The Thrive Programme Podcast

What does it really mean to thrive? As Sophie explains in this episode, “Thriving is what you’re doing every day to make the best out of that day.” It’s a simple idea, but one that ultimately transformed her life. Sophie lives with autism, ADHD, OCD, emetophobia, and a history of significant mental health challenges, including depression and suicide attempts. For many years, everyday tasks felt ov...

In this episode, Lucy is joined by Mícheál for an honest and empowering conversation about social anxiety - where it really comes from and how to overcome it. Mícheál shares his personal experience of struggling with confidence in his 20s. At the time, he was putting huge pressure on himself to fit in, be liked, and measure up to everyone else. Social situations felt uncomfortable and draining, no...

In this week’s episode, Lucy Wood is joined by Sue Tetley, who shares her powerful story of navigating the emotional highs and lows of IVF - and how learning to thrive transformed her experience along the way. For Sue, the IVF journey had become an exhausting cycle of hope and heartbreak: trying, being disappointed, picking herself up, and finding the strength to try again. Alongside the emotional...

In today’s episode, Lucy is joined by Philippa Saunders for an honest conversation about why forgiveness is an internal act of power - something you do for you , not for the other person, and not in response to what they did or didn’t do. Philippa opens up about her experience of feeling let down by her father during her teen years, and how those moments shaped her self-esteem and her expectations...

Ladies of a certain age - this one’s for you. If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking “I’m old… past it… life is slowing down… why don’t I feel like myself anymore?.  Or if the symptoms of menopause and this stage of life (let’s be honest, it’s busy isn’t it) have been dulling your sparkle - this episode is your invitation to take back the helm. This week, Lucy is joined by Sue Tetley (Thrive Prog...

In this episode, Lucy sits down with Anne Best – a Thrive Programme Coach based in Glasgow, Scotland – to discuss how The Thrive Programme helped her (and continues to help her) navigate her journey of living with hearing loss.   Anne lost her hearing after a complicated journey with asthma and repeated ear, nose and throat infections, and now has bone-anchored hearing aids.  Anne reflects on her...

As the days grow shorter and the air turns colder, it’s easy to feel like winter happens to you. But what if that’s not the full story? In this empowering conversation, Lucy is joined by Thrive Programme Coach Shannon Sullivan to explore how to take your power back during the winter months. Together, they challenge the idea that low mood, sadness, or ‘winter blues’ are caused by the weather - and...

In this episode, Lucy sits down with Bobby Carlin to talk about the meaning of thriving. Thriving isn’t a static thing that you ‘get’ or ‘are’ - it’s a mindset you develop, a set of insights and skills you equip yourself with, a way of living that empowers you to be the best version of yourself – it’s very much a ‘doing’ thing.  Bobby explains why thriving is not about chasing perfection, constant...

In this episode, Lucy chats with Sam, who recently completed the Thrive Programme and turned his life around after struggling with both emetophobia and agoraphobia. Before starting The Thrive Programme, Sam would’ve described himself as ‘just an anxious person’. He says 90% of his thoughts every day were stressful, fearful, and anxious. It’s no wonder he found it hard to even leave the house witho...

This week, Lucy is joined by Charlie Sampson for an honest and inspiring conversation about anxiety and panic attacks affected him throughout his career.   Charlie opens up about the imposter syndrome he felt during his early career, his first panic attack in front of his colleagues, and the anxiety he silently battled whilst CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi. For years, medication helped him manage, b...

This week, Lucy chats with Claire Gildersleve — a teacher at The BRIT School who is also a Thrive Programme Coach for the school working directly with students and staff. With 15+ years of experience on the front line of teen mental health, Claire shares her perspective on what young people are really facing today: The constant pressure of social media Body image worries and comparison Anxiety abo...

This week, Lucy chats with Bex Clements, who spent years navigating life around IBS — avoiding coffee, cutting out fruit, eating ‘safe’ foods before flights, and basically relying on every external fix she could find. She was managing her symptoms, but unable to not create them in the first place, until she went through The Thrive Programme!  What was behind her daily discomfort? It wasn’t the foo...

In this episode, Lucy is joined by Micheál who found himself struggling with physical symptoms of anxiety when he left university. Having no idea what was happening, he was understandably quite concerned by the light headedness and chest pains which resulted in trips to the doctor and even the hospital – to be told it was ‘just anxiety’.  Micheál fell into an anxious thinking pattern – worrying th...

This week, Lucy chatted with Ben Howard to explore his personal journey with mental health — from struggling with low self-esteem in his teenage years to experiencing depression, social anxiety, and body dysmorphia that left him feeling like he didn’t want to be here anymore. Ben opens up about what it was like to feel constantly not good enough, to be trapped in critical self-talk, and to believe...

In today’s powerful episode, Lucy sits down with Sally Measures — who spent 35 years in the corporate world silently battling imposter syndrome. From the outside, Sally looked confident and successful… but on the inside, she was constantly questioning her worth. Together, Lucy and Sally chat through: What imposter syndrome really is How it shows up — through overworking, people pleasing, perfectio...

Let’s be real, parenting an anxious child is tough. This episode is for you if you’re a parent who’s doing their best, feeling the pressure, and wondering how to help their child while staying afloat yourself. You’re not alone and trust us – you don’t have to simply survive this stage.  In this episode, Lucy is joined by Chloe Tunnicliffe who has been there, lived it, learned from it. Chloe says s...

In this episode, we’re diving into a topic many parents face: school avoidance. From the subtle warning signs to the emotional rollercoaster it brings, we discuss what it’s really like when a child starts refusing school—and how you can gently and effectively support them back. Claire Leahy joins Lucy to share her personal experience with her daughter—how the signs crept in before she realised wha...

The way you talk to yourself matters. In this episode, Lucy is joined by Philippa Saunders to explore the language of your thoughts — how the words you use in your head shape how you feel, what you believe, and what you think you're capable of. So often, we assume the voice in our head is telling us the truth—but what if it’s not? What if the stories we repeat daily are actually holding us ba...

This week, Lucy is joined by Krystel Vida – a lovely lady who has a truly inspirational story. She is the epitome of thriving. Krystel had a challenging childhood and moved to the UK from France by herself to start her life from scratch a few years ago. Shortly after finding a job, she was in a bad car crash which was the catalyst for her mental health to start spiralling down. Grieving the loss o...

This week, Kayane Watson joins Lucy to share her inspirational story of getting herself through a sudden life and death situation. Using the knowledge and skills she had learned having done The Thrive Programme a couple of years before, she was able to approach a really scary situation with a sense of calm and control.  Kayane explains the moment she discovered something was wrong and there was a...

This week, Lucy is joined by Irene Diego Garcia – a Thrive Programme Coach originally from Spain, but now working and living in the UK. Irene explains how her perfectionism affected her for years. A very qualified, hard-working vet, yet she was in a constant state of not feeling good enough, feeling like an imposter and creating daily anxiety and overwhelm.    Perfectionism is a response to not fe...

Despite how it might feel, it's not the past event ‘making you’ feel the way you do. It's the way you're thinking about it in the present moment.  Changing the way you think about the past will have a massive impact on your future.  In this episode, Lucy is joined by Jodi Stones – a Thrive Programme Coach based in Northern Ireland, who was told she might not survive when there were...

Parenting, in general, can feel like a daunting task! Every parent wants to raise happy, mentally fit, thriving children...but where do you start? There are many attributes that parents can foster in their children in order to ensure they are thriving. In this week’s episode, Thrive Programme Coach Dom Marcotte joins Lucy to share a little about her own parenting journey; how she supported her dau...

This week, Lucy is joined by Matt Christofaro - a Thrive Programme Coach based in America, who previously struggled with frequent panic attacks—especially in important work meetings and interviews. In this episode, Matt explains the underlying thinking styles and beliefs that were causing him to create such big emotions and also how he overcame it – what he needed to know and then do to rid himsel...

This episode is all about changing the narrative around vaginismus. No more outdated advice, ineffective quick fixes, or feeling like you're the only one struggling. Instead, you'll gain a fresh, empowering perspective, practical strategies, and real success stories—proving that effective help does exist. What is vaginismus? Vaginismus is a condition that makes sexual penetration painful...