A Bunch of Therapists

This episode discusses cancer, death, suicide, self-harm, alcohol, palliative care, Covid lockdown, bereavement and prolonged grief disorder.

This episode of A Bunch of Therapists is proudly sponsored by The Awareness Centre Training School. If you’ve ever thought about becoming a therapist or are looking to enhance your clinical skills, TAC Training School offers a complete, supportive pathway into the profession. From foundation-level counselling courses to their BACP-accredited Diploma in Integrative Counselling and Diploma in Clinical Supervision, their programmes are led by expert tutors and designed to help you grow into a confident, ethical, and skilled practitioner. To find out more, visit https://tactrainingschool.com/and take the next step in your therapy journey.

Michaela and Dipti meet Lucy Carpenter, Compassionate Employers Lead at Hospice UK, for a vulnerable, intimate and moving conversation about death, grief and transforming pain into purpose.

Lucy shares her experience of caring for her father, Rob, after he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer when she was just 21. She reflects on the months of treatment, his move to palliative care during the first Covid lockdown, and being present at his bedside when he died.

This honest discussion also explores the impact of losing Lucy’s uncle to suicide when she was 12, the strain this placed on her relationship with her father, and her experiences of prolonged grief disorder and self-harm.

In this compelling episode, Lucy openly shares:

• Giving up her training as a student nurse to care for her father
• Supporting her father through painful and invasive cancer treatments
• The period when her father went into remission
• His cancer eventually spreading to his lymph nodes
• Caring for her father around the clock during the first Covid lockdown
• Being present when her father died
• The closeness they developed while she cared for him
• The impact of her uncle’s death by suicide when she was 12
• Her father turning to alcohol after the death
• Developing prolonged grief disorder and beginning to self-harm
• How the deaths of her father and uncle shaped her life
• Becoming an advocate for good grief support
• Her work with employers at Hospice UK
• Helping workplaces better support grieving employees
• Improving grief literacy across the workplace
• Transforming personal pain into purpose

🔍 Key Topics Discussed:

• Caring for a parent with cancer
• Death and palliative care
• Grief and bereavement
• The impact of suicide on families
• Prolonged grief disorder
• Self-harm and emotional pain
• Grief support during the Covid lockdown
• Supporting grieving employees
• Grief literacy in the workplace
• Transforming loss into purpose

Chapters
03:31 Normalising Conversations and Death and Dying
05:09 Navigating Bereavement: Cultural Differences and Societal Expectations
08:43 Addressing Grief Bereavement and Access to Bereavement Support
12:18 Lucy's Father Rob Diagnosed with Oesophageal Cancer
14:09 Navigating Remission and the Psychological Impact of Cancer
16:38 Rob's Cancer Returns and the Shift to Palliative Care
19:51 Rob's Determination to Travel and His Final Journey Home
21:45 Rob's Final Weeks and Death During Covid
27:13 Profound Impact of Lucy's Uncles Death
29:26 Processing Grief, Self-Harm, and her Father's Alcohol Abuse
32:13 The Transformative Power of Therapy in Processing Loss
34:57 Transforming Personal Grief in to Professional Advocacy and Support
37:17 Learning to Sit in Pain and Becoming a Grief Advocate
39:00 Reflecting on When Life Experiences Led to Adulthood

🎬 Watch full episodes of A Bunch of Therapists on our YouTube channel
🎧 A Bunch of Therapists is available on all major podcast platforms
🗓️ New episodes every Thursday

Follow A Bunch of Therapists on Social Media:

YouTube: @ABunchofTherapistsTV
TikTok: @a.bunch.of.therapists
Instagram: @abunchoftherapists
Facebook: A Bunch of Therapists
LinkedIn: A Bunch of Therapists
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode discusses childhood trauma, parental violence, homelessness, narcissistic abuse, and relationship breakdown.

This episode of A Bunch of Therapists is proudly sponsored by The Awareness Centre, a leading counselling and psychotherapy practice in London with over 300 therapists, offering therapy both in person and online. With a range of fee options designed to make support more accessible, no GP referral needed, no waiting list, and appointments available seven days a week. Visit https://theawarenesscentre.com/ to find the right therapist for you.

🎧 Join us for a warm, candid and eye-opening conversation with psychotherapist, writer and media personality Kathleen Saxton as she shares her difficult childhood in Gravesend, her journey from corporate career to therapy room, and the inspiration behind her powerful new book 'My Parent The Peacock'.

