An Evolving Man Podcast

In this video I reference an article from the Times by Marina and Ben Fogle: https://archive.ph/ximP5  What if you child really wants to go to boarding school? What do you need to know as a parent? #boardingschool #boardingschoolsyndrome  --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship pr...

Why does the British establishment seem so addicted to cover up?  In 2024 alone we have seen the Post Office, Mohammed al Fayed, NHS and the blood scandal, Justin Welby and the Church involved in cover-ups.  Why do we cover up so much in the UK?  Today I explore some of the historical cover ups in British history from the Boer War to the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya and the British cover up in India...

Liz Entin is an entrepreneur living in NYC and LA. She originally began her career in fashion in both New York and London and now is the founder of Why Get Wasted, a company that helps events, businesses, fashion shows, conferences, and any gathering eliminate waste and be climate friendly. ( www.whygetwasted.com ) She is also author and podcast host of WTF Just Happened?! which, inspired by a los...

What happened with the church last week?  Why did the Archbishop of Canterbury not disclose what happened with the sexual abuse?  Today I wanted to offer a hypothesis through the lens of boarding school syndrome and trauma work.  What possible reasons did Justin Welby cover up the abuse?  Today I offer 5 possible reasons that Justin Welby covered up the abuse by John Smyth at the Iwerne Trust.  An...

Today I wanted to give an update to our documentary, Boarding on Insanity. With the resignation of Justin Welby, who is the head of the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury, this is so relevant.  Justin Welby, who boarded at St Peter's School at 8 years old and then to Eton as a boy and also spent time with the Iwerne Trust where John Smyth was abusing children when he was younger....

AEM # 115 Giles Moffat Boarding School Survivors Taking Their Schools To Court How do you take your school to court? How do you get a prosecution for sexual and physical abuse when no one else has listened? A fascinating conversation today with Giles Moffat about how a group of child abuse survivors took their schools to court. Giles talks about how he connected with Nicky Campbell, the BBC DJ, wh...

Today I wanted to continue the conversation about cults which Wyndham Wallace talked about in my last podcast: https://youtu.be/NYTA8dm6X6g HereI wanted share some of the literature on cults by some of the world's leading experts on them. What is a cult? And what are the main characteristics of a cult? And finally how much like a cult is a boarding school? 6 Characteristics of a Cult: https:/...

Wyndham Wallace is a Berlin-based writer whose critically acclaimed first book, Lee, Myself & I – about his friendship with Lee Hazlewood, the man behind These Boots Are Made For Walking – was published in 2015.  He began his career as a music publicist in the mid 1990s, before running City Slang Records’ UK office for eight years, but now works as a music critic for, among others, Uncut and C...

On my podcast this week I am interviewing Wyndham Wallace who is an author and music critic. In the episode we were talking about music and how powerful it can be for healing childhood trauma. In today's video I talk about how we store emotion in the music that we listened to at school. Both the music that we liked and the music we didn't like. A really fascinating exploration of music t...

Today on the podcast I welcome back author and psychotherapist Rod Boothroyd as we revisit the archetype of the Sovereign, King or the Queen.  The Sovereign is the part of us that is responsible for vision, power, potency, blessing ourselves and others, and bringing order to our internal and external worlds. The King is also the part of us responsible for the spiritual side of our lives.  Today Ro...

I begin today with a heart felt quote from Minnie Driver in her book, Managing Expectations. She talks about phoning her mother to come and pick her up. Her mother ignores her. So today I wanted to read through 10 biographies of well-known people and their stories of feeling like they were captive or “counting down the days like prisoners” as Bear Grylls puts it. I share the words of John Rentoul&...

Why do some of our political, business, and societal leaders seem to have such disdain and in some cases almost hatred for the everyday person? Where might these attitudes come from? Where does the sense of entitlement, and even looking down on those that they serve arise from? I was reading Jeremy Paxman's autobiography A Life in Questions last night.  I came across a passage where he talks...

