the Grow Yourself Up Podcast
a podcast to support all of us in our adult lives
Many of us did not get our needs adequately met in childhood. The devastating legacy of childhood trauma, wounding and traumatic stress lives on in our brains, our bodies, our nervous systems and our behaviour/reactions impacting the way we turn up to our lives in many ways.
We are going to unpack all of this on Grow Yourself Up. This podcast will be a companion as you journey on your own road of healing and recovery.
You will learn you are not alone. Someone has been where you are. There is hope.
We will break down shame together and learn to cultivate self compassion. There is always the possibility for change. And regardless of what has happened in our past, as adults we have to take responsibility for our own lives.
We have to tend to our pain, our sadness and our dysfunction so that we can live a life we love and shift toxic patterns for our children.
Each week we send out journal questions based around the podcast’s topic. If you would like to receive these questions, please sign up here.
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Looking for a specific topic or guest? Search below:
Ep 47: Anxiety, Control, Letting Go and Perfectionism in our Mothering with Azalia Suhaimi
In this week's episode Cath is joined by artist and illustrator Azalia Suhaimi. Azalia shares her motherhood journey and how perfectionism, anxiety and trying to get everything right led her to burnout. Azalia reflects on the importance of letting go and getting help. The generous storytelling will help you feel less alone and that no matter what issues you are experiencing in motherhood, there is a way through.
Ep 46: Making Space For Grief
Grief is an emotion that arises in response to loss and it applies to many things apart from death.
We often need to learn how to make space for it and to allow ourselves to actually grieve, instead of denying or cutting off from our experiences.
Ep 45: Productivity, Always Being Busy and Starting to Stop (part re-release)
Productivity is revered in our society and for many of us this constant drive to produce, to be busy, to be viewed as always efficient is wired into us as part of our safety strategies.
Ep 44: Perfectionism, Baby Sleep, Breastfeeding and Rage with Hannah Clapham
In this episode Cath is joined by Hannah Clapham who runs a sleep consultancy service called Little Nest Sleep. Hannah shares about how she has grown herself up in motherhood. There is so much richness in this episode including expectations in motherhood, self blame, how perfectionism trips us up, challenges around kiddie sleep and surrender, breastfeeding, advocating for ourselves and rage and how it relates to our own childhoods.
Ep 43: The Complexity of Shifting and Breaking Cycles
Those who are working to shift toxic cycles in their own lives and in their families are called 'cycle breakers' on social media.
Ep 42: Blame, Responsibility and Co-regulation
In this episode Cath looks at the concept of blame. Blame is often something that happens a lot in dysfunctional families and, as adults, it can feel necessary to blame something or someone for issues, problems or the way life is.
Ep 41: Healing and Breaking Cycles in Parenting with Maggie Viers
In this episode Cath is joined by Occupational Therapist and Conscious Parent Coach Maggie Viers. Maggie shares her own growth and awakening in motherhood. She talks about how becoming a mother was a catalyst for her own growth and healing.
Ep 40: Self Mothering: Putting it into Practise
In this episode Cath discusses the concept of self mothering, explaining why this is such a crucial part of all our healing journey.
Ep 39: A Mother's Journey to Conscious Parenting and Parenting Teens with Yvonne Smyth
In this episode Cath is joined by Yvonne Smyth. Yvonne is a Conscious Parent Coach and a Child Advocate. She's a single mum who co-parents her boys of 12 and 13 and she lives in Northern Ireland.
Ep 38: The Scourge of Shame and Why it Matters
Shame is present in all dysfunctional families and yet it is something we don’t talk about that much.
Cath has mentioned it in multiple episodes and this episode is dedicated exclusively to shame because it is everywhere. Often operating out of our awareness and causes so much pain.
Ep 37: What Drives Anxiety and A Key Tool to Help
In this episode Cath delves into anxiety more, following on from Episode 34. She uses neuroscience to explain why those of us with a stressful/traumatic childhood are more prone to anxiety.
Ep 36: Growing Ourselves Up in Friendship and Work with Tamu Thomas (re-release)
In this episode Cath and Tamu Thomas talk about growing ourselves up in our adult friendships and what this can look like.
Ep 35: Being a Good Enough Parent
In this episode Cath speaks about how good enough parenting is rooted in relationship. When we tend to ourselves, begin to meet our own needs and deepen our own self connection, our parenting journey starts to become more intuitive.
Ep 34: Uncertainty, Anxiety and Control
In this episode Cath speaks to how we are much more likely to struggle with managing uncertainty and to experience anxiety when we have not had our needs met in childhood.
Ep 33: Mental Health and Personal Growth in our Mothering with Emily Adler Mosqueda
In this episode Cath is joined by Emily Adler Mosqueda. We discuss Emily's mothering experience. Emily shares how her postpartum time after the birth of her second daughter was much more challenging than her first. We examine what contributed to this touching on cultural expectations, perfectionism, rage, meeting our inner child in parenting, mental health, support and learning to make space for ourselves as mothers. Emily shares the arc of her journey explaining how she has landed in her own good enough space.
Ep 32: Practical Tips To Make Change
This episode is a continuation of Episode 30. In episode 30 Cath talked about being in our own power, being aware of our agency and using these to create the life we would love to live (while being aware of systemic constraints).
Ep 31: Being a Good Enough Mother with Ali Pember
In this episode Cath chats to coach and psychotherapist Ali Pember about what it means to be a good enough mother. This episode is full of insight and realness which many of you will identify with. Cath and Ali discuss Ali's journey to motherhood and how she has grown herself up along the way. Ali explains how she approached motherhood (an approach which will resonate with many Mums).
Ep 30: A Different Way to Approach a New Year (and why it is important)
New Year's resolutions can be so seductive for many of us, convincing us that we need a new version of ourselves (and that this is even possible in a short time frame).
Ep 29: A Loving Message To Support You and Your Values
In this special bonus episode released on Christmas Day, Cath talks about what can sometimes derail us over the holidays.
Ep 28: Words for When Things Feel Like Shit
Ironically Christmas is often a time when many of us struggle with our mental health and with staying in a regulated enough place.
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