In this episode, I speak with England rugby captain Megan Jones about grief, pressure, identity and what it means to keep going when life changes completely. Megan shares the experience of losing both of her parents within six months, growing up alongside her mother’s addiction, and how rugby, journaling and the people around her have helped her carry both pain and love at the same time.

Ahead of Celebration Day on Monday 25th May, a day that invites us all to raise a glass and remember someone we love and miss, Megan reflects on the small everyday moments she still holds onto most: cups of tea with her dad, car journeys, stories, laughter and feeling fully accepted by her parents. We talk about vulnerability, belonging, leadership and why the people we lose continue to shape who we are long after they’re gone.
Join in the celebrations and celebrate someone this Monday 25th May: https://www.celebrationday.com/
Follow Meg on Instagram: @thanksmeg

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Grieving someone you love? Julia's Grief Works Support Programme offers structured, expert-led help, with 94% of people reporting feeling better after using it. As a podcast listener you can get 25% off plus a 30-day money-back guarantee here - www.griefworks.com/therapy

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

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In this episode of Therapy Works, Julia is joined by Mark Williamson, co-founder and director of Action for Happiness and author of the number one bestselling book Make Life Happier. Together, they explore what happiness really means, not as a perfect destination, but as a direction of travel shaped by agency, relationships, kindness, purpose and the small actions we take each day.

Mark reflects on his own journey from outward success and inner struggle to discovering the deep connection between mental and physical health. He and Julia discuss why self-care and care for others must go hand in hand, how old patterns shape our relationships, why kindness benefits both giver and receiver, and how slowing down can help us notice the ordinary moments that make life meaningful.
Buy his book: https://amzn.eu/d/03sTolwL

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Grieving someone you love? Julia's Grief Works Support Programme offers structured, expert-led help, with 94% of people reporting feeling better after using it. As a podcast listener you can get 25% off plus a 30-day money-back guarantee here - www.griefworks.com/therapy

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

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This week, our Agony Aunties tackle a dilemma that is becoming the "new normal" for many: the 30-something child who simply won’t fly the nest. When a listener writes in feeling a mix of deep love and growing resentment toward her 33-year-old son, the team explores how to transition from a parent-child dynamic to a boundary-led adult relationship. From discussing the "maturation crisis" among young men to the financial realities of modern housing, they offer a toolkit for having the "big talk" without it sounding like a rejection. It’s a thoughtful look at why multigenerational living doesn't have to be a failure - it just needs a serious reorientation of expectations and a naming of the "silent things" in the room.

Send in your question to [email protected]

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Grieving someone you love? Julia's Grief Works Support Programme offers structured, expert-led help, with 94% of people reporting feeling better after using it. As a podcast listener you can get 25% off plus a 30-day money-back guarantee here - www.griefworks.com/therapy

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

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In this episode of Therapy Works, I’m joined by garden designer, writer and Gardeners’ World presenter Arit Anderson to talk about the deeply personal story behind her Chelsea Flower Show garden for Parkinson’s UK. Arit shares how her sister’s Parkinson’s diagnosis inspired the garden, and how she hopes it will raise awareness, understanding and support for those living with the condition.

We also explore the healing power of gardens, nature and colour, and how planting, movement and simply being outside can offer hope, grounding and renewal. This is a moving conversation about family, resilience, creativity, and how even in the face of illness, a garden can become a place of beauty, connection and possibility.
Find out more about Parkinson’s UK: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Grieving someone you love? Julia's Grief Works Support Programme offers structured, expert-led help, with 94% of people reporting feeling better after using it. As a podcast listener you can get 25% off plus a 30-day money-back guarantee here - www.griefworks.com/therapy

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

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In this Agony Aunties episode, Emily, Sophie and Julia respond to a moving question from a listener navigating grief after the loss of her husband, and the added pain of feeling let down by her siblings. Together, they explore the loneliness that can follow bereavement, why family members often struggle to show up in the way we need, and how unspoken expectations, old family dynamics and fear around grief can create distance. They reflect on how to communicate needs more clearly, make sense of disappointment, and gently find support beyond your immediate family when it’s not available in the way you hoped.

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Grieving someone you love? Julia's Grief Works Support Programme offers structured, expert-led help, with 94% of people reporting feeling better after using it. As a podcast listener you can get 25% off plus a 30-day money-back guarantee here - www.griefworks.com/therapy

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this special bonus episode of Therapy Works, recorded live, I’m joined by the wonderful Helen Fielding - journalist, novelist, and creator of the iconic Bridget Jones. Together we explore the challenge of writing about grief, the death of Mark Darcy, and the tender, complicated reality of supporting children through loss, while still allowing space for laughter, mess, and life.
Helen speaks with such honesty, wit and wisdom about creativity, motherhood, humour, and the very human gap between who we feel we should be and who we really are. It is a moving and funny conversation about being loved “just as you are”, and about how stories can help us feel less alone.
Find Helen:


Instagram: @helenfielding

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Grieving someone you love? Julia's Grief Works Support Programme offers structured, expert-led help, with 94% of people reporting feeling better after using it. As a podcast listener you can get 25% off plus a 30-day money-back guarantee here - www.griefworks.com/therapy

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, the Agony Aunties respond to a parent struggling to support their son through GCSE exam stress, offering a compassionate reminder that while exams can feel overwhelming, the most powerful thing a parent can provide is connection—not solutions. The Agony Aunties explore how to open supportive, pressure-free conversations, encourage collaboration rather than control, and gently help teenagers manage anxiety by breaking things into smaller, more manageable chunks. They also highlight the importance of honesty around parental expectations, the value of rest and self-care (balanced with realism about teenage habits), and reassuring both parent and child that even worst-case scenarios are not the end of the road. Above all, the Agony Aunties emphasise that feeling understood and not alone is often the greatest stabiliser during stressful times—and that, ultimately, exams will pass.

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Grieving someone you love? Julia's Grief Works Support Programme offers structured, expert-led help, with 94% of people reporting feeling better after using it. As a podcast listener you can get 25% off plus a 30-day money-back guarantee here - www.griefworks.com/therapy

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, I speak with psychiatrist, neuroscientist and author Amir Levine about his new book Secure, and how we can move towards more secure attachment in our relationships. Amir explains why attachment is not a fixed label, but something far more flexible and alive, shaped by the people and environments around us. We explore the biology of connection, why exclusion can feel like physical pain, and how our ancient need for safety and belonging still drives so much of our behaviour today.
We also talk about how change happens through the small, everyday interactions that either deepen insecurity or help us build trust. Amir shares his CARRP framework, consistency, availability, responsiveness, reliability and predictability, and how these qualities can create a more secure life. Together we reflect on anxious and avoidant patterns, the protest-regret cycle, dating, loneliness, friendship, secure villages and how, especially in an uncertain world, our relationships can become the shield that helps us endure.

Buy his book 'Secure: Rewire Your Attachment Style and Transform Your Relationships, Health and Happiness': https://amzn.eu/d/05fucNjI

Find Amir: https://amirlevinemd.com/

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Grieving someone you love? Julia's Grief Works Support Programme offers structured, expert-led help, with 94% of people reporting feeling better after using it. As a podcast listener you can get 25% off plus a 30-day money-back guarantee here - www.griefworks.com/therapy

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

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The Agony Aunties respond to a heartfelt question from a listener struggling with ongoing financial stress following COVID and the rising cost of living. They explore how money anxiety taps into deep feelings of uncertainty, lack of control, and shame, and why these pressures can ripple into sleep, relationships, and family dynamics. The Agony Aunties gently reframe the experience, encouraging self-compassion over self-blame, and highlighting how external factors - like global instability and economic shifts - play a significant role. Alongside emotional support, they offer practical guidance: balancing worry with moments of gratitude, having open and honest conversations to reduce shame, seeking connection and shared experiences, and taking small, manageable financial steps to regain a sense of agency. This episode is a compassionate reminder that you’re not alone, that this is hard, and that support - both emotional and practical - is available.

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Download the Grief Works app here: https://www.griefworks.com/ 

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

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In this episode, I’m joined by the wonderful Liz Earle, entrepreneur, author and passionate advocate for women’s wellbeing, to talk about her powerful new book, How To Age. Together we explore what it really means to age well, and how midlife can become a time not of decline, but of renewal. Liz shares her own experience of turning 60, navigating divorce, loneliness and hormonal change, and how she found her way to feeling stronger, fitter and happier than she did in her forties and fifties.
We also talk about the science behind ageing in a way that feels accessible and hopeful, from hormones and mitochondria to sunlight, movement, purpose and connection. At the heart of this conversation is Liz’s rallying cry that it is never too late to make meaningful changes, and my own belief that we need to give ourselves far more permission to prioritise our health, our joy and our sense of self. It is a conversation full of wisdom, encouragement and practical hope.

Buy Liz’s book (out 23rd April): https://amzn.eu/d/0h4HNpXT

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Download the Grief Works app here: https://www.griefworks.com/ 

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

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In this episode, the Agony Aunties respond to a listener facing multiple bereavements, a late ADHD diagnosis, and ongoing anxiety, leaving her unsure how to understand what she’s feeling or what support she needs. They explore how grief, trauma, and ADHD symptoms often overlap, suggesting it’s more helpful to focus on regulating the nervous system than trying to separate causes. They discuss the importance of connection, updating coping strategies when they stop working, and creating gentle daily structure to ease overwhelm. Above all, they encourage allowing the messiness of grief and embracing this uncertain “in-between” space with compassion and patience.

More from Therapy Works:

Subscribe to the Therapy Works Substack for guidance on everyday struggles and access to Julia’s monthly live webinar: https://juliasamuel.substack.com/

Download the Grief Works app here: https://www.griefworks.com/ 

Follow Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe for tips, tools, and conversations about navigating life’s challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider rating, reviewing, and subscribing - it makes a big difference and helps others discover these conversations.

If you need help finding a therapist, visit: The Samuel Therapy Practice

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices