The Wellbeing Lab with Will Young

Grief is a universal experience, but one that we navigate alone. It's also one of the most-requested topics for me to cover here at the Wellbeing Lab. So, for the final episode of Season 2 I talk with Andy Langford about grief and bereavement. Andy has worked in this field for over twenty years and is the Clinical Director at the charity Cruse. They help people with bereavement support, informatio...

Ooh I'm excited to get into this week's topic. It's quite a complicated subject, but it's one of my favourites to discuss... codependency. When I learnt about codependency it was a lightbulb moment and I hope you glean some useful information from it. My guest is counselling psychologist Dr Jane Halsall who has a special interest in addiction. We mention a few resources in the episode: You can fin...

This week I welcome back the excellent Jo Stubley. She's a Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy at the Tavistock Clinic and an expert on trauma, so I invited her back to talk to me about complex post-traumatic stress disorder. We talk about diagnosis, treatment, some of the problems around the naming of these experiences and of course have a few jokes along the way. During the conversation Jo...

Do you find it easy to express yourself? If so, how do you like to do it? This week I'm talking to art psychotherapist Charlotte Daley. She works predominantly with children and young people, helping them interpret and express their emotions whilst they create a piece of art. It's a form of therapy that I've benefitted from in the past, so I wanted to bring it to you and discuss some of the theory...

This week's episode came from a chance meeting in the sunshine. Each year I attend the Chelsea Flower Show with my mum and this summer one of the gardens was made in partnership with a charity. It's called the Centre for Mental Health and their aim is to reduce mental health inequalities by building research evidence to create fairer mental health policy. I got chatting to Andy Bell , the Chief Ex...

Nobody's perfect*, but striving for perfection can get us into mental health troubles and affect our day-to-day lives. My guest, Thomas Curran , is the world's leading expert on perfectionism and in his book The Perfection Trap , he shares his personal experience of how impossibly high expectations stand in the way of happiness, health, and success. He also talks about why this is a growing proble...

How do you perceive hypnosis? Do you fully fathom your subconscious? Well, I'm so excited to bring you this episode because I start to understand those questions and many more. My guest is the hypnotherapist Jessica Boston and she really helped me get to grips with what hypnosis is, how it works and how it can be used to help us move forward if we're struggling with a problem. We also dispel some...

Today's topic is one of my favourites to discuss and I explain why with my guest Sarah Calvert. She's a psychotherapist who specialises in psychosexual therapy and relationships. We get deep into the common problems with communication between two people, why we slip into these habits and what we can do about it. Sarah kindly came up with an invitation for you to try if you want to improve your com...

How do you feel when you spend time in nature? Have you ever hugged a tree? We all know it's supposed to do us good, so I went forest bathing to find out just what nature can do for our mental health. My guests are Gary and Olga Evans from The Forest Bathing Institute . They're two very dedicated people and they have a lot of knowledge about the science behind forest bathing. I had a really lovely...

Another hotly requested topic for you this week. It's Borderline Personality Disorder, explained and explored by the wonderful Dr Chetna Kang. Dr Chetna makes her return to the Wellbeing Lab to delve into the causes of BPD, the symptoms, the treatments and the misconceptions. If you're looking for information on Marsha M. Linehan, the developer of dialectical behaviour therapy mentioned in the epi...

Shame can be one of the most painful and difficult emotions to deal with and most of the time, when it arises, we don't even deserve to feel it! It's a complex topic so I called in Dr June Tangney to discuss it with me because she's been working in the field of moral emotions for decades. We talk about what moral emotions are, the difference between shame and guilt and the ways in which society's...

Countless people all over the world swear by the ancient practice of acupuncture, where very fine needles are inserted at certain sites in the body for therapeutic or preventative purposes. I've had acupuncture many times and I find it very clarifying. In this episode I speak to Gerad Kite , a Five Element acupuncture master who runs a clinic and a training school in London. He talks about the ori...

