Really Useful Conversations

We know that were coercive controlling behaviour is present, the risk of suicide is higher and in this episode we explore a little more about why that might be. Understanding coercive control through a suicide prevention lens is important, as when we think about domestic abuse, it's easy to focus on individual incidents. But coercive control is different. It's a sustained pattern of intimidation,...

In this first episode of this mini series, where we are focussing on the links between suicide risk and domestic abuse, and more importantly how to reduce those risks, we talk about the issue as it stands. We are going to consider how human lives are messy and how as people, we don't fit neatly into boxes, and how a person experience domestic abuse or coercive controlling behaviour may develop poo...

I am not about to tell you how to become a domestic goddess, create more To Do lists or sell the benefit of multi-tasking or cooking in advance .. This episode is especially for busy working midlife women who are Googling "Am I burned out or is it just December?" and wondering why their stress is through the roof when they can normally just swing through the season and jingle all the way! How do I...

Stress is costing UK businesses an estimated £28 billion every year, yet too many organisations still treat wellbeing as a tick-box exercise. In this episode of Really Useful Conversations, we give a nod to "International Stress Awareness Week" where the theme for 20235 is "Optimising Employee Wellbeing through Strategic Stress Management" - and we take a look at why strategic stress management is...

The final episode for the mini series, supporting Menopause Awareness Month ... So what happens next? In this no-nonsense episode, we recap the Six Lifestyle Levers that help midlife women support mental health during the menopuase chapter, and as Awareness Month closes, let's hope that the subject is not put back in the drawer until this time next year! Let's hope that the UK Government's new men...

The conversations we have with ourselves are often the most important, so telling yourself that "I should be coping better," and internally beating yourself up, whilst quietly carrying the mental load of work, ageing parents, teenagers, menopause symptoms, and a house that never seems to stay tidy is just not fair. But so often women don't ask for help. We don't want to be a burden. We tell oursel...

When we talk about 'environment', most people think about cluttered kitchens, noisy offices or never-ending WhatsApp notifications, and yes, they can make a difference - but in midlife and menopause, your internal environment matters just as much. Thinking about your gut health, blood sugar, hormones, sleep patterns, and the way you speak to yourself when nobody else is listening - all of these wi...

Feeling disconnected, lonely, or like nobody really gets what you're going through? You're not imagining it - midlife and menopause can quietly shrink your world. Between work pressures, family demands, and hormonal changes that impact confidence and mood, it's easy to drift into isolation. It might be that you are busy, just struggling with the juggle of midlife, especially if the "sandwich gener...

Sleep and Menopause – One of the most frequently raised concerns (This is Episode 3 and is part of the 6 Lifestyle Levers: Small Shifts, Big Impact mini-series) If you are tired but cannot switch off, wide awake at 3am, or constantly running on adrenaline, this episode is for you. In this episode we look briefly at how menopause affects sleep, stress, and your nervous system - often one of the mos...

If you have been feeling low, sluggish, or struggling with sleep during menopause, this episode will help you understand why movement really is medicine for the mind. In Episode 2 of my mini-series, 6 Lifestyle Levers: Small Shifts, Big Impact, we look at how physical activity supports mental health, hormone balance, and emotional resilience in midlife, and how it can help you also sleep better. Y...

If you've been feeling flat, foggy, or wired but tired, it might not just be stress or perimenopause. It could be what, and how, you are feeding your brain during this chapter. In this first episode of my new mini-series, 6 Lifestyle Levers: Small Shifts, Big Impact, we focus on Nourish: how nutrition shapes mood, energy, and emotional balance during menopause. You'll learn: Why falling oestrogen...

October hosts both World Mental Health Day and Menopause Awareness Day and is indeed Menopause Awareness Month. The theme this year is Lifestyle Medicine and so I am focussing in this podcast episode on the impact that menopause can have on our mental health, and sharing a basic understanding of what is going on that is causing the low mood, anxiety, brain fog and other cognitive and mental health...

