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. Which in turn impacts 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 travel 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.
Follow Cath on social media here:
Instagram: @cathcounihan
Substack: Nurture.Heal.Grow
Facebook: Cath Counihan
The podcast is produced each week by the wonderful Audio Café.
Thanks for listening. Cath.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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. Which in turn impacts 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 travel 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.
Follow Cath on social media here:
Instagram: @cathcounihan
Substack: Nurture.Heal.Grow
Facebook: Cath Counihan
The podcast is produced each week by the wonderful Audio Café.
Thanks for listening. Cath.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode Cath talks about how many of us go into peak fantasy at this time of year and set ourselves up to have a tricky time. She talks about getting clear about what your fantasy is and to notice that and stop comparing to it.
Cath talks about planning ahead to set your family up for success in the holiday time and what that might look like. She also talks about stress responses, recognising these and how you might support the various stress responses.
We will be back on Tuesday 6th Jan 2026.
The workshop mentioned in the podcast both last week and this week, can be found here: www.cathcounihan.com/triggers-workshop
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:
Instagram: @cathcounihan
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Facebook: Cath Counihan
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In this episode Cath reflects on how rage may be one of the most common experiences in motherhood (particularly if we have had childhood trauma). She speaks about getting to know our own rage, the shame we might feel and how that might derail us and trying to understand what our rage might be protecting us from. She uses one of the books she talked about last week to springboard into this conversation and highlights psychological patterns by telling a couple of anecdotes.
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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Therapy is necessary for many of us as we heal from childhood trauma and therapy is typically 1 hour a week. That leaves 167 other hours where we may be depressed, anxious, spinning out, criticising ourselves, living in fear or stressed about our own emotions. In this episode Cath shares some of the books that have helped her move from living in fear, books that have helped dealing with grief, despair, relationship patterns and books that have helped with compassion, understanding addiction and more. This episode contains personal stories from Cath to illustrate these points.
Cath also talks about mirroring and containment and how many of us have to learn to do this for ourselves when we have not had this sufficiently done in childhood. Let us know if you would like more episodes like this.
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 151 Cath was joined by Kimberley Olliff-Cooper. They talked about progressive education, neurodivergence, realising how this impacted our own school experience, the possibility for changing schools and making them more fit for children, healing and growing in motherhood and understanding emotional unavailability, trauma and addiction. We also talked about changing educational systems and the exciting work ThriveNow is doing.
Kimberley is a teacher, education consultant, speaker, and co-founder of ThriveNow, a not-for-profit organisation opening a progressive secondary school in September 2026, alongside a Learning Hub designed to share all the assets of the ThriveNow Framework.
With a Master’s in Education and over 25 years’ experience in student-centred learning, Kimberley believes that schools should be places of wellbeing, creativity, and deep human and planetary connection.
Through ThriveNow, she collaborates with schools and organisations around the world to co-create inclusive, inquiry-led, and climate-conscious learning environments. Her work centres on four key pillars: thriving communities, inquiry-led pedagogy, transdisciplinary curriculum, and multi-modal formative assessment.
Website: https://thrive-now-org.webflow.io/
Substack: https://thrivenowedu.substack.com/
Meta handles: @thrivenoweducation
Linkedin (personal), Kimberley Olliff Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kocooper/
Linkedin (ThriveNow): https://www.linkedin.com/company/thrivenoweducation
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 art psychotherapist Gerardine Boyle in this episode. Cath and Gerardine talked about how generational trauma impacts families, the legacy of emotional neglect, what is unspoken, shame and the complexity of unwinding functional freeze in the system. Gerardine generously shared her own stories of generational trauma and what she believes has impacted her on her journey. We talked briefly about primitive reflexes and how the retention of these can be extremely impactful for nervous system and mental health.
Gerardine Boyle is an Art Psychotherapist who has worked for over twenty years in Adult Psychiatry in the HSE (health service in Ireland) and in private practice. She is also trained in the Diamond Approach, the Hearing Voices Approach and she was part of a specialised HSE team delivering Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) for seven years, supporting individuals with high levels of emotional dysregulation. Gerardine trained as a Transforming Touch Practitioner with Dr Stephen Terrell world expert in working with developmental trauma at the first training workshop in Ireland (in Cork in 2019) and this training has been life-changing for her and her clients. She continues to marvel at how supporting the nervous system powerfully lends itself to healing on all levels. Supporting the nervous system means the client, over time gets to know and trust their own nervous system better and shame is addressed on a somatic level.
