This week, I spoke to child and adolescent psychotherapist and play therapy expert, Debbie Cullinane. Debbie helps children struggling at home with anything from anxiety, behavioural issues, anger, grief, and lots more. She talked me through what exactly play therapy is, who might benefit from it, the types of play that are involved, and how after a matter of weeks she can see changes in children that parents never expected. She told me how occasionally, it's more of an education for parents about what's developmentally appropriate for kids than it is actually about the therapy itself. I'll be honest – I wasn't sure what exactly play therapy was and what it entailed before I did some research for this episode, so hearing it directly from Debbie was an education for me, as I hope it will be for some of you. Enjoy this episode, and I'll be back next week with more.

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My guest this week is mother of two, Eimear Hallahan. If you don't know Eimear's story from social media already, it's worth noting that this episode deals with a critically ill baby and might be a tough listen for some. Eimear's youngest son, James, was just two weeks old when she brought him to hospital knowing something wasn't right with him. She trusted her instinct, and once he arrived to Cork University Hospital, the doctors and nurses there sprang into action. He had sepsis, and his body was so full of infection that no antibiotic was seemingly working to treat it. Eimear knew straight away it was critical, and was told her son's chances of survival, at one point, were as low as just 5%. Her strength, positivity, and resilience, along with the support of her partner Jack, meant that through it all, she believed that James would survive. It's an incredible and powerful story of just pure hope, and it brought me to tears, which doesn't often happen! Like I said, this episode is a tough listen at times – I'll be back to you next week with more.

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This week's guest is media mogul Alexandra Ryan, owner and brains behind the incredible Irish media brand, Goss Media. Ali joins me this week to talk all things egg freezing. Having undergone the process twice in recent years, Ali knows the ins and outs. We discuss her motivation for embarking on the process, the financial implications, the side effects of taking so many hormones, the physical aftermath of the retrieval and so much more. One of the things I love about Ali is that she's always so transparent and honest about things, and her egg retrieval process is no different – she's showing the realities of every step of the journey and is doing so to encourage others to talk about it more openly. She believes there's an unnecessary shame around not reaching those societally imposed milestones we all know exist, and she's doing things her own way. I loved this chat and I know you will too.

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TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide/suicidal ideation.

My guest this week, and our first back for Season 14, is Sophie White. A prolific and massively successful author and podcaster, Sophie is also mother to three boys between 10 and 4 and has battled with mental illness since she was in her early 20s. As Sophie says herself in the episode, it's not often someone can pinpoint exactly when they became mentally ill, but she can – a drug-induced psychosis in 2007 led to her being hospitalised and later diagnosed with Bipolar 2. We chat about everything from gender stereotypes and how trucks and cars just seemed to manifest in her home in the same way dolls and nail polish manifested in mine, to how she coped through multiple serious mental illness relapses. We also touched on the issue of responsibility and mental illness, and whether it's an irresponsible thing to do to have children when you know you're likely to be unwell. It's a fascinating episode in which I let Sophie do the talking – I couldn't compete with her eloquence and bravery and honesty on the subject – so I really hope you enjoy it.

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My guest this week is my lovely friend, author, and journalist Liadán Hynes, who is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to parenting, and life in general really. She's a single parent to one daughter who's 9 years old. She's self-employed and works flexibly to be as present as she can for her little girl and writes often about her experiences as a working single mother. We talk about everything from facing what could be lonely weekends without your child or children, the imbalance that exists for mothers in the workplace and so much more. Lia's got so much of her own experience to draw from, but as an empathetic and resonant writer, she has so much wisdom to share from years of interviewing. A truly lovely chat, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

*Note the cards mentioned by Liadán about the mental load mothers carry are called the Fair Play Game, created by Eve Rodsky.

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