Confidence After Cancer

Have you noticed how often you criticise yourself since cancer treatment ended? Perhaps you tell yourself you should be coping better, you should have moved on by now, or you should be grateful because you're alive. Maybe you judge yourself for feeling tired, overwhelmed or emotional, even though you've been through one of the biggest experiences of your life. In this episode of Confidence After C...

Have you ever found yourself saying, “I’m exhausted,” and then immediately feeling guilty because you haven’t actually done very much? Or perhaps you've looked at your diary and wondered why you feel so overwhelmed when there doesn't seem to be that much on your to-do list. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores something many...

Have you ever found yourself saying, “I’m exhausted,” and then immediately feeling guilty because you haven’t actually done very much? Or perhaps you've looked at your diary and wondered why you feel so overwhelmed when there doesn't seem to be that much on your to-do list. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores something many...

What if this is as good as it gets? It's a question many women quietly ask themselves after cancer treatment, even though they rarely say it out loud. You survive. Treatment ends. Life starts moving again. Everyone around you expects things to improve with time. You go back to work, take care of the people around you, keep showing up and carry on as best you can. Yet underneath it all, something f...

Fear of cancer recurrence is something many survivors experience, yet it is rarely spoken about openly. You finish treatment expecting life to settle down. You tell yourself that once the scans are clear, once the appointments become less frequent, once you reach a certain milestone, you'll finally be able to relax. Yet for many women, that isn't what happens at all. Instead, a different challenge...

In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores one of the most misunderstood parts of life after treatment: the emotional conflict between gratitude and grief. While gratitude can be a powerful part of healing, it can become problematic when it is used to silence real emotions or dismiss the very real impact that cancer has had on your life. Cancer is not only a physical experience. I...

Many women become incredibly good at saying: “I’m fine.” Even when they’re exhausted. Even when they’re anxious. Even when emotionally they are barely holding it all together. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores one of the most misunderstood parts of cancer recovery — the invisible emotional exhaustion that many survivors quietly carry long after treatment ends. From the ou...

One of the hardest parts of life after cancer is that eventually the world stops seeing what you’ve been through. Your treatment may be over. Your hair may have grown back. You may have returned to work and started smiling in photos again. But inside, you may still feel exhausted — emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby talks honestly...

One of the most confusing parts of life after cancer is when everything on the outside looks “back to normal” but inside, you still don’t feel like yourself. You may be back at work, managing responsibilities, showing up for everyone else and doing all the “right” things… yet something still feels off. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores the identity shift that so many wome...

One of the quietest pressures many women experience after cancer is the pressure to feel grateful all the time. And while all of those things may be true, you may also be feeling exhausted, disconnected, emotional, flat, or quietly struggling underneath it all. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores the emotional conflict that so many survivors experience after treatment ends,...

There is a thought that so many women have after cancer… but rarely say out loud: “I should feel better by now.” Treatment is over. You may be back at work. People are telling you how well you look. And yet, inside, something doesn’t feel right. You might feel flat, disconnected, emotional, or simply not like yourself. You might even find yourself wondering why you’re not feeling more relieved, mo...

There is a quiet pressure that many women experience after cancer, and it often goes unspoken. It sounds like this: “I should feel grateful now.” On the surface, that seems like a positive mindset. People mean well when they say things like, “You must be so grateful it’s over” or “At least you’re still here.” And you may find yourself nodding along, smiling, saying the right things, trying to meet...

“I thought I’d feel better than this…” If that thought has ever crossed your mind after cancer treatment, this episode is for you. In this week’s Confidence After Cancer , Gabby opens up about one of the most confusing and rarely discussed parts of recovery — the emotional aftermath after treatment ends . From the outside, everything may look like it’s back to normal. You’re functioning. You may b...

“I used to be the most confident person in the room… now I feel like I’m pretending.” If that thought has ever crossed your mind after cancer treatment, this episode is for you. In this week’s Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores something rarely spoken about — the unexpected loss of confidence after treatment ends . From the outside, life may look “back to normal.” You’re back at work. You’re...

Life after cancer is supposed to feel like a fresh start… right? Treatment is finished. You may be back at work. Everyone expects you to move on. But instead of feeling relieved or triumphant, many women find themselves thinking: “I don’t feel like myself anymore.” “Why does this feel harder than before?” “Why can’t I just go back to normal?” In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby expl...

After cancer treatment, many women are told: “You must be so grateful to be alive.” And while that’s true… something else can quietly happen beneath the surface. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores what she calls the gratitude trap — when genuine gratitude slowly turns into pressure. Pressure to be positive. Pressure not to complain. Pressure not to ask for too much. Pressu...

Many women expect that once cancer treatment ends, life will begin to feel normal again. But for many, the opposite happens. You may find yourself feeling more emotional than before. More sensitive to pressure. More easily overwhelmed by things that never used to affect you. And that can lead to a quiet but powerful question: What is wrong with me? In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabb...

In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby Mottershead explores the emotional shift that many women experience after treatment but rarely hear about. Cancer does not only affect the body. It also impacts the nervous system, emotions, identity and the way you experience the world around you. During treatment, most people enter survival mode. You move from appointment to appointment, test to...

“You must be so glad to be back to normal.” It’s one of the most common and unhelpful phrases women hear after cancer treatment ends. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores why “back to normal” is a myth, and why trying to force yourself into your old life can quietly create exhaustion, overwhelm and self-doubt. Cancer changes you. Treatment changes you. Your body changes. You...

After cancer treatment, your energy is different. Your tolerance for pressure may have changed. And yet many women still find themselves over-committing, people-pleasing, and feeling pulled in multiple directions. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores why boundaries are essential for your wellbeing and how setting them can move you from overwhelm to clarity. Boundaries are no...

After cancer treatment ends, rebuilding confidence does not usually happen in one bold leap. It happens in small, consistent choices — the way you care for yourself, the way you speak to yourself, and the boundaries you begin to set. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby explores three deeply practical ways to strengthen confidence from the inside out: nurturing self-care, shifting yo...

Many women quietly admit this after cancer treatment ends: “I don’t understand why I feel so unsettled. Everything looks fine on the outside, but something feels off.” In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby speaks directly to that feeling — the sense of being lost, unanchored, or unsure of yourself even when life appears to be back on track. If you were high-achieving before cancer, so...

After cancer or a major life event, many women are left feeling as though they should be “back to normal” by now. That if confidence hasn’t returned, if motivation feels flat, or if life feels different, then something must be wrong. In this episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby gently challenges that idea. You don’t need fixing. You don’t need upgrading. You don’t need to rush back to who yo...

This episode is for the moments when life feels heavy and you don’t want to talk it through, analyse it, or make sense of it. You don’t need insight. You don’t need motivation. You don’t need to be positive. You just need a pause. In this short, gentle episode of Confidence After Cancer , Gabby guides you through a simple grounding and breathing reset designed to help your nervous system soften an...

This episode marks a quiet and meaningful return to the Confidence After Cancer podcast. Rather than beginning the year with big declarations or rushing back into life, Gabby shares why 2026 started differently for her, shaped by family, reflection, grief, gratitude, and a conscious decision to slow down. Recorded after a deeply emotional New Year spent in St Ives with family, this episode honours...