The Liberation Effect

You have a cupboard full of abandoned hobbies. A project you still can’t bring yourself to throw away. Every unfinished task feels like evidence that you’re lazy, flaky, or incapable. Except what if it isn’t? If you have ADHD and grew up in an environment where your differences were criticised, mocked, or misunderstood, it can become almost impossible to separate the way your brain naturally works...

You meet someone and tell them your life story within a week. Or you’ve known someone for years and still don’t think they really know you. It can feel like you’re either all in or completely shut down, with nothing in between. If you grew up in an environment where your privacy wasn’t respected and your boundaries were repeatedly crossed, trusting other people can become incredibly difficult. Thi...

You leave a conversation because you’re overwhelmed. You stop replying because you need space. You take a break from someone who’s hurting you. And then the guilt arrives. Not because you’re worried about the relationship. Because you’re worried you’ve just become the person who hurt you. If you grew up around withdrawal, silent treatment, emotional punishment, or unpredictable communication, it c...

Someone asks for a favour. A colleague wants help. A friend needs something. Before you’ve even decided what you want to say, your body has already started preparing the yes. Not because you’re weak. Not because you’re naturally a people pleaser. Because somewhere along the way, saying no became associated with danger. If you grew up in an environment where autonomy was punished, disagreement was...

You stand in the ready meal aisle for ten minutes. You change your coffee order every time. Someone asks what you fancy doing at the weekend and your mind goes oddly blank. Not because you’re easy-going. Not because you don’t care. Because somewhere along the way, you stopped trusting your own preferences. If you grew up in an environment where your likes, dislikes, wants, and needs were ignored,...

Season 2, Episode 3: “You Apologise For Existing” You apologise before you ask a question. You apologise when someone bumps into you. You apologise for taking too long, talking too much, needing something, wanting something, or simply being in the room. If you grew up in an unpredictable environment while also being neurodivergent, apologising can become much more than politeness. This episode exp...

You replay conversations for hours. You ask other people if your feelings make sense. You know your reaction feels too big, except sometimes it turns out it wasn’t big enough at all. If you grew up in a toxic environment while also having a neurodivergent nervous system, there are specific reasons why emotional calibration becomes so difficult. This episode breaks down what actually happens when A...

Someone asks how you feel and you deliver a flawless twelve-minute analysis of everyone else’s motivations. Or you say “fine.” Or you get nothing at all, just a blank where the answer should be. If you grew up in a toxic family and your brain is wired differently, there are specific, mechanical reasons why identifying your own emotions is so difficult. This episode takes that apart. Helen explains...

This week we're replaying one of our listeners' favourite episodes in which Patrick asks, is it autism or trauma? When we’ve grown up in chaos, it can be hard to untangle our trauma from who we truly are. In this episode, Patrick explores the tangled web of trust, identity, and survival after a lifetime shaped by narcissistic abuse - and a recent autism diagnosis that’s reframed everything. As he...

In this solo episode, Helen responds to a listener who feels at breaking point in a relationship shaped by chronic stress, emotional withdrawal and fear. With two young children in the home, she explores the weight of being expected to absorb a partner’s distress, manage the emotional atmosphere, and question your own character for reacting to behaviour that feels unsafe. Losing patience is often...

This week Helen is joined by Lucy, and together they explore the lasting impact of growing up with criticism, shaming and emotional chaos. Despite years of therapy and increased awareness, Lucy still carries a harsh internal voice shaped by her relationship with her mother, particularly around her body, appearance and worth. Confidence was treated as something dangerous, and self acceptance often...

In this episode, Helen speaks with Kate about the kind of guilt that forms when a child learns to survive by explaining away harm. Growing up in an emotionally unsafe home taught Kate to stay agreeable, take responsibility and protect her parents from accountability, even when their behaviour caused lasting damage. A central thread in the conversation is Kate’s reflection on her mother potentially...

In this conversation, Helen speaks with Sarah, who has carried a sense of not being good enough since childhood. Growing up in an environment where curiosity was treated as defiance and undiagnosed ADHD was seen as naughtiness, Sarah learned early that safety depended on silence, compliance and taking the blame. As an adult, that history lives on in self blame, people pleasing and the fear of lett...

In this episode, Helen sits with Evie as she unravels the painful chain reaction that followed the betrayal of a long-term friend. What began as a rupture in a twenty one year friendship opened the door to something much older. Memories of a childhood shaped by a narcissistic mother, the loss of her father, and years spent surviving rather than becoming herself. The fallout has stirred insomnia, n...

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application In this episode, Helen speaks directly to the challenges of parenting when your own childhood was marked by fear, invalidation or emotional neglect. Drawing on the questions she is asked most often, she explores why a child’s big feelings can feel overwhelming to a parent with trauma, how rescue becomes...

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-applicationUntangling love from duty when independence was denied. In this episode, Helen speaks with Isabel about the impossible guilt of growing up as the able-bodied sibling in a family built around care, control and expectation. From childhood, Isabel was told she would one day be responsible for her disabled si...

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-applicationIn this conversation, Helen is joined by author, coach and trainee psychotherapist Harriet Shearsmith to explore the emotional landscape of going no contact with a parent. Through listener questions, they speak to the grief that comes with choosing distance, particularly the longing for the parent you nev...

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application In this continuation of her story, Catherine speaks with Helen about the lasting effects of growing up unheard and disbelieved. Together they unpack the tension between wanting connection and fearing exposure, and how self-protection can harden into invisibility. Catherine reflects on her instinct to sta...

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application In part one of a two-part story, Helen speaks with Catherine about growing up unseen in a family where silence, perfection and religion shaped her sense of worth. Together they explore how childhood invisibility can follow us into adulthood, in relationships, work and even the body, showing up as discomf...

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application In this solo Q and A episode, Helen answers questions from the community on parenting ADHD, navigating school systems, and understanding late diagnosis. She explores why children are regulated at school and fall apart at home, how to reduce demands without losing boundaries, and what parents can do when...

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application In this week’s episode Helen meets Sarah, who shares her experience of estrangement after years of gaslighting, blame, and denial from her mother. Together they explore what happens when a parent refuses accountability, rewriting the past to protect their image and leaving their child burdened with guilt...

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application This week’s episode centres on the impossible balance between seeing the truth of a parent’s behaviour and still being in contact with them. Liz joins Helen to explore how conditioning, guilt, and fear of rejection can keep survivors tied to painful family dynamics. Together they unpack the cost of manag...

This week, Helen is joined by Erin, a Hub community moderator and trainee therapist, to answer a listener’s question about living with a narcissistic mother while coping with complex PTSD. Together they unpack how ongoing contact can trigger emotional flashbacks, why people pleasing and hyper-independence often develop as survival strategies, and the hard choices involved in setting boundaries. Th...

In this episode, originally released on our premium feed, Helen is joined by Jo Reader and Cat Chappell, psychotherapists and the voices behind The Fat Counsellors , for an unflinching and affirming conversation about shame, fatphobia, and the stories we inherit about our bodies. Together, they explore how body image is shaped by intergenerational trauma, how fatphobia shows up in therapy, family...

Helen talks with Lucinda, who is raising two neurodivergent children while breaking free from the patterns of a difficult childhood. Together they explore how she supports an autistic son through friendship struggles, helps an ADHD daughter manage big emotions, and finds ways to set firm yet compassionate boundaries. Lucinda shares the loneliness of carrying the mental load, the relief of small br...