My Holistic Therapist

#52 Raised Without Boundaries: What It's Costing Women in Midlife

Boundaries are everywhere in the conversation nowadays, but almost nobody talks about why so many women struggle to actually put them into practice, even when they know what they "should" be doing. In this episode, I unpack why that gap exists - how being raised to equate love with self-sacrifice trains the nervous system to override our own signals before we even register them, and why it's so often perimenopause that finally brings the cost of that conditioning to the surface. If you've spent years feeling exhausted by a load that never seems to have an edge, this one's for you. Want to go deeper?  The HEAL Method [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com] is where we do this work properly Come find me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/my.holistic.therapist/] for more between episodes. Want this kind of conversation in your inbox every week? Sign up for the newsletter [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com/newsletter]

#51 Why You're Struggling With Change (And What to Do About It)

Change is inevitable and yet most of us resist it, even when we've chosen it. In this episode, I explore why change is so confronting at a psychological and nervous system level, and why our history shapes the way we orient to the unknown. I unpack why every change, welcomed, hard, or mixed, carries within it an ending, and why so few of us have been taught to hold that well. I explore the role of trauma, unresolved stress, and unparented younger parts in keeping us stuck, and walk through the five stages of grief. If you're navigating a big life transition, whether that's a relationship, a career, your body, or a chapter of life that's quietly closing, this episode will help you understand what's actually happening beneath the surface, and what it takes to move through change with more presence and less suffering. If you're ready to go deeper: The HEAL Method [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com] Find me on Instagram at @my.holistic.therapist [https://www.instagram.com/my.holistic.therapist/]

#50 When the Nest Empties: Holding Your Grief and Their Freedom at the Same Time

When your child steps into the world, the cultural script tells you to be proud, celebrate them, and let them go. And you do, genuinely, but grief sits right alongside that pride, and for most women there is simply no sanctioned place to put it. In this episode, I explore why grief is a clinically valid and entirely expected part of the empty nest transition, how suppression shows up in behaviour, why this shift hits harder for women navigating perimenopause at the same time. And what it actually looks like to hold your pride and your pain together - without making it your child's to carry. This is not a conversation about coping. It's a conversation about understanding what is actually happening, and approaching yourself with the same quality of attention you gave to your children for all those years. Learn more about the ⁠⁠⁠HEAL Method⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com] Follow me on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/my.holistic.therapist/]

#49 Part 2 Raised by a Narcissist: What the Internet Isn't Telling You

In part one of this series, we covered a lot of clinical ground - what narcissism actually is, where it comes from, the four Ds, what happens to a child's developing sense of self inside a narcissistic family system, and the arrested individuation that so often results. And I ended by saying that children who grow up with a narcissistic parent are drawn toward narcissistic relationships in adult life, because the narcissist behaviour is familiar. That is where I want to pick up today, because familiar is one of the most important words in this work, and it is worth examining properly. And then I want to move into what the therapeutic work actually looks like, because that is ultimately where recovery and hope lie. Learn more about the ⁠⁠HEAL Method⁠⁠ [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com] Follow me on ⁠⁠Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/my.holistic.therapist/]

#48 Part 1 Raised by a Narcissist: What the Internet Isn't Telling You

There is more content about narcissism online than ever before, and yet some of the most important clinical pieces are consistently missing from the conversation. In this first episode of a two-part series, I cut through the noise, offering a grounded and nuanced account of what Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) actually is, where it comes from, and what it does to the children who grow up inside it. I explore the diagnostic picture, the developmental roots of NPD, the four-stage relational cycle narcissists move through, and the profound impact on a child's emerging sense of self, including what happens when individuation is blocked at the critical adolescent window. If you have ever found yourself confused about a parent, questioning your own perceptions, or drawn to relationships that feel familiar but leave you depleted, this episode may help you make sense of why. Learn more about the ⁠HEAL Method⁠ [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com] Follow me on ⁠Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/my.holistic.therapist/]