What is love addiction also known as limerence?  And what is intergenerational trauma? How does that pass from generation to generation? Today I am speaking with a psychotherapist who originally trained as a medical doctor. His speciality is working with people around relationships and limerence. Today he shares his journey at boarding school and how he ran away, never to come back. He also talks...

What was it like to go to boarding school at age 7? And how did that impact my guest's adult life? From addictions, to breakdown and then path of recovery to finding purpose, my guest today shares his own journey.  In today's episode I am speaking with Chris Braitch who is the director of the not for profit, Seen & Heard, which supports the emotional wellbeing of past pupils of board...

 Today I wanted to share some of the experiences of John F Kennedy at boarding school.  I share from his biography called Kennedy, An Unfinished Life.  Kennedy went to boarding school from age 13 to Canterbury in the US. And then age 14 he went to Choate School.  I share his experiences of homesickness, being a rebel and being close to being expelled and having a family which had very high expecta...

At just 13-years-old, Connor was burned over 90% of his body with third degree burns and given less than a 1% chance of survival after a backyard explosion. After three months in a medically induced coma, nearly two years of painful rehabilitation, and more than 100 surgeries over a decade, Connor emerged triumphantly; not only to walk again, but to live his best life.  Despite his physical and em...

What are the 5 basic components of great leadership?  Last week I talked about why boarding school doesn't create good leaders drawing upon the work of Nick Duffell's Wounded Leaders and Kouzes and Posner's The Leadership Challenge: https://youtu.be/VNMQpTyO1h8  Today I wanted to explore the work of Warren Benis in his book on Becoming A Leader.  What are the 5 key ingredients that...

A fascinating discussion today with an ER medical doctor about her time in boarding school and how that affected her mental health.  She shares how she spent time in mental hospitals and was tried on 35 different medications. Eventually she was given brain surgery for her depression. She talks about the impact trauma had on her and the path of healing. A very inspiring and heart breaking story. --...

Today I draw upon the work of leadership experts James Kouzes and Barry Posner in their book The Leadership Challenge and Nick Duffell in his book Wounded Leaders.  What are 5 reasons according to science that those who go to boarding school make bad leaders?  Based on the article by Nick Duffell in the Guardian in 2014: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/09/boarding-schools-bad-leader...

What is emotional neglect? And how might that link to boarding schools? Today I am speaking with psychotherapist and author, Graham Music, who attended boarding school from age 9. He talks about what trauma is, dissociation and neglect. And he dives deep into emotional neglect. What is it and how might it show up in a boarding school setting? Why might neglect go unnoticed? --- Graham Music is a p...

I often hear from people who went to boarding school – “Nothing happened to me.” What they mean is that they weren't abused, beaten or sexually abused. I then ask, did you see or hear beatings, violence, bullying or abuse? Most reply, yes. So the research around mirror neurons is now showing that the person who witnesses violence whether that be at home or at school will feel it, mirror it in...

Is it possible to heal from childhood trauma?. What if we had a really tough upbringing which included abuse, neglect and possibly even boarding school. Can we heal? What if we've tried everything but nothing is really working.  What can we do? In today's conversation I am speaking with the founder of Realm Theory, Roslyn Snyder. We talk about her work helping those that have been throug...

Leaders and Burnout. What are the symptoms of burnout? In my 20s, I had a breakdown and burnt out. I was working in London.  I had a job in sales and essentially lost motivation and drive.  I was selling big ticket items in the financial sector. Some weeks I only sold one product a week. It felt exhausting. Eventually it got so bad, I couldn't even get out of bed.  So I went through a period...

Why is group work so important for boarding school survivors on the path to recovery? If being seen was dangerous as a child at these public schools why is it so helpful to be seen in a group setting as we heal? Today Nick Duffell who is one of the founding voices in the Boarding School Survivors movement talks about group work. He talks about why we heal in group settings and how the group dynami...

Today I wanted to talk about a recent conversation I had with Nick Duffell the author of Wounded LEaders and The Making of Them. Nick has been running group workshops for many years. https://www.boardingschoolsurvivors.co.uk/events-and-workshops/ He first began offering these 4 day workshops in 1989/90 and has run them every year since. He offers them for both men and women. Today I talk about the...