On today’s Healing 101, I’m chatting with Pearl Lowe, who was recently diagnosed with ADHD - something that finally helped so many pieces of her life fall into place. Pearl talks openly about the signs she’d been living with for years: the chronic scattiness, impulsive decisions, the “hundred tabs open” feeling, and the unfiltered honesty that sometimes got her into trouble long before she understood why.

We dig into how ADHD can look completely different in women, how it played into her past addiction and impulsivity, and the huge shift that came with finally getting a diagnosis. Pearl shares the practical things she does daily to support her brain - from sleep and food to boundaries and gut instinct - and why she believes so many women deserve to be assessed sooner.

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In today’s episode, I’m joined by psychotherapist and author Kathleen Saxton, whose new book My Parent the Peacock dives deep into one of the most confusing dynamics out there: narcissistic parents. We talk about what a narcissist actually is – beyond the buzzword – and the difference between someone with a few narcissistic traits and someone with a full clinical disorder.

We explore how growing up with a narcissistic parent can shape your anxiety, confidence, relationships and sense of identity, and why so many people only realise the impact years or even decades later. Kathleen breaks down gaslighting, trauma bonds, why setting boundaries feels so hard, and how you can start reconnecting with your “true self” after years of confusion or self-doubt. If you’ve ever felt like you were walking on eggshells around a parent, or never quite knew where you stood, this episode is for you.

Find Kathleen:

Instagram: @clinicwithk

Buy Kathleen's Book: https://amzn.eu/d/8ydnlw8

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On today’s Healing 101, I’m sitting down with psychiatrist and author Alastair Santhouse, and we’re diving into a surprisingly tricky question: what do we actually mean when we talk about “normal” mental health? It’s one of those phrases we all use, but when you look a little closer, it gets messy fast.

Alastair and I chat about why “normal” can feel so loaded, how it shapes the way we think about ourselves, and why it matters when deciding whether someone genuinely needs help or is simply having a very human reaction to life. We also touch on diagnoses, the rise in labels, and how to make sense of your mental health without falling into the trap of self-pathologising. It’s a short, honest conversation that hopefully leaves you feeling a bit clearer - and a bit kinder toward yourself.

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Website: hurttohealing.co.uk

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In today’s episode, I’m joined by Professor Marc Brackett, founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and author of the newly published Dealing With Feeling, to untangle one of the big questions: what actually are emotions - and how are they different from feelings, moods, or just “being in a state”? We talk about why there’s no such thing as a “bad” emotion, how emotions act as data rather than problems to get rid of, and wh

y so many of us - especially in places like the UK - were raised to “keep calm and carry on” instead of learning how to work with what we feel.

Marc walks us through his simple RULER framework, why labelling your emotions properly can completely change how you cope, and the practical tools we can all use to regulate our moods without repressing or overindulging them. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “too emotional,” “not emotional enough,” or just confused about what’s going on inside, this conversation will give you language, clarity and a far kinder way of understanding yourself.

Find Professor Marc Brackett:

Website: https://marcbrackett.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marc.brackett/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@marcbrackett

Buy his book, Dealing with Feeling: https://marcbrackett.com/dealing-with-feeling/

Stay Connected with Hurt to Healing:

Instagram: instagram.com/hurttohealingpod

TikTok: tiktok.com/@hurttohealingpod

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hurt-to-healing

Substack: substack.com/@hurttohealing

Website: hurttohealing.co.uk

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In today’s episode, I’m joined by Dr Chloe Saunders, a clinician and researcher specialising in functional somatic symptoms and the mind–body connection. We explore what it means when your body begins to talk and medicine doesn’t always find the answer - fatigue, pain, gut issues and other flare-ups that don’t quite show up on scans.

Dr Saunders helps us understand why these symptoms are real, even when traditional tests are normal, how our stress response lives in the body long before our mind catches up, and why paying too much attention - or too little - to bodily signals can both perpetuate the problem.

This is a conversation about finding that middle ground: rebuilding trust in your body, calming its alarm system, and discovering practical ways to bring physiological rest back into your life.

If you’ve ever been told “everything looks fine” yet something still doesn’t feel right, this episode might help you hear what your body is trying to say and how to listen.

Find Chloe:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-saunders-410a9b203/

Bodysymptoms: https://bodysymptoms.org/

Stay Connected with Hurt to Healing:

Instagram: instagram.com/hurttohealingpod

TikTok: tiktok.com/@hurttohealingpod

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hurt-to-healing

Substack: substack.com/@hurttohealing

Website: hurttohealing.co.uk

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Today I’m joined by the brilliant Annalie Howling - a performance coach, trauma specialist and author whose story is honestly fascinating. She opens up about hitting complete burnout at 29, when life looked perfect from the outside but felt totally wrong on the inside. As she puts it, she wasn’t intolerant to gluten… she was intolerant to her life.

