In today’s episode, Lucy is joined by Philippa Saunders for an honest conversation about why forgiveness is an internal act of power - something you do for you, not for the other person, and not in response to what they did or didn’t do.

Philippa opens up about her experience of feeling let down by her father during her teen years, and how those moments shaped her self-esteem and her expectations of how life “should” have been. It wasn’t until she became a parent herself that she fully recognised just how much those early experiences were still influencing her.

Discovering The Thrive Programme in her thirties became a turning point. Philippa shares the mindset shifts that helped her choose forgiveness, the process she went through, and the powerful sense of relief and freedom that followed - like finally putting down a weight she’d been carrying for decades.

Lucy also shares the extraordinary story of Eva Kor, who, at just 10 years old, was taken to Auschwitz and subjected to horrific medical experiments. For 41 years, Eva held her pain in silence - until she discovered the profound personal power of forgiveness. She couldn’t change the past or the people who hurt her, but she realised she could reclaim her own emotional freedom.

Together, Lucy and Philippa explore how self-forgiveness is just as transformative. They discuss how it cuts through perfectionism, self-criticism and the tendency to beat ourselves up for things we didn’t - or couldn’t - have done differently.

If you’ve ever felt weighed down by resentment, guilt, or old stories about what “should” have happened, this episode is a powerful reminder that forgiveness is something you choose - and it may just be the most liberating choice you’ll ever make.