An Evolving Man Podcast

Gabriel Hershman is an author who also publishes under the name of Daniel Kupfermann. He has written 5 books, so far. Four were film biographies and written under the name of Gabriel Hershman. He has also written a memoir called, Don't Be So Sensitive. “I decided to write the memoir under a pseudonym as a demarkation from my other work but also to shield the work from other living family memb...

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” Albert Einstein Over the past few months I have over indulged in the news coverage of the troubles in the middle east, the violence on the streets of the UK and the challenges of the world. And I started to lose perspective. I started to catastrophize. In today's video I talk about the resea...

Boarding School | Complex PTSD | Peter Cook | Path of Healing AEM #104 Jonathan Hansler John Brittan is an English actor who actor name is Jonathan Hansler. He has worked in theatre, film, television and is a comedian and director. He was John Cleese's Basil Fawlty in the Edinburgh Festival in 2019. Questions for Jonathan: I would love for you to share some of your journey. How did you get in...

I was listening to ex-Navy Seal Jocko Willink talk about leadership a few days ago.  In the talk he shared some unethical ways of controlling people. https://youtu.be/qcEiBIuJ5xg?si=cAy6SyJq8hSjJEij Four things: 1. Enforcing sleep deprivation 2. Isolation from friends and family 3. Inducing guilt 4. Hero Syndrome manipulation. As I listened I started to think of the biographies I have read, my cli...

 How does trauma affect our leaders?  International CEO talks about what makes a great leader.  In today's conversation, Mason Farmani talks about trauma processing and how important it is.  He also talks about how we change as individuals and leaders. How do we heal? Mason talks about energy medicine, the work of Joe Dispenza, his journey into shamanism and spending time with Dennis McKenna...

Touch And Violence “In the 1960s, anthropologist James Prescott carried out a very large scale study of child rearing and violence across different societies. He foun dthat those societies which gave less touching and affection to young children, had by far the most violence amongst adults. "It's clear that the more tender and warm are the lives of children, the safer and more loving the...

Dr. Cate Howell is a medical doctor, a therapist, an educator and an author, specializing in mental health at every age. With more than 40 years of training and experience in the health arena, her practice and interest focuses on the intersection between physical, emotional, and mental health. She is the author of "The Changing Man: A mental health guide," as well as four other books. &q...

Today I talk about trauma and mental health.  Many writers have shown the link between childhood trauma and poor mental health. I talk about how in my own work some of the key symptoms of boarding school survivors are depression, anxiety and worry.  So what are 5 things you can do to improve your mental health?  I also talk about my upcoming podcast with medical doctor Dr Cate Howell where we go i...

A simple guided meditation to help you slow down.  Based on the Quick Coherence Technique from the Heart Math Institute this guided meditation is very easy to do.  It will help with stress, relaxation and improving your sleep if you do it before bed.  #meditation #guidedmeditation #heartmath  Take care, Piers --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works ma...

Jay Marshall is a design engineer who after working across, Formula 1, film, sound and human performance has been motivated to help stop child exploitation due to friends, and his own experiences. He is the co-founder of Safe Kids Spaces www.sks.fyi a 51% parent owned community company building AI technologies to secure children’s online safety, wellbeing and digital sovereignty.  Questions for Ja...

James Blunt has a new documentary out on Netflix at the moment called, One Brit Wonder. It is excellent. I was really touched by some of his reflections about his boarding school experiences. There is footage of James' sister being driven to meet him to play a gig. She says, "I've never really met him before." She's asked, "Is that because of boarding school?" Sh...

Conflict often shows up in relationships. Especially for those who have been through some form of childhood trauma or been at boarding school. We weren't taught how to resolve conflict in a heart-centred way. Instead we learned to avoid conflict at all costs. For many it was seen as dangerous. But there is a positive and life affirming way to resolve difficulties in relationships with others....

What is the path of recovery from childhood trauma, abuse and boarding school syndrome? What does it look like?  Today I am talking with Bryn Edwards about his journey of recovery. Bryn went to boarding school from age 8-18. He was a complier. 1st XV Rugby, and sportsman. He also talks about colonisation and how that links to boarding school. He talks about the difference between trauma and abuse....