Gerardine's website is https://morninglighttherapy.ie/
She works in person and offers intensives, which is multiple therapy sessions over a number of days (with client staying locally in east Cork, Ireland). She also delivers the therapy on line via zoom as well.
The link to the training in Dublin with Dr Stephen Terrell is, https://www.austinattach.com/transforming-the-experience-based-brain/dublin-ireland/ and this training welcomes parents, therapists and individuals on their own healing 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 episode 149 Cath was joined by Suzy Reading. Cath and Suzy talked about tending to ourselves in winter, making the most of the seasons while holding onto sanity, people pleasing, what Suzy means when she talks about being selfish and all about self advocacy. Suzy talks about her 7 steps to taking back your power and peace and you can find much more detail about this in Suzy's newest book 'How to be Selfish' which releases on the 20th of November 2025.
Suzy Reading is a Chartered Psychologist and one of the UK’s leading self-care and self-advocacy experts. She has three decades of experience in the health and wellbeing industry, drawing on her qualifications in yoga and personal training, together with psychology, to empower people with sustainable healthy lifestyle habits. Suzy has a special interest in helping people heal their relationship with ‘self’. She is a monthly columnist for Top Sante Magazine; the Psychology Expert for Neom Organics; the Wellbeing Ambassador for BABTAC and is a founding member of the ‘Nourish’ app. She is the author of The Little Book of Self-Care, The Self-Care Revolution, Stand Tall Like a Mountain, Self-care for Tough Times, This Book Will (Help) Make You Happy, And Breathe, Sit to Get Fit, Rest to Reset and Self-care for Winter. How to Be Selfish is hot of the press.
If you wish to follow Suzy, she's on Instagram @suzyreading
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 the process of welcoming in our own humanity and how a healing journey leads to more emotional messiness, at least initially. She talks about some signs that indicate that you are growing up/healing.
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 Kathrin Stauffer. They chatted about how the body remembers in multiple ways and how not getting what we need in childhood impacts multiple systems in our bodies (not just the nervous system). When we are on a healing journey the expression of sadness and grieving are an important part of this journey. However, it may be that we are blocked from crying by our defences. We dived into this and talked about food, body shape, body psychotherapy, the the function of comfort eating, shame and much more.
Kathrin Stauffer PhD, UKCP Registered Body Psychotherapist, is the author of ‘Emotional Neglect and the Adult in Therapy: Lifelong Consequences to a Lack of Early Attunement’ (W.W. Norton 2020).
Kathrin was born and educated in Switzerland. Originally a research biochemist, she retrained at the Chiron Centre for Body Psychotherapy. She lives in Cambridge in the UK and works in private practice as a body and humanistic psychotherapist, EMDR practitioner, trainer and supervisor. She previously wrote ‘Anatomy & Physiology for Psychotherapists: connecting Body & Soul’ (W.W. Norton 2010). Currently she is the President of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy EABP.
You can contact her via her website which is www.stauffer.co.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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In this episode Cath is joined by Dr. Kathrin Stauffer for a rich and varied discussion about emotional neglect, what causes this, how we might know we have been emotionally neglected, the interplay with narcissistic family dynamics, what constitutes narcissistic traits and how narcissism and perfectionism can play out in motherhood.
Kathrin Stauffer PhD, UKCP Registered Body Psychotherapist, is the author of ‘Emotional Neglect and the Adult in Therapy: Lifelong Consequences to a Lack of Early Attunement’ (W.W. Norton 2020). She was born and educated in Switzerland. Originally a research biochemist, she retrained at the Chiron Centre for Body Psychotherapy. She lives in Cambridge in the UK and works in private practice as a body and humanistic psychotherapist, EMDR practitioner, trainer and supervisor. Currently she is the President of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy EABP.
Kathrin's website is www.stauffer.co.uk
If you wish to work with Kathrin or have a question for her, then email her direct on kathrin@stauffer.co.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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In this episode Cath was joined by therapist and coach Catherine Topham Sly. Catherine and Cath talked about adult love relationships, conflict, couples therapy, learning to communicate, how the mental load after kids can cause conflict and much more.
Catherine Topham Sly is the UK’s leading expert in relationships after kids. Founder of Insight & Connection, she's a BACP accredited couples therapist and relationship transformation coach. Catherine is the creator of the 'Love Happy Live Free' method, a unique personal development and relationship skills training programme. Catherine works with both individuals and couples who want to develop the mindset and skills to have loving, satisfying, joyful relationships, so they can enjoy their happiest family life.
You can find Catherine on Instagram @insightandconnection
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 emotional neglect, some of what that involves and how it presents when we are an adult. She speaks about the complexity of holding space for emotions when that was never done for us. Please be gentle with yourself as you practise this skill.