I'm getting scientific this week! I'm delving into the world of epigenetics, which is the study of how our behaviours and environment can cause changes that affect the way our genes work. It's a relatively new field, so I called up the wonderful Dr Chloe Wong to give me the latest. Dr Chloe is a senior lecturer in epigenetics and she works at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre...

We all know that exercise is good for us and, usually, makes us feel better, but why? In this episode I learn about the science of what happens when we exercise, how technology can aid our exercise efforts and that everything I thought I knew about endorphins is wrong. My guest is Dr Joseph Firth, a UKRI research fellow at Manchester University, who researches physical health and lifestyle interve...

In this episode I learn about Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, a very severe form of premenstrual syndrome which causes extreme emotional and physical symptoms. My guest is the wonderfully funny Annika Waheed, who is an educator, a patient expert in PMDD and an advocate for those who have it. You can follow her on Instagram @Hormonesandheartache Please take care whilst listening to this episode as...

Self-love can be a difficult goal to achieve and self-hatred isn't a desirable state to be in, so where is the middle ground? Well, acceptance is the antidote to self-hatred, according to The School of Life's book on the subject . I dig into this idea with Sarah Stein Lubrano from The School of Life , discussing the roles of expectations, compassion and friendship, plus we go off on a short tangen...

I've heard people describe the gut as the second brain and if it's important to look after the health of our brain, is it also important to look after our gut health too? Who better to ask than Professor Tim Spector, the epidemiologist and science writer who knows everything there is to know about our guts and the important microbes that live within them. He told me about the link to our immune sy...

In this week's episode I'm talking about adult-diagnosed ADHD. It's something I've been hearing a lot about recently, so I wanted to find out what it's like to get an ADHD diagnosis as an adult and how that can effect your life going forward. My guest is the amazing Vivienne Isebor. She's the founder of ADHD Babes , as well as being a psychotherapist and a singer... and she's very funny. The Wellb...

Is there a better job title than neuropsychopharmacologist? I think not and today I'm lucky enough to speak to one. His name is Professor David Nutt and he's an expert on the use of psychedelic drugs to treat things like depression, addiction and anxiety. We cover a lot of ground and get into some deep questions as we explore a very interesting area of study. If you're looking for more information...

Welcome! The hiatus has come to an end, dear listener. I'm back with a fresh batch of episodes of The Wellbeing Lab and the season begins with a biggie. I'm unpacking confidence. How to get it, how to keep it and why it might be lacking in the first place. Many of you have been in touch asking me to cover this, so I settled down for a chat with psychotherapist and Sunday Times bestselling author A...

We've reached the final episode of Season 1 and I've saved one of my favourite topics 'til last. In this episode I explore the world of attachment with research scientist Dr. Suzanne Zeedyk. Dr. Suzanne's research begins with tiny babies, but she says our attachment styles can affect us into adulthood. It's fascinating stuff. If you want to learn more, you can read up on attachment on Dr. Suzanne'...

I'm trying out yoga therapy this week with the wonderful Colleen Lally. I went along to a session with Colleen to find out how yoga therapy differs from the yoga I'm used to and to discover who it helps. I describe the session later in the episode, but first you'll hear my chat with Colleen which we recorded a few days after our first meeting. You can find out all about the Recovery Wellness Colle...

How do you feel when you think about your finances? Does it bring up difficult emotions? Money can be a hard thing to talk about and is often closely linked to our mental health. I decided to dig into the common issues that link money and mental health with Helen Undy, who's the Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. If you'd like to access any of the helpful resources He...

This week I'm diving deep into the complex world of abandonment with the psychotherapist and abandonment expert Susan Anderson. We talk about the universal experience of abandonment fear, why it affects some of us more than others, and the work we can do to overcome it. If you're looking for further information on abandonment, you can find out about Susan's books and events on her website . The bo...

Cold water swimming has exploded in popularity in recent years and many people say taking a chilly dip helps with their mental health, so I thought I'd try it out. Now, I have to come clean and tell you that, although I was swimming outdoors in a lake, my swim wouldn't officially be classed as a cold water swim because the water was actually quite warm... but I still felt many benefits and I squea...