Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge

A glass gold gilded conker from Effie Burns collection is the inspiration for our final reflection room taster session. We are thinking about what brings out our prickly side, what are we protecting and why? I also share details of the Reflection Room, starting on 14th September, details here on how to sign up https://www.leilaainge.co.uk/reflectionroom https://www.effieburnsglass.co.uk

What if a room could become a self-portrait? This week in the Reflection Room, psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge pairs a painting by Lottie Cole with a simple but thought-provoking reflection about identity, environment and the spaces we quietly create around ourselves. Drawing on psychology, art and everyday observation, this episode invites you to look differently at the rooms you spend ti...

What happens when you've left one chapter behind but haven't quite arrived at the next? Inspired by Frances Featherstone's Dower House from her Threshold series, this Reflection Room episode explores the psychology of liminality—the in-between spaces where identity, perspective and possibility begin to shift. https://www.francesfeatherstone.co.uk/paintings

What stories have you inherited about where you belong? This week's reflection uses art and psychology to help you revise your own narrative. Join psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge for the first Reflection Room prompt, where psychology, art and curiosity come together to help you see yourself—and your work from a different perspective. Inspired by Coral Woodbury's Revised Edition series and...

How do we make better decisions when certainty is impossible? In this solo episode of Psychologically Speaking , psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge explores why confidence isn't about having all the answers—it's about asking better questions. Drawing on psychology, decision-making research and reflections from this season's conversations, Leila explains why our brains crave certainty, how ide...

What if the biggest risk isn't failing—but standing still? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking , psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge is joined by entrepreneur, UK Innovator Founder visa holder and CEO of The Doula Hive , Tif Bryant . Growing up in poverty, becoming a teenage mum and leaving school early weren't the end of Tif's story. After building a successful birth business in the U...

What does it really mean to invest in yourself? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking , Leila is joined by marketing strategist and entrepreneur Niki Hutchison, founder of Enjoy Marketing®. With more than 25 years in marketing strategy and two six-figure businesses behind her, Niki helps founder-led businesses become known for what they do best. Together, they explore the psychology behind i...

What happens when body shame isn't actually about your body? This week I'm joined by coach and facilitator Emma While, who decided to evict what she calls "the patriarchy squatting in my temple" by taking a beginners' burlesque class at 49. We talk about shame, visibility, motherhood, neurodivergence, identity, and why the scariest risks are sometimes the ones that bring us closest to ourselves. W...

Louise Duncum spent nearly a decade designing for major high street fashion brands before realising she'd become successful at something that no longer felt like her. In this episode we talk about leaving, comparison, taking on debt to grow a business, multiple identities, and why building a business that reflects who you are is riskier, but far more rewarding, than staying where you no longer fit...

In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila Ainge is joined by strategic advisor and facilitator Rachel Cashman to explore the relationship between imposter phenomenon, risk taking, legitimacy, and trust. Rachel has worked across government, healthcare, defence, and the life sciences, helping leaders navigate high-stakes conversations, organisational conflict, and complex people dynamics. T...

Why do some things feel emotionally bigger than they “should”? In this bonus episode of Psychologically Speaking , psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge introduces The Hard Thing Challenge — a free five-day reflection challenge exploring the psychology behind difficult tasks, imposter feelings, avoidance, identity, and risk. This episode also introduces the next season of Psychologically Speakin...

What happens when loss changes everything—not just emotionally, but structurally? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking , Leila Ainge is joined by wellbeing consultant and psychotherapist Chrissy Orson to explore grief, identity shifts, and the moment your life no longer fits the way it used to. After losing both her sister and father within weeks during lockdown, Chrissy shares how grief di...

What happens when your life doesn’t follow the path you thought it would? A conversation on identity, belonging, and the courage to build a career that doesn’t look right on paper but feels right in your life. In this episode of Psychologically Speaking , I’m joined by coach and podcast host Fiorenza Rossini to explore identity, belonging, and the unexpected turns our careers can take. From financ...

We often assume interviews are a way of capturing what people already think. But qualitative psychology suggests something different. Interviews can be active sites of meaning-making, where thoughts are not just shared, but formed in real time. Drawing on ideas like the double hermeneutic from Anthony Giddens and reflexive approaches to qualitative research, I reflect on what it means to ask quest...

“I refuse to hate myself in any way… I hope women reclaim ageing as a gift.” When everything shifts at once, home, body, identity, what does it take to rebuild a sense of safety and self? Leila Ainge and Emma Seville explore menopause, midlife transitions, and the psychology of starting over. In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, psychologist Leila Ainge speaks with menopause coach Emma Sev...

Hi, I’m Leila, and I’m currently doing a PhD exploring the experiences of women who are independent workers, including entrepreneurs, freelancers, and the self-employed, who use online communities as part of their working lives. My first study is collecting data through a series of interviews with women and community hosts across two online communities where I’m also a paying member. These are spa...

In this episode of Psychologically Speaking , Leila Ainge speaks with entrepreneur Femke Harris about the unexpected twists that shape our lives. From growing up as a third-culture kid in Hong Kong to managing operations on a NATO base in Afghanistan, Femke’s career path has been anything but predictable. Together they explore the psychology of resilience, identity and adaptation when life doesn’t...

What if one of the most powerful mental health tools was already in your garden? In this episode, I’m joined by horticultural therapist Kendall Marie Platt to explore the science behind soil, why getting your hands in the dirt can change your mood, and how gardening might help us regulate stress in ways modern life often forgets. And in many ways, Kendall’s story captures the spirit of this season...

In this episode of Psychologically Speaking , Leila Ainge checks back in with coaches Emma Thomas and Lucy Green a few months after they set ambitious business goals. The conversation reveals how real progress unfolds. Emma shares how a community project had to pause due to unforeseen circumstances and teases us with a new book project!. Lucy reflects on launching her programme Good Company , whic...

In this episode of Psychologically Speaking , Leila is joined by three Goal Sprint participants, Hannah Isted, Jen Vaughan and Darren Scotland, for an honest progress check-in just weeks into the year. Together they explore: • Why momentum matters more than motivation • How perfectionismblocks progress (and how to move anyway) • The psychology of getting out of your comfort zone from running faste...

What actually happens to your confidence once you start pursuing a goal? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking , psychologist Leila Ainge checks back in with three creatives who set goals on the podcast weeks earlier, Graphic Designer Bhavini, Animator Duncan and Documentary Maker Dany. Instead of tidy success stories, you’ll hear what goal pursuit looks like in real life, confidence rising...

Why do resolutions wobble just when we think they should be working? This episode explores avoidance crafting, impatience, burnout, and how goals, habits, and mental distance shape real progress especially in January. In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila explores the intricacies of human behavior, particularly focusing on the themes of resolutions, goals, and habits. She discusses th...

Why do goals that feel exciting at first suddenly become exhausting even when we care deeply about them? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking , I explore why goals often become unsustainable not because of a lack of motivation or discipline , but because they’re designed for ideal conditions rather than real life. Drawing on psychology, environmental thinking, and embodied cognition, we loo...

Bonus Episode

In this deeply honest and energising episode of Psychologically Speaking, Dany Johnston — data & AI consultant, documentary filmmaker, and PhD researcher — shares her most ambitious and vulnerable goal yet: to create and release a new documentary filmed during a once-in-a-lifetime expedition to the Arctic Circle. Dany’s story is one of dual passions: 25 years in business transformation and dat...