In the last episode, recorded for World Suicide Prevention Day, I spoke specifically about the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours for midlife women, given the statistics show that the most female deaths by suicide tend to occur in midlife. I promised that I would follow up to talk about how when navigating perimenopause we might be at more risk and more importantly, what we might do to keep...

This week is World Suicide Prevention Day and hopefully there will be lots of media coverage in encouraging a "Change in the Narrative" - to make conversations about this issue more commonplace. This in turn helps to reduce the stigma and smash the silence and makes it easier for people to ask for help. You may have seen media coverage in recent times talking about the high number of male suicide...

*This episode talks about suicide and I hope will be useful to women, their friends, family, support network AND their employer* The coronor confirmed that the lady had indeed taken her own life, following perimenopause then menopause causing her mental health condition to have worsened - and tragically this situation is more common than you might think. Often people think of menopause symptoms as...

Yesterday I received the devastating news of the loss of an incredible woman - strong, confident, bold, kind, wise, caring and funny as heck! I thought she was invincible and when she got her cancer diagnosis I would have bet my house on her surviving. Yesterday made me realise that tomorrow is not guaranteed. I know we say it all the time that life is too short but sometimes when you lose someone...

If you have ever had the experience where your mind just will not switch off - perhaps going to bed and you struggle to sleep, maybe you sit down for a rest and your inner voice reminds you of all the things you SHOULD be doing, when relaxation is almost impossible as you just cannot disconnect ... this episode is for you. You are doing all the things that those self-care folks tell you to do - be...

The last few weeks has been hectic - lots of caring responsibilities for ageing parents, work stuff and life in general - so a chance to sneak off and have a few hours in the company of people who are absolute radiators was defintely an attractive proposition and definitely the kick up the bum I needed to talk about focussing forwards!

Values - those things that we all have, often no idea where they came from, but tend to reflect the things that matter most to us. Are you living in alignment with yours? We all have a little internal book of rules - rules that we have been creating for ourselves since we were first born and my little book will be different to yours. Those rules then guide our lives, our decisions and the people t...

Having recently been nominated in the Merseyside Women of the Year awards I suddenly found my little inner critic throwing a party - as I read through the bio's of the other women who are also finalists, I could hear that little voice getting louder - "Who are you to be included in that? Look at what she has done! Oh she is amazing! Achieved so much more than you!" and before I knew it, the joy ha...

This week in the UK is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme this year is "Community" and in this episode I am talking specifically about the importance of community for those of us who are midlife women. A chapter in our lives when hormones are shifting, which can indeed negatively impact our mental health, but often also a very busy chapter with lots of juggling of priorities, perhaps older...

Back in February I hosted "Actually, she can!" - which was a fantastic day of personal growth and professional development, by women, for women, fundraising for future female talent in Halton Borough and it was an absolutely amazing day! With over 200 women in the audience and 12 professional speakers, authors and coaches taking to the stage and hosting workshops, sharing insights and expertise th...

Our final guest speaker interview is with the wonderful Rachel Foord and at the Actually, she can! event on 27th February, Rachel will be hosting a workshop entitled "Thriving Beyond Barriers; what empowers and challenges neurodivergent women" - and it is sure to be a very popular session. Whether you are attending Actually! as a neurodivergent woman yourself, or as a mother, sister, manager or HR...

Before Christmas I really enjoyed chatting to another one of our guest speakers, Valerie J Ritchie, who is hosting a workshop for us at Actually, she can! in February to help people harness their inner strengths and turn challenges into opportunities. Valerie is a midlife empowerment coach, an advocate for the crone goddess, and helps women to step into the wise, powerful, authentic self so that t...

Meeting up with someone that you instantly have a connection with and knowing they share your values in wanting to make a positive difference is not something that happens every day and so when Michelle Atkinson, HRD from Suttons International and I chatted about Actually, she can! and the difference we want to make in our local community, I could see she was as enthused and keen to make that diff...