Grow Yourself Up

In this episode Cath was joined by Dr Jodi Pawluski, they talked about Jodi’s path to motherhood, her postpartum time, how she prepared for this time and how her own parents’ support impacted her. Jodi shares a bit about her family history, about the partnership she has with her husband in parenting and how her own work and knowledge of the brain supports her in her mothering role.  Dr Jodi P...

In this episode Cath speaks about secure attachment, what it really means, why it is useful to understand and how our attachment style influences much of how we turn up in the world. Cath speaks about earned secure attachment, how therapy helps in the process of developing this and how tending to and nurturing ourselves is the key to shift and change. Learning to tend to ourselves is vital in our...

This week Cath is joined by author, podcaster and content creator Cat Sims. Cath and Cat talk about Cat’s experiences of motherhood, how she has grown herself up as she mothers, her path to sobriety and why she stopped drinking. And how she views self responsibility. Cat shares her story on boarding school, her family of origin, making living amends and how she holds herself kindly now (instead of...

Cath delves into the impacts of emotional neglect, how it can be so hard to live with these, why this is and the relationship between emotional neglect, attachment and regulation. She talks about our own feeling states in parenting and how learning to tend to and nurture ourselves is absolutely key on our parenting journey. If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcas...

In this episode Cath is joined by author and journalist Lucy Jones. Cath and Lucy discussed Lucy's matrescence journey, her most recent book (Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood), how she makes sense (and continues to) of the huge transition to motherhood, what Lucy finds supportive, how we are all eco systems and some of the realities of mothering at this tim...

In this episode Cath is joined by Harriet Shearsmith. Harriet is a coach, podcaster, Mum of 3 and the content creator behind @tobyandroo . In this episode she shares her experiences around growing up in a household where she always tended to the needs of her Mother, how she came to see the dynamics of her family, what action she has taken to protect herself as an adult and how she is shifting dyna...

In this episode Cath starts to look in more detail at what emotional neglect actually is and why it matters. She explains how widespread emotional neglect is and gives some historical context to explain why. She links this to parenting, to the challenge of tending to our kids emotions and to our ability to meet our own needs. Cath discusses the concept of narcissistic families, what this actually...

In this episode Cath was interviewed by Nikki McCahon for her Seasons of Matresence Podcast. We had a gentle, compassionate and open hearted conversation about the ways in which experiences of childhood trauma can shape and impact how we experience mothering and raising children. We cover a lot of ground in this episode, the ways in which childhood trauma can impact and shape our experience of mot...

This episode is an interview with Cath and Crystal Karges which was originally released on Crystal’s podcast ‘Lift the Shame’. Cath and Crystal talk about healing generational trauma, shifting patterns, diet culture, food choices, control and more. If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it. To sign up for the journal prompts an...

The way we come into relationships with our needs when we are babies and young children, has a huge influence on the way we learn to tend to our needs as adults. We learn about what is 'allowed' in terms of our needs in our family of origin. Many of us have a very complex relationship with our own needs, because of the parenting we received (and the parenting our parents received). In this episode...

In this episode Cath discusses the concept of self mothering, explaining why this is such a crucial part of all our healing journey. She explains what it is, highlights how we may derail ourselves and shares her 3-step approach to self-mothering. This episode is full of humanity, vulnerability, useful tips and storytelling. Cath provides an example of how she does this in her own life so that you...

The term ‘rupture and repair’ is widely used across social media to explain the process of repairing with your child after a break in connection (for example parent shouted or was unkind, snappy to a child). The original research around this was done on mother and infant dyads and the research was later also done with fathers and toddlers. This process has extremely important implications for us a...

In this episode Cath discusses some nervous system science (Polyvagal Theory and Stephen Porges and Deb Dana's work) and invites us into considering how our parent nervous systems interact with our children's nervous systems. Understanding what we, as parents, are contributing to the family nervous system is vital if we want to create change. She shares an anecdote related to this focusing on tran...