We talk about how childhood shame and perfectionism can follow us into adulthood, how that shows up in things like anxiety and people-pleasing, and what it really means to start showing up as your authentic self. It’s such an open, powerful chat and I think a lot of you will really relate to this one.

Find Annalie:

Website: https://annaliehowling.com/

Book: https://annaliehowling.com/unapologetic/

Instagram: @annaliehowling

Stay Connected with Hurt to Healing:

Instagram: instagram.com/hurttohealingpod

TikTok: tiktok.com/@hurttohealingpod

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hurt-to-healing

Substack: substack.com/@hurttohealing

Website: hurttohealing.co.uk

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In this Healing 101 bonus episode, I’m joined again by Mariko Bangerter, regression therapist and healer, to explore how accessing the subconscious mind can unlock deep and lasting change.

We talk about how our earliest memories - even ones we don’t consciously recall - can shape our adult behaviours, and why true healing often requires working beyond logic and into the subconscious. Mariko also shares some incredible case studies from her practice, from releasing birth trauma to transforming relationship patterns. It’s a fascinating look into the power of regression therapy and what can happen when we reconnect with the parts of ourselves we’ve long forgotten.

Find Mariko:

Instagram: @mindsetting.by.mariko

Website: https://www.mindsetting.co.uk/

Stay Connected with Hurt to Healing:

Instagram: instagram.com/hurttohealingpod

TikTok: tiktok.com/@hurttohealingpod

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hurt-to-healing

Substack: substack.com/@hurttohealing

Website: hurttohealing.co.uk

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Today I’m chatting to Ro Mitchell, who so many of you will know from TikTok for speaking really openly about anorexia, ADHD and recovery and doing it in a way that actually makes you feel less mad and less alone.

Ro talks about developing an eating disorder at 14, getting really good at hiding it, going into CAMHS and then hospital, and what it actually took to choose recovery for herself - not for her parents, not for school, not to avoid being sectioned. We get into body checking, covering mirrors, exercise addiction, the pressure of being “the girl with the eating disorder,” and the really messy bit of recovery where you hate your changing body but you still don’t want to go back.

It’s practical and I think it will be a lifeline for anyone stuck in that “one foot in, one foot out” stage.

Find Ro:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@romitchell?lang=en

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RoMitchell

Instagram: @romitchell

Read her book, How to Talk to Yourself: https://amzn.eu/d/7jvtSKP

Stay Connected with Hurt to Healing:

Instagram: instagram.com/hurttohealingpod

TikTok: tiktok.com/@hurttohealingpod

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hurt-to-healing

Substack: substack.com/@hurttohealing

Website: hurttohealing.co.uk

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In this Healing 101 bonus episode I’m joined by Jonny Miller, nervous system educator and host of The Inner Frontier podcast. Jonny’s work was forged in something unbearably human: the loss of his fiancée, Sophie, to suicide in 2017. We talk about how grief completely dismantled the life he thought he was going to live, and how by actually letting the grief move through him instead of armouring up - he discovered a kind of raw aliveness and tenderness he’d never accessed before.

From there we get into what he now teaches: nervous system mastery. Jonny breaks down why so many of us are living slightly frozen, slightly overwhelmed, slightly braced and how building skills in interoception, self-regulation, and emotional fluidity can change the way we grieve, love, work and relate. It’s a really grounded, hopeful conversation about turning devastation into capacity.

Find Jonny:

Website: https://www.jonnymiller.co/

Nervous System Mastery: https://www.nsmastery.com/

Podcast: https://theinnerfrontier.com/

Stateshift App: https://www.stateshift.app/

Stay Connected with Hurt to Healing:

Instagram: instagram.com/hurttohealingpod

TikTok: tiktok.com/@hurttohealingpod

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hurt-to-healing

Substack: substack.com/@hurttohealing

Website: hurttohealing.co.uk

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Today I’m joined by Pearl Lowe - singer, designer and author, who’s just brought out her gorgeous new book, Faded Glamour in the City. Pearl’s story is incredible: from a dreamy but chaotic London childhood to teenage rebellion, addiction, undiagnosed ADHD, motherhood at 18, and then a total reinvention - getting sober, moving to Somerset, and finding peace in creativity and slower living.

We talk about the impulsiveness and perfectionism that come with ADHD, how self-medicating became a coping mechanism, and why getting a diagnosis later in life helped her finally make sense of it all.

Find Pearl:

Instagram: @pearllowe

Website: https://www.pearllowe.co.uk/

Buy Faded Glamour in the City: https://www.pearllowe.co.uk/products/faded-glamour-in-the-city

Stay Connected with Hurt to Healing:

Instagram: instagram.com/hurttohealingpod

TikTok: tiktok.com/@hurttohealingpod

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hurt-to-healing

Substack: substack.com/@hurttohealing

Website: hurttohealing.co.uk

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