Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.

This week, we explore a dilemma that will feel all too familiar to recovering people-pleasers: What happens when your efforts to support a struggling colleague backfire? Is it toxic complaining?!

Our listener shares the challenge of working with a teammate who constantly complains, leaving them feeling drained, excluded, and unsure if they’re somehow the problem. I unpack what's really going on beneath the surface, looking at people-pleasing patterns, emotional projection, and the complex dynamics that can make even the most positive workplaces feel heavy.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt responsible for someone else’s emotional state—or who wonders if being “too helpful” might be doing more harm than good.

If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. 

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Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.

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Social media:

Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell

Dial Emma @dialemmapodcast

Email: [email protected]

TW: miscarriage, abortion and fertility struggles

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.

This week's dilemma comes from a listener who is navigating a complex and painful fertility journey - but not one that necessarily fits into our pre-conceived ideas of what fertility struggles *should* look and feel like. To help me answer it, I'm joined by my first special guest: author and podcaster Elizabeth Day.

Our listener, 43, writes with extraordinary vulnerability about her unexpected pregnancy in 2023, the decision to terminate, and the heartbreak of multiple miscarriages that followed. While her partner’s desire for parenthood has since waned, her own longing has grown, and she now finds herself grieving something she never expected to want so deeply.

This is a conversation about grief, identity, truth, and the emotional complexities of fertility, especially when the path isn’t linear. Elizabeth also shares her personal experiences of miscarriage and fertility treatment, and how she found peace on the other side of her decision to stop pursuing biological motherhood.

If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. 

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Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.

---

Social media:

Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell

Dial Emma @dialemmapodcast

Email: [email protected]

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.

This week, we hear a deeply personal and vulnerable dilemma from a listener who feels like an imposter in her own life. She struggles to feel like she 'belongs' in her friendship groups and her family unit, and often leans into self-sabotage and feelings of jealousy to cope with an overwhelming fear of ending up alone.

During the episode, we unpack where these painful beliefs often come from—early life experiences where a child might learn to take the blame in order to feel safe. Through therapeutic insight and compassion, we explore how harsh self-judgment, fear of rejection, and unmet needs can shape adult relationships and our inner narrative.

This episode offers a gentle, validating invitation to reconsider: Is it really you that’s not okay—or is there something about this that’s not okay?

If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. 

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Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.

---

Social media:

Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell

Dial Emma @dialemmapodcast

Email: [email protected]

Welcome to the first episode of Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life’s stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.

This week, our listener dilemma involves ageing parents in a toxic marriage, and an only child who often gets stuck in the middle of their conflict.

How do we manage responsibility for people we love and care about, while also remaining true to ourselves? How can we do things differently to get us closer to the outcomes we actually want?

In this episode, we explore the listener's dilemma through the lens of the drama triangle, highlighting the three roles we play in conflict: the Rescuer, the Persecutor and the Victim. We discover what the healthier alternatives to these roles might be, how to change the script, and how to navigate highly emotional family responsibilities while maintaining personal boundaries and self-identity.

If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form.

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Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.

---

Social media:

Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell

Dial Emma @dialemmapodcast

Email: [email protected]

If you’ve ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here. Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life’s stickiest moments.

Got a tricky situation, emotional tangle, or just need a fresh perspective? I’d love to hear from you. 

Be sure to follow the podcast so you don't miss the first episode, coming soon!