Cath was joined by coach, trainer and hypno-CBT therapist Sophie Burch this week. We talked about Sophie's journey to motherhood, her passion and mission in the prenatal, perinatal and postpartum stages of parenthood and how her own experiences contributed to this. We touched on how birth trauma and a stay in NICU impacted her and her children. Sophie shared how she deals with the impacts of PTSD,...

In this episode Cath discusses what shift we need to make as parents around the holidays. Cath discusses some of the emotional adjustments we need to make as parents when considering leisure time with kids, and using nervous system science. She suggests ways that you can support yourself and your kids over the holiday period. This episode will hold and support you as you consider and plan the next...

In this episode Cath is joined by author and coach Suzy Reading. Suzy shares about how she has grown herself up in motherhood, how grief impacted her early motherhood, how she takes care of herself and how advocating for her kids has helped her with self advocacy.  Suzy is a mother of two, an author, Chartered Psychologist and Coach. She specialises in self-care, helping people manage their s...

In this episode Cath speaks about the process of rupture and repair with our children. We may imagine that this is a neat, easy process (and sometimes it is) and often it is more complex and messy. Cath shares a recent example from her life and provides a framework (in the context of attachment) for you to hold in mind as you negotiate rupture and repair in your own family and life. If you're enjo...

In this episode Cath is joined by Anna Butcher . We talked about Anna's journey to motherhood, how she experiences mothering and how the act of becoming a mother is an intrusion into our lives (on multiple levels). There is some deeply personal storytelling illustrating the concepts being discussed and we focused on how control turns up for both Cath and Anna and the antidote to this.  Anna B...

Cath is a psychotherapist and so is obviously a big fan of therapy and the positive benefits arising from therapy. She also recognises that sometimes therapy is not possible and that we also need more wrap-around support and different options. In this episode she talks to some of these different options and through some honest, deeply personal stories shares how she has benefited from some of what...

In episode 53 Cath is joined by author, coach and podcast host Mara Glatzel . This is a rich conversation centered on needs and how we can make space for them, illustrated with stories from Mara’s life. We also discuss ambition, grappling with achievement, choice and the decisions we need to make about how we actually spend our precious lives.  Mara Glatzel (she/her) is a coach, podcast host,...

In episode 52 Cath focuses on our needs and why starting to meet/meeting them can be so complex (building on earlier episodes on this topic, listen to episodes 1-4 and 26). She makes a suggestion for how you can reframe times when there is self abandonment (needs not being met) to reduce shame. Having our needs met is a huge contributor to being in our own sense of power and agency.  If you'r...

In episode 51 Cath was joined by author Molly Caro May . This rich and beautiful conversation covered so much ground. They touched on Molly’s memoir ‘ Body Full of Stars ’, talked about Molly’s postpartum health experiences, breaking cycles in motherhood, rage and self responsibility. Molly Caro May is an author of two books, teacher, and holder of space. For 13+ years, she has facilitated persona...

In this half century episode Cath talks about how our own shame and perfectionism (and what happens when our shame gets touched) can impact our holiday times. She makes some practical suggestions to help you stress less, drop into presence, be kinder to yourself and your kids and actually enjoy your holiday times. If you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this re...

Cath was joined by Kendra Wilde this week. They talked all about how to keep our sanity intact in parenting when our children are struggling in some way. Kendra shared about the 'why' behind (Wild Peace for Parents) and how she was pushed to a place of burnout on her parenting journey. This conversation is loaded with self compassion and wisdom from someone who has kids in their twenties, we hope...

In this episode Cath talks about two feelings - jealousy and envy - that are often seen as ‘bad’ feelings or feelings we should not admit to (because we may come across as not being ‘nice’). Cath suggests an alternative way to view these and through storytelling and examples shows how tending to our own jealousy and envy can bring a measure of freedom and help guide us in our choices. If you're en...