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Emma Lawton and Sarah Baker are therapists and long-time friends who have been in conversation about life, loss, and relationships since 2011. Between them, they bring deep experience in systemic work, trauma, bereavement, and the quiet ways people learn to abandon themselves in order to cope.

Emma is a systemic life coach and family therapist, supporting high-functioning women who look like they’re coping — but feel disconnected, burnt out, and stuck in patterns of self-betrayal at home. Sarah is a therapist specialising in loss, bereavement, and trauma, working with people navigating grief, identity shifts, and life after rupture.

In this episode, their shared history allows for a raw, honest conversation about self-abandonment — how it shows up after loss, within families and relationships, and why making 2026 “the year you put yourself first” isn’t about selfishness, but survival, repair, and choice.

If you would like to work with Emma; Life Coach and Systemic Therapist, please feel free to message. 

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This mini message brought to you by Emma, discusses our relationship with new years resolutions; change and why 2025 has been a difficult year. 

That change brings uncertainty and is often hard...but is always worth it. 

Happy New Year, Emma and Sarah x

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In this Christmas special of The Unknot Your Future Self Podcast, Emma and Sarah sit down to talk about what Christmas really brings up for people — beyond the matching pyjamas and forced cheer.

For many, Christmas isn’t restful. It’s activating. Family roles resurface. Old patterns creep back in. Expectations collide with reality. Grief, guilt, resentment, and pressure all show up at once — and we’re expected to smile through it.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why Christmas is such a powerful trigger for family dynamics
• How unspoken roles, histories, and expectations quietly run the show
• What actually helps when family time feels tense, overwhelming, or disappointing
• Why “just getting through it” keeps the same cycles alive

We then shift into reflection — not in a fluffy, resolution-based way, but in a grounded, honest one.

As the year closes, we invite you to pause and ask:

• What patterns followed me through this year?
• Where did I abandon myself to keep the peace?
• What do I not want to repeat in 2026?

This episode is about stepping out of survival mode and starting to relate to your future self differently — with more intention, boundaries, and self-respect.

✨ Want support to actually change these patterns?
If listening has highlighted repeating dynamics in your relationships, family life, or how you show up under pressure, Emma offers systemic life coaching to help you understand why these patterns exist — and how to shift them in real, sustainable ways.

You can find our details by following Unknot Your Future Self on Instagram or Unknot Coaching & Therapy on Instagram, where we regularly share reflections, tools, and ways to work together.

🎧 Listen in, reflect gently, and take yourself seriously as you head into the new year.

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Trigger warning contains content that some listeners may feel affected by. Usual profanities and humour are evident. 

Join Sarah and Emma as we talk about the impacts of grief and loss.  In this episode, we explore the nuances of grief and loss as well as the individual experiences on people and society. 

We add our usual dose of humour and scratch the surface of a topic that is universally challenging yet inescapable. 

This can also be accessed as a video via YouTube and we look forward to hearing your feedback. 

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Have your attempts at new years resolutions fallen short already?  Are you needing change but have no idea where to start. 

Well, the good news is you don't need to pay a therapist or coach just yet as we are here to show you how.  Forget new years resolutions, we prefer transformational change but know that people often struggle to get motivated and know where to start, so we, Sarah and Emma have created this episode especially for you!

Join us in Episode 6 as we teach you how to get started with making changes in your life using a well-known, tried, and tested tool that's accessible and easy to use which will leave you ready and raring to go...

So let us help you get your shiz together and make 2025 your best year yet. 

As always this episode is filled (not quite filled) with profanities; humour and psychoeducation. We hope you like it.  Please give us some feedback and inbox us if you need any support or help. 

Note; Discussions can cause emotional distress.  We are not medical professionals and should you require support please reach out to your local mental health / teams for support. 

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Join us, Sarah and Emma, for episode 5 of the Unknot Your Future Self Podcast.  

