Words in the Wilderness

In this episode Jacky Power shares three practical ways poetry can shift mood, process change, and make sense of big life transitions. Inspired by a conversation between Claire Fitzsimmons and Deborah Alma on A Thought I Kept, this episode explores how poems can be both something we read and something we write to help us feel differently. We discuss how a poem can create collective feeling, why hu...

Jacky Power explores how poetry and positive psychology can help us find awe, gratitude, and positivity in everyday life, especially during challenging times. Key Topics The broaden and build theory by Barbara Fredrickson Using poetry to foster positive emotions like gratitude and awe The role of mindfulness and presence in well-being How to find awe in everyday objects and moments The importance...

Helen von Dadelszen on courageous action, nervous system regulation, and speaking with confidence. I (Jacky Power) speak with Helen von Dadelszen, voice and communication coach and author of Courageous Action , about what it really takes to communicate well when you are nervous, under pressure, or worried about getting it wrong. We explore how confidence is built through action, not perfection, an...

How can we write when words fail us? When we face extreme stress or trauma the part of the brain that helps us to put words around the experience goes offline as our brain goes into survival mode. Often we are told 'It's good to talk' when we're experiencing difficulty but that is not always possible. So is there another way? In this episode Jacky Power shares how poetry can be used as a form of s...

In this episode, Dufflyn Lammers shares her journey toward embracing vulnerability, love, and authenticity through her personal stories, writing, and spiritual reflection. We discuss stories from her book You Had Me At Bonjour as she shares how she has navigated complex relationships, self-acceptance, and attachment healing, all with a beguiling humour and lightness. What we cover   The power of s...

 In this episode, Jacky Power talks with Mohammed Moussa , a Palestinian poet, journalist, and founder of the Gaza Poets Society, about the role of poetry in bearing witness to displacement and grief, writing across English and Arabic, the link between place and memory, and the art of noticing. Moe reads from his forthcoming poetry collection, Where to Lay This Heart , and Jacky shares two of her...

Most couples struggle with invisible labour, resentment, and unspoken expectations - until they discover a simple, powerful system that transforms their relationship.  In this eye-opening episode, Dr. Sharmila Logothas reveals how the Fair Play method,  created by Eve Rodsky, offers a clear, card-based roadmap for redistributing household and caregiving tasks, dismantling gender norms, and fosteri...

Content note: this episode discusses childhood sexual abuse, addiction, self-harm, psychiatric systems, and suicide attempts. Please take care of yourself as you listen. What happens when the unspeakable has no language? When every time you try to speak, someone turns away? Sophie Olsen is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, a trainer, and the author of The Flying Child — a book that took a deca...

Every parent asks some version of the same question. Am I damaging my child? Have I already damaged them? This episode is Jacky's answer. It's not an answer that reassuringly bypasses the truth, but an answer that holds the truth.  Because the question isn't how do I never hurt my child. The question is: when I do hurt them  - because I will - how do I repair? Ruptures happen in every relationship...

Wait! Before you read another article about screen time, before you spiral about whether you're doing enough, before you outsource your child to a therapist and hope they come back fixed Jacky and Nicole Runyon want you to hear something first. You are more powerfully positioned to help your child than any professional will ever be. That's what Nicole - a therapist who has 23 years of clinical exp...

The standards expected in motherhood are impossible. And most of us don't even notice we've signed up to it until we feel burned out and miserable. . This episode starts with a poem Jacky wrote called 'Yummy Mummy' - all the ways in which we can try to show we have 'got out shit together' as mothers, whilst nothing goes according to plan.  Because that's what it's like when you deal with frustrati...

'Matrescence' is a word that has been around since 1973. It only made it into the dictionary in 2022. That gap tells you almost everything you need to know about how well we've been holding the experience of becoming a mother. Lucy Wylde is a matrescence activist and coach who works with women navigating the identity shift of motherhood - before, during and long after. She's also a poet. And in th...

Do you ever feel the urge to cry out, but swallow it back down instead? That specific, lonely feeling when you want to howl but it feels pointless, so you gulp it down instead — and there's no one to reason out your sadness, your guilt, your fear with. This episode maps the journey from that swallowed feeling all the way through to hope using the unexpected power of poetry to witness, name, and na...

You were probably taught that poetry has a meaning, and your job is to find it. That's exactly why so many of us decided it wasn't for us. In this episode, Jacky is joined by Dr. Stephanie Aspin  - poet, therapist, academic, and author of Poetry and Therapy: Why Words Help  - for a conversation that might just change how you think about language, feeling, and what it means to be witnessed. Stephan...

You know that moment when something rises in your throat - a howl, a truth, a need - and you just... swallow it back down? Jacky has a word for that. Hulp. A howl and a gulp combined. And this episode begins there; right in that frozen, swallowed place, because that's exactly where Jacky found herself when she sat down to record! This is an episode about what it actually feels like to start someth...

For the scared souls, the never-dared souls, the lost and double-crossed souls — the ones sitting in the wilderness of change, wondering if anyone else feels this way. Words in the Wilderness is a podcast for people in the messy middle of becoming who they really are. Hosted by therapist and poet Jacky Power, this is the space where we stop performing and start witnessing.  Where your feelings are...

Understanding Addiction, Recovery, and Transformation   In this powerful episode, we sit down with Thomas Delaney, who shares his deeply personal journey from ketamine addiction to recovery and advocacy. During his recovery, Thomas has spoken to audiences in the thousands and reached an online global audience of over  20 million people.  He has spoken at some of the UK’s most significant wellbeing...

A mother's journey through addiction and loss.

EFT practitioners Aga Kehinde, who is originally from that town and  and Jessica Mór, who until February 2022 had been living in Ukraine due to her spouse’s work, join me today to talk about their experience of co-creating  ‘Support for Slupsk’ The project has now delivered training to more than 800 people working for the services of the town of Slupsk, Poland who are coming into direct contact wi...

In this episode we chat about what sustainable fashion is; how to get off the trend treadmill; Sophia's experiment in which she is not buying any new or preloved clothes (except for vital undies and socks!) and how 'sober dressing' can be creative, empowering and fun. Sophia's mission is to help you restyle and rework your wardrobe using what you already have. She makes up "new to you" outfits fro...

There is much more to his story, so let’s welcome him to share some of that and also to create hope and inspiration with sharing how he moved through such severe intergenerational trauma and adverse childhood experiences to be the inspirational coach he is today; from trauma to triumph. As he says, ‘The trauma may be our foundation, but it is not our future.’

We talked about her 3 discoveries with the research that she has done, how betrayal is a different kind of trauma because of how it feels so intentional and personal and therefore relates to trust, how it affects one physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally - and she shared some really sobering statistics around that and how it is possible to move through from betrayal to breakthrough wit...

I met Dan when we were at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2022 and I went to his show 'Patience Zero'. The description of his show was: 'Dan's always wanted to be a father. But now he and his wife are going through constant loss and IVF, he starts to ask the question: is he good enough? But in a year with a serious accident, an NHS-induced bad K-trip, a letter warning of impending death an...

Redefining what it means to be emotionally resilient, Josh in an ambassador for NACOA, the National Association for Children of Alcoholics. He works with individuals and corporation to help people improve their emotional resilience. His down to earth, highly informed videos on social media have attracted hundred of thousands of followers. He joins me on The Therapeutic Poet podcast to talk about b...