This compelling discussion explores how growing up with a narcissistic parent shapes us, and why helping victims recognise and validate their experiences is such vital therapeutic work.

Hosted by: Michaela McCarthy (Founder of The Awareness Centre, The Awareness Centre Training School, and Creator and Host of A Bunch of Therapists Podcast. Senior BACP Accredited Psychotherapist and Influential Leader) and Dipti Solanki (Therapist, Coach & Consultant, Mental Health Trainer and Founder of Grief Matters 4 All CIC).

In this compelling episode, Kathleen openly shares:
• Growing up in Gravesend, Kent with an absent father and a violent mother
• Her family being made homeless when she was just 11 years old
• How that turbulent childhood drove her to become a high achiever
• Succeeding in education and building a successful corporate career
• The decision to retrain as a psychotherapist
• Becoming engaged during her training to someone she later recognised as a narcissist
• How that experience led her to pursue specialist training in narcissism
• Finding the clarity and strength to end the relationship
• Recognising the number of children of narcissists appearing in the therapy room
• Writing 'My Parent The Peacock' to help victims name and validate their experiences
• Helping readers begin to reckon with the damage caused by a narcissistic parent
• Her work as a presenter and media commentator, including appearances on ITV's This Morning, The Times and Stylist

This essential conversation offers invaluable insight for anyone who grew up with a narcissistic parent, has experienced narcissistic abuse in relationships, or is seeking to understand the lasting impact of narcissism on family dynamics.

🔍 Key Topics Discussed:
• The impact of a violent and emotionally unavailable parent in childhood
• Homelessness and instability in early life
• High achievement as a response to childhood trauma
• Recognising narcissistic behaviour in close relationships
• Specialist training in narcissism and its application in therapy
• Children of narcissists in the therapy room
• Validating the experiences of those raised by narcissistic parents
• The healing power of naming what happened to you
• Writing accessible, warm therapeutic resources for the public
• Transitioning from a corporate career to a career in therapy
• The overlap between personal experience and therapeutic specialism

🎬 Watch full episodes of A Bunch of Therapists on our YouTube channel
🎧 A Bunch of Therapists is available on all major podcast platforms
🗓️ New episodes every Thursday

Follow A Bunch of Therapists on Social Media:
YouTube: @ABunchofTherapistsTV
TikTok: @a.bunch.of.therapists
Instagram: @abunchoftherapists
Facebook: A Bunch of Therapists
LinkedIn: A Bunch of Therapists
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode discusses anxiety, alcohol as a coping mechanism, narcissistic relationships, emotional manipulation, difficult experiences in therapy, non-monogamy, insecurity, authenticity and healing.

This episode of A Bunch of Therapists is proudly sponsored by TAC Training School. If you’ve ever thought about becoming a therapist or are looking to enhance your clinical skills, TAC Training School offers a complete, supportive pathway into the profession. To find out more, visit www.tactrainingschool.com

🎧 In this episode, Dipti is joined by psychotherapist, counsellor and mental health writer Amy Sutton for an open conversation about anxiety, relationships and learning to live more authentically.

Amy shares her experience of living with a constant sense of dread and using alcohol to calm her anxiety. She also reflects on narcissistic relationships, emotional manipulation and a difficult experience in therapy that left her questioning her own reality.

This thoughtful conversation explores insecurity, the expectations placed on relationships, opening up a relationship, non-monogamy and what it can mean to move towards greater freedom, honesty and self-understanding.

Hosted by:
Dipti Solanki, Therapist, Coach and Consultant, Mental Health Trainer and Founder of Grief Matters 4 All CIC.
This episode also includes an introduction from Michaela McCarthy.

🔍 Key Topics Discussed:

• Anxiety and constant feelings of dread
• Using alcohol to manage anxiety
• Narcissistic relationships
• Emotional manipulation and gaslighting
• Difficult experiences within therapy
• Insecurity and relationship expectations
• Monogamy and non-monogamy
• Opening up a relationship
• Authenticity, freedom and healing
• Therapy and self-understanding

🎬 Watch full episodes of A Bunch of Therapists on our YouTube channel
🎧 A Bunch of Therapists is available on all major podcast platforms
🗓️ New episodes every Thursday

Follow A Bunch of Therapists on Social Media:

YouTube: @ABunchofTherapistsTV
TikTok: @a.bunch.of.therapists
Instagram: @abunchoftherapists
Facebook: A Bunch of Therapists
LinkedIn: A Bunch of Therapists

#TherapyUK #Anxiety #NarcissisticRelationships #Gaslighting #NonMonogamy #EmotionalWellbeing #Counselling #Psychotherapy #MentalHealth #Healing
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode discusses addiction, recovery, emotional rock bottom, trauma, EMDR, flow states, boarding school, music, substance abuse and the possibility of profound change.