 "Love Is More Important Than Food" | And The Lack of Love At Boarding School | Piers Cross  Drawing upon the ideas of Julia Samuel in her interview with Charles Spencer from minute 13.30: https://youtu.be/R7YZHcLhrF8?si=GSoMoLqMKjBYPEvO&t=780  And from this article from George Monbiot about boarding schools: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/07/boarding-schools-bori...

A leading clinical psychologist shares his thoughts about boarding school and compassion. Some of the words Prof Paul Gilbert uses for boarding school are “nonsense”, “a ridiculous psychology”. Professor Gilbert attended boarding school from age 11 through to 18 and shares what his experiences were like. He also talks about his main work – Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). He talk about what it is...

What is the outer critic especially in terms of childhood trauma, complex PTSD and boarding school syndrome? How does the outer critic come to the fore? And what is the outer critic's link to the inner aspect? Today I wanted to offer some reflections about how this part of our psyche plays out. I quote from Pete Walker and his book, Complex PTSD and also from Nick Duffell's Wounded Leade...

Repressing emotions is abuse.  Speaking with clinical psychologist Dr Nathan Baumann today we have a fascinating conversation about the psychology of emotions especially with men and boys. He talks about how most emotions are not allowed and how that impacts society. He also talks about what he feels about having no space for emotions like in a lot of boarding schools. He feels it is emotional abu...

Today I talk about our relationships to emotions at boarding school. I talk about how we repress them. And the cost of this on our psyches. I quote from the interview I did a couple of days ago with a clinical psychologist and Nick Duffell. I also quote from Daniel Kupfermann's book Don't Be So Senstive. The Emotion Feeling Wheel: https://www.davidhodder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Em...

Today I wanted to offer some reflections about emotional flashbacks. Pete Walker talks about how these emotional triggers and reactions are a symptom of complext PTSD. I used to struggle with emotional flashbacks regularly. Today I talk about some of the examples from my own life. I also talk about how to deal with these flashbacks and I link it to Pete Walker's 13 Ways of Dealing With Flashb...

In today's video I talk about how important it was for us to be liked at boarding school. If we weren't liked, we were often sent to coventry. We were banished. Richard Beard in his book Sad Little Men, talks about how on any given year group there was alway one 'custos' - the outcast. If you couldn't see the 'custos' then it was you. I talk about compliers and p...

In today's episode I talk about fear and boarding school. I talk about some of my own experiences of school and how I felt that I was in fear a lot of my time. I talk about some of the fear-based beliefs I left boarding school  with: -  Fear of making mistakes - Fear of getting close to others - Fear of being ostacized - Fear of failure I share some of Bear Gryll's experiences of fear at...

Today's fascinating episode is with Keith Day exploring trauma and how trauma can impact us physically.  Keith struggled with trauma as a child and got a diagnosis of neuropathy as an adult after suffering painful symptoms.  In this podcast Keith explores some of his journey through these physical illnesses and how he started to recover.  We also talk about mental resilience and how to cultiv...

I have felt pretty shocked listening to reports about the Blood Scandal. I was horrified to hear what had happened at the boarding school, Treloar's where many people died. It is another cover up. Grenfell Tower, Windrush, Post Office Enquiry, Hillsborough... Repeated calls for justice and recognition were ignored for years. In today's podcast I talk about cover ups and the psychology of...

What is the government doing regarding mandatory sexual reporting?  After £200 million spent on IICSA, Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, what has been the outcome? Today's conversation is with two of the leading voices campaigning against child sexual abuse. Lawyer and partner, Dino Nocivelli and author, Alex Renton.  What does this new amendment mean?  And what can you do?  To fin...

What does a trauma-informed healthcare system look like? Do we currently have that in the UK? And if not what can we do to start to implement this? Today I am speaking with award winning clinical psychologist, Dr Karen Treisman about becoming trauma-informed not just in healthcare but also in the education system. We talk candidly about her work with looked after children in care and fostering and...