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 an anecdote from her own life about how something her kids wanted to do triggered shame and the desire to people please and what happened. She talks about people pleasing and fawning and the actual nature of people pleasing and what it is really about.
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 and Dr. Herman talked about trauma and recovery, justice for survivors, complex trauma, stages of recovery/healing, what helps in the postpartum period according to research and Dr Herman's incredible work in the field of trauma, justice, repair, healing and recovery.
Judith Lewis Herman M.D. is Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry (part time) at Harvard Medical School. For thirty years, until she retired, she was Director of Training at the Victims of Violence Program at The Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge, MA. She is the author of the award-winning books Father-Daughter Incest (Harvard University Press, 1981), and Trauma and Recovery (Basic Books, 1992). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim fellowship in 1984 and the 1996 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. In 2007 she was named a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
Her new book, Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice, was published in March, 2023.
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 moving away from panic and urgency, the complexity of healing chronic stress and how everything in our body is linked and how she's moving forward in this in her own life.
Within the episode Cath mentions 'Rushmead Farm' and their womb balm which you can purchase here www.rushmeadfarm.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.
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In this episode Cath uses Polyvagal Theory to shine a light on how discombobulating things in parenting can be (and why), the shift in being the default parent and how this relates to our nervous systems. She talks about how we can learn to send ourselves signs of safety and how we can use PV to support our families.
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 how control is such a key coping strategy for so many of us and how this rears its head at times of stress (like early motherhood) and in new situations. Control is not the solution we think it is and Cath shares a recent incident from her own life showing how control is so seductive and seems to be the answer, but really it is an illusion.
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 how tricky first times can be and how many of these may happen in a holiday (and in our children’s lives) and how we can support ourselves and our families with this.
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 returns to the topic of meeting our needs and how much this can involve when we have not had our needs attended to or met in childhood. She speaks about how many of us experience shame in relation to our needs and how impactful this is. Cath speaks to the nuance around meeting needs, how needs may shift over a healing journey and she shares a couple of anecdotes from her own life.
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 136 Cath is joined by author, coach and podcast host Mara Glatzel.
This is a rich conversation centered on needs and how we can make space for them, illustrated with stories from Mara’s life. We also discuss ambition, grappling with achievement, choice and the decisions we need to make about how we actually spend our precious lives.
Mara Glatzel (she/her) is a coach, podcast host, and the author of "Needy: How to Advocate for Your Needs and Claim Your Sovereignty." She teaches fellow needy humans to uncover the most vulnerable and true expressions of themselves, and learn how to deeply tend to their needs. Through her online programs, workshops, and retreats, Mara supports people to reclaim space for their own humanity and create ambitious lives filled with meaning, without abandoning themselves in the process.
Find out more about Mara at maraglatzel.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.
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In episode 135 Cath was joined by coach and author Tamu Thomas. We had a joyful and generative discussion covering so much: overworking, why we do it, how we have to redefine success for ourselves and live in line with our values, envy and comparison, friendship and much more.
Tamu Thomas is an author, keynote speaker, and leadership consultant. She helps high-achieving women stop overworking and redefine success so it fuels their ambition without eroding their quality of life. Her work helps leaders create workplaces people want to be part of where they can do their best work without needing a sabbatical to recover from burnout.
With 15 years in social work and expertise in behaviour change, Tamu brings a unique ability to translate complex human dynamics into practical, organisational strategy. Her approach is informed by Polyvagal Theory and Positive Psychology, helping organisations build cultures where high
performance and wellbeing coexist.
Tamu is known for her work on the biology of belonging, demonstrating how nervous system safety underpins psychological safety, inclusion, and sustainable high performance. She helps leaders understand how culture is experienced in the body, and how signals of safety or threat directly shape
behaviour, retention, innovation, and growth.
She has a rare ability to make complex, often uncomfortable topics feel accessible, engaging, and even joyful, blending science, storytelling, and personal insight to connect with diverse audiences. Her talks create shared understanding, making people feel seen and supported, while delivering
mindset-shifting insights with warmth, clarity, and practical relevance.
She is the author of Women Who Work Too Much, a guide for women ready to stop proving their worth through exhaustion. Her work has been featured in Harper’s Bazaar, Stylist, Psychologies, Marie Claire, Grazia, and on BBC Sounds.
Tamu works with leaders, founders, and organisations to create cultures where performance is sustainable, people feel seen, and success is measured by more than output alone.
For speaking engagements, leadership consulting, and media enquiries, contact tamu@livethreesixty.com
Or follow her on Instagram here.
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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