Therapy Works

Latest Episodes:

Lucy Gossage on The Joy of Difficult Things Oct 01, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, I talk with Lucy Gossage — oncologist, former professional triathlete, ultra-runner, and co-founder of the Move Against Cancer charity. From winning Ironman races to conquering Britain’s gruelling Spine Race, Lucy has built her life around challenge and growth.
She speaks candidly about facing fear and failure, the heartbreak of betrayal, and the process of finding closure. We explore how adventure, deep friendships, and joy can help us recover and move forward.
Drawing on her work in oncology, Lucy also shares profound lessons from her patients about resilience, connection, and what truly matters in life.
This conversation is about courage, adversity, and the choice to live fully — with all the risks and rewards that entails.
Find Lucy:
Instagram: @lucygossage

More from Therapy Works:
Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/
Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.
If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.
If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

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Agony Aunties: What’s the Line Between Healthy Processing and Negative Self-Talk? Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, the Agony Aunties return to address a listener's question about the often confusing advice regarding feeling emotions versus avoiding negative self-talk. They explain that emotions should be acknowledged and processed, whereas negative self-talk should be identified, challenged, and dialled down.

They discuss mindfulness techniques, the importance of self-awareness, and how our body and mind interact in this process.

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Elizabeth Day on Belonging When Life Doesn’t Go to Plan Sep 24, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of Therapy Works, I’m delighted to welcome back my friend Elizabeth Day. Elizabeth has done so much to change the way we talk about vulnerability, self-acceptance, and failure - through her writing, her speaking, and of course her brilliant podcast How to Fail.

In our conversation, Elizabeth opens up about her personal journey through childlessness and fertility struggles, and how she has found both peace and purpose through her creative life. We talk about her new book, One of Us, and the powerful themes it explores: what it means to belong, how failure shapes us, and why honest connection is essential for our wellbeing.

Elizabeth shares with great warmth and insight how writing and her conversations on How to Fail have helped her understand herself and others more deeply. This is a conversation about resilience, creativity, and finding meaning in the places we least expect.

I so loved this conversation, and I hope you do too.

If you’d like to try BetterVits, you can get 15% off sitewide with my code JULIA15 at⁠ ⁠⁠bettervits.co.uk/discount/Julia15⁠. I’m keen to hear your thoughts!

Find Elizabeth:

Instagram: @elizabday
Website: https://www.elizabethday.org/
Substack: theelizabethday.substack.com
Buy her new book One of Us: https://amzn.eu/d/5IZTy96

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/
Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Agony Aunties: Co-Parenting with an Ex When Trust Is Broken Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

In this Agony Aunties episode, we answer a listener asking how to co-parent after a breakdown of trust. We focus on steadying yourself to steady your child, keeping them out of adult conflict while keeping communication open and age-appropriate, and putting clear, written boundaries in place - a simple parenting plan, predictable handovers, and one co-parenting app for all logistics. We suggest shared reading to build a common language, leaning on a small support team (friend, therapist, mediator), and simple self-care so you can be consistent. The aim is a workable, child-centred plan that protects secure relationships with both parents.

If safety is a concern, please seek professional and legal support.

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Grace Spence Green on What Disability Taught Her About Living Fully Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of Therapy Works, I have the privilege of speaking with Grace Spence Green - a junior doctor and wheelchair user whose life changed dramatically after a spinal cord injury caused by a traumatic accident.

Grace shares with such honesty the physical and psychological challenges she faced during her rehabilitation, and how she has learned to navigate the daily realities of life in an able-bodied world. What shines through is her remarkable courage, her ability to redefine her own story, and her deep commitment to disability justice movements.

We talk about the importance of community support, the role of radical acceptance in finding peace, and how she continues to build a fulfilling life and career as a doctor. Grace also speaks about her relationships, her writing, and her advocacy for better understanding and treatment of disabled individuals.

I hope you find Grace’s story as moving and inspiring as I did.

If you’d like to try BetterVits, you can get 15% off sitewide with my code JULIA15 at⁠ ⁠⁠bettervits.co.uk/discount/Julia15⁠. I’m keen to hear your thoughts!

Find Grace:

Instagram: @gracesg

Buy Her Book: To Exist As I Am by Grace Spence Green | Waterstones

To Exist As I Am a book by Grace Spence Green - Bookshop.org UK

TO EXIST AS I AM by Grace spence Green is published by Profile, £16.99 hardback.

Support Links:

Radical Acceptance in DBT — overview of the skill discussed in the episode: https://dialecticalbehaviortherapy.com/distress-tolerance/radical-acceptance/
ADHD UK: https://adhduk.co.uk/
National Autistic Society: https://www.autism.org.uk/

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/
Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing — it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Agony Aunties: How Do I Cope with Anxiety About My Adult Children? Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of Agony Aunties, the Aunties tackle a listener’s heartfelt question: “How do I cope with the anxiety I feel around my adult children?”