This episode of A Bunch of Therapists is proudly sponsored by The Awareness Centre, with over 300 therapists offering online and in-person appointments, a range of fee options, no need for a GP referral and no waiting list. To find out more, visit https://www.theawarenesscentre.com/

🎧 In this episode, Dipti is joined by psychologist and recovery specialist Josh Dickson for an honest conversation about addiction, recovery and the power of finding flow states.

Josh shares how his unsettled childhood, boarding school years, music career and the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle eventually led him into substance abuse, emotional rock bottom and recovery.

He speaks openly about the pull of belonging, the shame that can surround addiction, the grief of letting go, and why rock bottom is not always the dramatic moment people imagine.

This thoughtful conversation also explores trauma, EMDR, addiction counselling, recovery work and how surfing, movement and flow states can support healing.
Hosted by:

Dipti Solanki, Therapist, Coach and Consultant, Mental Health Trainer and Founder of Grief Matters 4 All CIC.

This episode also includes an introduction from Michaela McCarthy.

🔍 Key Topics Discussed:

• Addiction and recovery
• Emotional rock bottom
• Shame and belonging
• Boarding school and early life experiences
• Music and the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle
• Substance abuse and self-soothing
• Trauma and EMDR
• Addiction counselling
• Flow states and surfing
• Resurface and trauma recovery
• Healing, change and hope

🎬 Watch full episodes of A Bunch of Therapists on our YouTube channel
🎧 A Bunch of Therapists is available on all major podcast platforms
🗓️ New episodes every Thursday

Follow A Bunch of Therapists on Social Media:

YouTube: @ABunchofTherapistsTV
TikTok: @a.bunch.of.therapists
Instagram: @abunchoftherapists
Facebook: A Bunch of Therapists
LinkedIn: A Bunch of Therapists

#AddictionRecovery #TherapyPodcast #MentalHealthPodcast #EMDR #TraumaRecovery #FlowStates #RecoveryJourney #Counselling #Psychotherapy #ABunchOfTherapists

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

This episode discusses betrayal, infidelity, self-abandonment, body dysmorphia, IVF, fertility struggles, shame, emotional disconnection and rebuilding your life after the end of a marriage.

This episode of A Bunch of Therapists is proudly sponsored by TAC Training School. If you’ve ever thought about becoming a therapist or are looking to enhance your clinical skills, TAC Training School offers a complete, supportive pathway into the profession. To find out more, visit http://www.tactrainingschool.com/

🎧 In this episode, Dipti is joined by Love and Relationships Coach Alex Croxford for an honest conversation about the life that looks “right” from the outside, and what can happen when you feel disconnected underneath.

Alex shares her journey from a successful career in TV, marriage, body image struggles and IVF, to facing betrayal, shame and the patterns of self-abandonment that shaped her relationships.
This thoughtful conversation explores infidelity, emotional intimacy, perfectionism, self-forgiveness and what it can take to rebuild a more honest relationship with yourself.

Hosted by:
Dipti Solanki, Therapist, Coach and Consultant, Mental Health Trainer and Founder of Grief Matters 4 All CIC.
This episode also includes an introduction from Michaela McCarthy.

🔍 Key Topics Discussed:

• Betrayal and infidelity
• Self-abandonment
• Body dysmorphia and perfectionism
• IVF and fertility struggles
• Shame and self-forgiveness
• Emotional disconnection in relationships
• Rebuilding your life after divorce
• Therapy, coaching and personal development

🎬 Watch full episodes of A Bunch of Therapists on our YouTube channel
🎧 A Bunch of Therapists is available on all major podcast platforms
🗓️ New episodes every Thursday

Follow A Bunch of Therapists on Social Media:

YouTube: @ABunchofTherapistsTV
TikTok: @a.bunch.of.therapists
Instagram: @abunchoftherapists
Facebook: A Bunch of Therapists
LinkedIn: A Bunch of Therapists

#TherapyUK #Relationships #Infidelity #SelfAbandonment #BodyDysmorphia #IVFJourney #EmotionalWellbeing #Counselling #Psychotherapy #PersonalGrowth

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