With more and more people coming to our counselling and coaching practices reporting struggles with symptoms of neurodiversity, this episode is a much-needed, raw, and honest conversation.  Although we merely scratch the surface on the topic of neurodiversity including ASD and ADHD in adults we felt we should start it somewhere!  

We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a diagnosis and the stigma still surrounding brain differences, including how as undiagnosed adults things that can feel like a hindrance can with the right support and strategies actually become a unique and celebrated part of the self.

We are proud to open up the conversation for the very first time of many to come.  In order to support the thousands of listeners who have lived under the umbrella of shame and feeling of being different all of their lives with the hope of finally feeling that someone 'gets it' and to help you know that you are not alone. 

Whether you suspect yourself or indeed someone you know is neurodiverse this episode offers the usual profanities; humour and authenticity that you've grown to know and love.  

We hope you enjoy it and although we are not qualified to diagnose, we hope by sharing our personal and professional experiences we can help you!

Please feel free to contact us or share feedback via Instagram @unknotyourfutureselfpodcast.

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Trigger warning:  This episode references eating disorders and could cause distress. Please talk to a professional if you are triggered by any of the content in today's episode. 

Body image is an issue that affects thousands of people.  Join us, Emma and Sarah for episode 4.  In this episode we talk about body image; the psychological issues of food addiction and Emma talks about her own battles with weight and recent surgery. Scratching the surface of an everyday issue that can be consuming and debilitating. 

In the second part of the episode we look at communication and how many of us are communicating in ways we aren't actually aware of and how this impacts how we show up, how personal development and self-awareness can help you change your life and your outlook. 

The usual profanities and moderate humour are maintained throughout. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Sarah & Emma

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Join Sarah and Emma in Episode 3.  It's a big one this month as we explore the emotion of shame. We also look at the concept of 'deny, distort and make it fit' by Cark Roger (Very Famous Therapist) and how sometimes our emotions are not actually the ones we really feel!

Are you an angry person?  There's every chance you're not...so take a listen. 

Shame has various definitions, and is perhaps why understanding it can be so difficult and hard to spot, but in this episode, we are candid and raw about it's impacts.

Shame often shows itself in unconscious ways and you may be holding more shame than you realise. In this episode, we attempt to give listeners insight into this debilitating emotion and offer solutions for working through it. 

As always you'll hear some personal accounts as we attempt to debunk the mystery around psychology and what it means to be a therapist and you'll certainly agree by the end that no human, no matter what job they have or position they hold has/is effected by some level of shame at some point in their lives. 

With some of the usual profanity and belly laughs we hope you enjoy the show as much as we did making it.

Sarah and Emma 

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Join us Sarah and Emma, psychotherapists and life coaches in this exciting, hilarious and perhaps inappropriate, episode 2.  

Journey with us how we talk openly about anxiety, depression, and the small and subtle ways you can take back control in your life. We explore fun (or the lack of it) and why laughter really is the best medicine. 

This episode sees us share insight into the psychology around fun and laughter as well as a few funny but embarrassing stories in the name of not taking yourself too seriously and laughing when you really just want to cry!

Find out how and why your environment is one of the biggest influencers of your happiness and how to make small but long-lasting changes with a little self-awareness. 

Warning, it contains the C BOMB (Emma of course).  We discuss subjects that some people may find difficult or triggering.

For information about working with either Sarah or Emma, you can contact us on Instagram @unknotyourfutureselfpodcast

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In this exciting first episode join psychotherapists and life long friends Sarah and Emma as they talk all things personal development; psychology and wellbeing.

In todays episode we talk about the metaphor of wearing a mask and how this this can negatively impact how we show up in the world. 

We explore how it can hold us back from living a life that is authentic and true to ourselves. 

Discussing barriers to therapy and how therapy may not be the solution for everyone. We talk about the alternative ways to help yourself become more self aware in order to live a more enjoyable life!

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Please feel free to leave us some feedback and let us know any subjects you would like us to talk about on the show!