Together, they explore:

Why anxiety often has roots in our earliest relationships
Practical self-soothing tools you can try straight away — from breath work to grounding exercises
How to find balance with a partner when worries spill over
Ways to set healthy boundaries around communication with your children
The power of separating facts from anxious thoughts

The conversation blends insight with compassion, reminding us that while worry is natural, it doesn’t have to run our lives.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/therapyworks and get on your way to being your best self.

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Dan Snow on Loss, Legacy, and Learning to Live in the Present Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

In the first episode of the new season of Therapy Works, I sit down with historian and broadcaster Dan Snow to explore the powerful forces that have shaped his life: his family’s legacy of high achievement, his insatiable drive for professional fulfilment, and the challenges of finding joy in the present moment.

Dan speaks candidly about how closely his work and personal identity are entwined and how this sometimes makes it difficult to savour life’s simplest pleasures, like a beach holiday with his children.

We also discuss the influence of history not only on nations, but on individuals: how the personal lives of historical figures informed their decisions, and how curiosity and context can deepen our understanding of both the past and the present.

Dan shares movingly about loss, reflecting on his experience of a late-term miscarriage and the importance of family and community in helping us survive grief.Our conversation closes with reflections on what history can teach us about resilience, the power of storytelling, and why curiosity remains one of the most vital tools for personal growth.

If you’d like to try BetterVits, you can get 15% off sitewide with my code JULIA15 at bettervits.co.uk/discount/Julia15. I’m keen to hear your thoughts!

Find Dan:

Instagram: @thehistoryguy
Podcast: Dan Snow’s History Hit

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/
Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mini Recap: Nadiya Hussain on Turning Anger Into Determination Sep 03, 2025

Show notes

In this powerful mini recap, Therapy Works revisits my moving conversation with Nadiya Hussain.

Nadiya reflects on growing up surrounded by women who seemed exhausted and unfulfilled, and how that shaped her determination to carve a different future. She opens up about the moment her parents forbade her from going to university at 18, threatening to change the locks if she left home and the fury, grief, and powerlessness that followed.

Instead of giving up, Nadiya turned her anger into relentless hard work, taking on multiple jobs and forging her independence. Later in life, she reclaimed her dream, studying at university while raising three children, with the unwavering support of her husband Abdul - the same man who signed her up for Bake Off.

This is just a glimpse of our conversation. Nadiya’s honesty and courage were deeply inspiring, and I’d highly recommend listening to the whole episode - it’s a story of defiance, determination, and the power of finding your own path.

Listen to Nadiya's full episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nadiya-hussain-on-defying-expectations-fighting-self/id1646616622?i=1000698819007

Find Nadiya:

Website: https://www.nadiyahussain.com/Instagram: @nadiyajhussain

Buy Nadiya's new book 'Rooza': https://www.nadiyahussain.com/book/rooza/

Please subscribe and leave a review—it truly makes all the difference! Follow Julia at @juliasamuelmbe for more insights, tips, and conversations on life's challenges and how to improve your mental well-being.

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Mini Recap: Julie Smith on Imposter Syndrome & Everyday Courage Aug 27, 2025

Show notes

In this mini recap from our season-opening conversation with Dr. Julie Smith, we revisit her reflections on imposter syndrome, success, and the lessons she discovered while writing her bestselling book. Julie shares how the process of writing became as much about her own growth as it was about guiding others, and why cultivating metacognition — the ability to notice and direct our thoughts — is key to making choices that shape our lives.

She also opens up about facing fear during her cancer diagnosis, rewriting her chapter on fear in real time, and finding courage through small, daily decisions. It’s a powerful reminder that transformation often happens step by step. If you enjoyed this recap, be sure to listen to the full conversation with Julie for even more insight and inspiration here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/dr-julie-smith-on-cancer-career-and-parenthood/id1646616622?i=1000691252914

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EXPERT EPISODE: Embracing Good Enough Parenting with Dr. Tara Porter Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, Emily interviews Dr. Tara Porter, a clinical psychologist and author, about her new book, 'Good Enough.' Dr. Porter reflects on her 28 years of experience in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and the pressing need to address rising mental health issues among young people. The conversation delves into the challenges of modern parenting, the dangers of perfectionism, and the importance of cultivating a 'good enough' approach. They discuss balancing firmness and kindness, modelling emotional competence, and the shifting landscape of childhood activities and expectations. The episode emphasises the value of being present in the moment and fostering a supportive and realistic parenting environment.

Read Dr Porter's Book: https://amzn.eu/d/hKy7HrI

Follow Julia on Instagram for more tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges: @juliasamuelmbe

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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