Grow Yourself Up

In episode 151 Cath was joined by Kimberley Olliff-Cooper. They talked about progressive education, neurodivergence, realising how this impacted our own school experience, the possibility for changing schools and making them more fit for children, healing and growing in motherhood and understanding emotional unavailability, trauma and addiction. We also talked about changing educational systems and the exciting work ThriveNow is doing. Kimberley is a teacher, education consultant, speaker, and co-founder of ThriveNow, a not-for-profit organisation opening a progressive secondary school in September 2026, alongside a Learning Hub designed to share all the assets of the ThriveNow Framework.With a Master’s in Education and over 25 years’ experience in student-centred learning, Kimberley believes that schools should be places of wellbeing, creativity, and deep human and planetary connection.Through ThriveNow, she collaborates with schools and organisations around the world to co-create inclusive, inquiry-led, and climate-conscious learning environments. Her work centres on four key pillars: thriving communities, inquiry-led pedagogy, transdisciplinary curriculum, and multi-modal formative assessment.Website: https://thrive-now-org.webflow.io/Substack: https://thrivenowedu.substack.com/Meta handles: @thrivenoweducationLinkedin (personal), Kimberley Olliff Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kocooper/Linkedin (ThriveNow): https://www.linkedin.com/company/thrivenoweducation If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. Follow Cath on social media here:Instagram: @cathcounihanSubstack: Nurture.Heal.GrowFacebook: Cath Counihan

Cath was joined by art psychotherapist Gerardine Boyle in this episode. Cath and Gerardine talked about how generational trauma impacts families, the legacy of emotional neglect, what is unspoken, shame and the complexity of unwinding functional freeze in the system. Gerardine generously shared her own stories of generational trauma and what she believes has impacted her on her journey. We talked briefly about primitive reflexes and how the retention of these can be extremely impactful for nervous system and mental health. Gerardine Boyle is an Art Psychotherapist who has worked for over twenty years in Adult Psychiatry in the HSE (health service in Ireland) and in private practice. She is also trained in the Diamond Approach, the Hearing Voices Approach and she was part of a specialised HSE team delivering Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) for seven years, supporting individuals with high levels of emotional dysregulation. Gerardine trained as a Transforming Touch Practitioner with Dr Stephen Terrell world expert in working with developmental trauma at the first training workshop in Ireland (in Cork in 2019) and this training has been life-changing for her and her clients. She continues to marvel at how supporting the nervous system powerfully lends itself to healing on all levels. Supporting the nervous system means the client, over time gets to know and trust their own nervous system better and shame is addressed on a somatic level. Gerardine's website is https://morninglighttherapy.ie/She works in person and offers intensives, which is multiple therapy sessions over a number of days (with client staying locally in east Cork, Ireland). She also delivers the therapy on line via zoom as well.The link to the training in Dublin with Dr Stephen Terrell is, https://www.austinattach.com/transforming-the-experience-based-brain/dublin-ireland/ and this training welcomes parents, therapists and individuals on their own healing journey.If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. Follow Cath on social media here:Instagram: @cathcounihanSubstack: Nurture.Heal.GrowFacebook: Cath Counihan

In episode 149 Cath was joined by Suzy Reading. Cath and Suzy talked about tending to ourselves in winter, making the most of the seasons while holding onto sanity, people pleasing, what Suzy means when she talks about being selfish and all about self advocacy. Suzy talks about her 7 steps to taking back your power and peace and you can find much more detail about this in Suzy's newest book 'How to be Selfish' which releases on the 20th of November 2025.Suzy Reading is a Chartered Psychologist and one of the UK’s leading self-care and self-advocacy experts. She has three decades of experience in the health and wellbeing industry, drawing on her qualifications in yoga and personal training, together with psychology, to empower people with sustainable healthy lifestyle habits. Suzy has a special interest in helping people heal their relationship with ‘self’. She is a monthly columnist for Top Sante Magazine; the Psychology Expert for Neom Organics; the Wellbeing Ambassador for BABTAC and is a founding member of the ‘Nourish’ app. She is the author of The Little Book of Self-Care, The Self-Care Revolution, Stand Tall Like a Mountain, Self-care for Tough Times, This Book Will (Help) Make You Happy, And Breathe, Sit to Get Fit, Rest to Reset and Self-care for Winter. How to Be Selfish is hot of the press.If you wish to follow Suzy, she's on Instagram @suzyreadingIf you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. Follow Cath on social media here:Instagram: @cathcounihanSubstack: Nurture.Heal.GrowFacebook: Cath Counihan

In this episode Cath speaks about the process of welcoming in our own humanity and how a healing journey leads to more emotional messiness, at least initially. She talks about some signs that indicate that you are growing up/healing.If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. Follow Cath on social media here:Instagram: @cathcounihanSubstack: Nurture.Heal.GrowFacebook: Cath Counihan

In this episode Cath was joined by Dr Kathrin Stauffer. They chatted about how the body remembers in multiple ways and how not getting what we need in childhood impacts multiple systems in our bodies (not just the nervous system). When we are on a healing journey the expression of sadness and grieving are an important part of this journey. However, it may be that we are blocked from crying by our defences. We dived into this and talked about food, body shape, body psychotherapy, the the function of comfort eating, shame and much more. Kathrin Stauffer PhD, UKCP Registered Body Psychotherapist, is the author of ‘Emotional Neglect and the Adult in Therapy: Lifelong Consequences to a Lack of Early Attunement’ (W.W. Norton 2020).Kathrin was born and educated in Switzerland. Originally a research biochemist, she retrained at the Chiron Centre for Body Psychotherapy. She lives in Cambridge in the UK and works in private practice as a body and humanistic psychotherapist, EMDR practitioner, trainer and supervisor. She previously wrote ‘Anatomy & Physiology for Psychotherapists: connecting Body & Soul’ (W.W. Norton 2010). Currently she is the President of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy EABP.You can contact her via her website which is www.stauffer.co.uk.If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. Follow Cath on social media here:Instagram: @cathcounihanSubstack: Nurture.Heal.GrowFacebook: Cath Counihan

In this episode Cath is joined by Dr. Kathrin Stauffer for a rich and varied discussion about emotional neglect, what causes this, how we might know we have been emotionally neglected, the interplay with narcissistic family dynamics, what constitutes narcissistic traits and how narcissism and perfectionism can play out in motherhood. Kathrin Stauffer PhD, UKCP Registered Body Psychotherapist, is the author of ‘Emotional Neglect and the Adult in Therapy: Lifelong Consequences to a Lack of Early Attunement’ (W.W. Norton 2020). She was born and educated in Switzerland. Originally a research biochemist, she retrained at the Chiron Centre for Body Psychotherapy. She lives in Cambridge in the UK and works in private practice as a body and humanistic psychotherapist, EMDR practitioner, trainer and supervisor. Currently she is the President of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy EABP. Kathrin's website is www.stauffer.co.uk If you wish to work with Kathrin or have a question for her, then email her direct on kathrin@stauffer.co.ukIf you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. Follow Cath on social media here:Instagram: @cathcounihanSubstack: Nurture.Heal.GrowFacebook: Cath Counihan