachment is hugely impactful. She also chats about how comparison can sometimes be helpful. This episode is real, vulnerable, hopeful and powerful and we hope provides comfort and connection for you.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath was joined by Dr Jodi Pawluski, they talked about Jodi’s path to motherhood, her postpartum time, how she prepared for this time and how her own parents’ support impacted her.

Jodi shares a bit about her family history, about the partnership she has with her husband in parenting and how her own work and knowledge of the brain supports her in her mothering role. 

Dr Jodi Pawluski is a Behavioural Neuroscientist, Psychotherapist and Author. Her research is affiliated with a research unit of the INSERM institute, the University of Rennes, France.

For over fifteen years Jodi has studied the neuroscience of motherhood and the effects of perinatal mental illness and antidepressant medications on the mother and developing offspring.

In 2020 Dr. Pawluski started a podcast called "Mommy Brain Revisited" which focuses on bringing current research on the parental brain to the general public. She also recently published a book (available in French and English) titled "Mommy Brain: Discover the amazing power of the maternal brain". 

Dr Pawluski's work has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, CNN, The Boston Globe, Die Zeit, Elle, Marie Claire, to name a few

You can connect with Jodi on her website listed here www.jodipawluski.com

Instagram: @dr.jodi_pawluski

X (formerly twitter): @JodiPawluski

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath speaks about secure attachment, what it really means, why it is useful to understand and how our attachment style influences much of how we turn up in the world. Cath speaks about earned secure attachment, how therapy helps in the process of developing this and how tending to and nurturing ourselves is the key to shift and change. Learning to tend to ourselves is vital in our parenting journey (and in life in general).

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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This week Cath is joined by author, podcaster and content creator Cat Sims. Cath and Cat talk about Cat’s experiences of motherhood, how she has grown herself up as she mothers, her path to sobriety and why she stopped drinking. And how she views self responsibility. Cat shares her story on boarding school, her family of origin, making living amends and how she holds herself kindly now (instead of self criticism).

Cat Sims is an author, podcaster and content creator who is still trying to figure the whole ‘adulting’ thing out.

She’s made a living out of documenting her failures and successes as a 40 year old woman, a mother and a wife across various social media platforms.

Her mission in life is to make as many women as possible feel ‘seen’ and to make them realise that they are never, ever, ‘the only one.’ She’s honest AF, wonderfully self-deprecating and willing to say all the things the rest of us hide away and, in doing so, she manages to make us all feel a little bit better about our perfectly messy lives.

Cat can be found on Instagram @notsosmugnow

If you've been affected by any of the discussions we've had today, then please check out Alcoholics Anonymous at https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/ or Al-Anon: https://al-anonuk.org.uk/

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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Cath delves into the impacts of emotional neglect, how it can be so hard to live with these, why this is and the relationship between emotional neglect, attachment and regulation. She talks about our own feeling states in parenting and how learning to tend to and nurture ourselves is absolutely key on our parenting journey.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath is joined by author and journalist Lucy Jones. Cath and Lucy discussed Lucy's matrescence journey, her most recent book (Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood), how she makes sense (and continues to) of the huge transition to motherhood, what Lucy finds supportive, how we are all eco systems and some of the realities of mothering at this time in our history.  

Lucy Jones is an award-winning journalist and the author of four books including the best-selling book Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild (Allen Lane), a Times and Telegraph Book of the Year, and most recently Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood. Her writing on science, health and ecology has been published in BBC Earth, The Sunday Times, GQ, the Daily Telegraph and the New Statesman. Lucy is a mother of 3 and lives in Hampshire in England.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath is joined by Harriet Shearsmith. Harriet is a coach, podcaster, Mum of 3 and the content creator behind @tobyandroo. In this episode she shares her experiences around growing up in a household where she always tended to the needs of her Mother, how she came to see the dynamics of her family, what action she has taken to protect herself as an adult and how she is shifting dynamics in her own family.

Harriet can be found on Instagram: @tobyandroo and @unfollowingmum. She hosts a podcast for cycle breakers called Unfollowing Mum all about toxic families, estrangement and healing generational trauma.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath starts to look in more detail at what emotional neglect actually is and why it matters. She explains how widespread emotional neglect is and gives some historical context to explain why. She links this to parenting, to the challenge of tending to our kids emotions and to our ability to meet our own needs. Cath discusses the concept of narcissistic families, what this actually means and the generational aspects of this. Both of these are huge subjects, listen to this first instalment today.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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Cath was joined by Fran Liberatore in episode 101. Cath and Fran talked about Fran's path to motherhood and how she felt she found her purpose through motherhood, her becoming and growing up in motherhood. Fran talked about her own neurodivergence, how she learnt to let go of control in parenting and how she continues to focus on this. Cath and Fran talked about the imprecise nature of diagnosis and some of their thoughts on this. Fran talked about the schooling journey in her family and how she uses a consent based model in life and education and much more.

Fran is an unschooler, mother, writer and child advocate. She writes and podcasts about consent-based, self-directed education, youth autonomy and challenging social norms on her Substack, 'A Life Unschooled' (www.alifeunschooled.substack.com).

She is also publishing a book about centering consent-based practice via her Substack. She does some volunteering work around youth advocacy and self-directed education, and is studying for a Masters in Early Childhood Education, hoping to focus on consent-based education. Her favourite things are long walks, coffee and a good book. She lives with her two unschooled children, her husband, and her dog on a little island off the coast of Maine.

You can also find Fran on Instagram @bigmothering

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath was interviewed by Nikki McCahon for her Seasons of Matresence Podcast. We had a gentle, compassionate and open hearted conversation about the ways in which experiences of childhood trauma can shape and impact how we experience mothering and raising children.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode, the ways in which childhood trauma can impact and shape our experience of mothering and raising children. We talk about the nervous system and our window of tolerance and how trauma can travel through families and generations why playing with your children can feel overwhelming or dysregulating. The power of rupture and repair for our children and ourselves and how we can bring in more compassion in our mothering and our journey of healing from childhood trauma.

There is so much wisdom in this episode, and I know that it’s going to be really supportive for you.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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This episode is an interview with Cath and Crystal Karges which was originally released on Crystal’s podcast ‘Lift the Shame’. Cath and Crystal talk about healing generational trauma, shifting patterns, diet culture, food choices, control and more.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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The way we come into relationships with our needs when we are babies and young children, has a huge influence on the way we learn to tend to our needs as adults.

We learn about what is 'allowed' in terms of our needs in our family of origin. Many of us have a very complex relationship with our own needs, because of the parenting we received (and the parenting our parents received). In this episode Cath digs more into needs (Listen to Episodes 1-4 of Grow Yourself Up for more on needs), looking at why our needs may feel 'illegitimate' and how we can bring these needs back to ourselves.

She shares some imagery that could be helpful with this and also some ideas about how to proceed when you don't know where to start with your needs.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath discusses the concept of self mothering, explaining why this is such a crucial part of all our healing journey.

She explains what it is, highlights how we may derail ourselves and shares her 3-step approach to self-mothering. This episode is full of humanity, vulnerability, useful tips and storytelling. Cath provides an example of how she does this in her own life so that you can transfer the ideas into practice in your own life. This will help you create the life you wish and be the person you want to be.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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The term ‘rupture and repair’ is widely used across social media to explain the process of repairing with your child after a break in connection (for example parent shouted or was unkind, snappy to a child). The original research around this was done on mother and infant dyads and the research was later also done with fathers and toddlers. This process has extremely important implications for us as adults, listen to this episode for more. 

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath discusses some nervous system science (Polyvagal Theory and Stephen Porges and Deb Dana's work) and invites us into considering how our parent nervous systems interact with our children's nervous systems. Understanding what we, as parents, are contributing to the family nervous system is vital if we want to create change.

She shares an anecdote related to this focusing on transitions (there are a lot of transitions in holidays each day) and stress responses.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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Cath was joined by coach, trainer and hypno-CBT therapist Sophie Burch this week. We talked about Sophie's journey to motherhood, her passion and mission in the prenatal, perinatal and postpartum stages of parenthood and how her own experiences contributed to this. We touched on how birth trauma and a stay in NICU impacted her and her children. Sophie shared how she deals with the impacts of PTSD, maintaining her sanity while parenting 4 boys and how she cares for herself.

Sophie Burch aka The Mamma Coach is on a mission to put mental and emotional wellbeing more on the map in pregnancy, birth and parenting. She has 17 years experience as a mother to 4 boys (including twins), as a perinatal therapist and coach, and a birth trauma and PND survivor. Her experience has shaped who she is and awakened her to a life of compassion and deep empathy for everyone from pre-conception through parenting to menopause. Her approach is simple: to allow people to feel held and heard, safe and worthy of love and self acceptance.. Sophie believes that our strength comes from self compassion, kindness and knowledge, which is her ethos. 

Sophie’s book, Beyond Birth: A Mindful Guide for Early Parenting, was published in 2020. It is an integration of all she knows will help people have a more balanced, positive experience as they transition from pregnancy to parenting. The book is available on Amazon in multiple formats, and can be delivered via parent-baby support sessions and a practitioner training course.

She is a Trainer and Team Member at PMH Training CIC with leading Perinatal expert and Author Dr Jane Hanley and offers online and in person coaching, 1:1 and groups and is very happy to talk about her work and experience at events and podcasts.

Sophie Burch (HCBT, CNHC, GQHP)

Hypno-CBT® Mindfulness & Aromatherapy

Specialist from Pre-conception through Birth, Parenting & Beyond Mental Health & Wellbeing

You can connect with Sophie here:

FaceBook: The Mamma Coach, Beyond Birth Collective 

Instagram: @themammacoach and @beyond_birth_guide

Tel: 07949 764105

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath discusses what shift we need to make as parents around the holidays.

Cath discusses some of the emotional adjustments we need to make as parents when considering leisure time with kids, and using nervous system science. She suggests ways that you can support yourself and your kids over the holiday period. This episode will hold and support you as you consider and plan the next couple of months.

If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.

To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. 

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In this episode Cath is joined by author and coach Suzy Reading. Suzy shares about how she has grown herself up in motherhood, how grief impacted her early motherhood, how she takes care of herself and how advocating for her kids has helped her with self advocacy. 

Suzy is a mother of two, an author, Chartered Psychologist and Coach. She specialises in self-care, helping people manage their stress, emotions, and energetic bank balance. It was her life experience of motherhood colliding with the terminal illness of her father that sparked her passion for self-care which she now teaches to her clients, young and old, to cope during periods of stress, loss and change and to boost their resilience in the face of future challenges. Suzy is the Psychology Expert for wellbeing brand Neom Organics and is a founding member of the ‘Nourish’ app. She figure-skated her way through her childhood, growing up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, and now makes her home in the hills of Hertfordshire, UK. She has written multiple books including The Self-Care Revolution, Self-Care for Tough Times, Stand Tall Like a Mountain: Mindfulness & Self-Care for Children and Parents, Sit to Get Fit and most recently Rest to Reset.

You can find Suzy on social media:

Instagram: @suzyreading

Facebook: SuzyReadingPsychologyAndYoga/

Twitter: SuzyReading

Website: www.suzyreading.co.uk

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Instagram: @cathcounihan

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