Friendship Therapy Emma Reed Turrell

Welcome back to Friendship Therapy, and our last episode of season one! This is the bitesize episode, where Emma discusses her therapeutic takeaways from her conversation with this week's guests, Victoria and Helen.

Having met (and bonded over their shared love of musical theatre) at a time when many of their peers were meeting 'the one,' Victoria and Helen joined Emma on the podcast to talk about finding a life partner in a friend, the lack of representation of platonic relationships in the media, and the challenges that they have faced as two heterosexual women who have found a soulmate in each other.

In this bitesize episode, Emma reflects on the blind spots that she often sees in romantic relationships and explores some of the themes that came up in her conversation with Victoria and Helen, drawing on her 15 years of experience as a psychotherapist to answer some of the bigger questions when it comes to modern partnerships. Why is society still failing to recognise the significance and value of friendships? Does longevity equal success when it comes to relationships? And how can we create space in our relationships to allow each other to grow, develop, evolve and change? 


Find out what you might be missing: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/454959/what-am-i-missing-by-turrell-emma-reed/9780241624982

If you’d like to apply to appear on the podcast in season two, please click the link below to fill out the form:   

https://forms.gle/owsfs6DVxVdTMFo46  

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Friendship Therapy is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Chris Sharp and Lauren Brook.

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Social media:  

Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell

Friendship Therapy @friendshiptherapypod

Email: contact@friendshiptherapypod.co.uk

Welcome back to Friendship Therapy, the podcast where psychotherapist, author and podcaster Emma Reed Turrell looks at your friendship experiences through a therapy lens.

In the final full episode of season one (don't worry, there's still Friday's bitesize episode to come!), Emma chats to Helen, 29, and Victoria, 32, about the value of friendships compared to romantic relationships, finding your life partner within a platonic relationship, and why some partnerships simply can't be categorised - but that doesn't mean that they are any less valid or important.

Helen and Victoria, both working as teachers, met at a musical theatre society when they were in their late twenties and early thirties - a crucial time during which many of their peers were meeting 'the one' and building a life with a romantic partner. Meanwhile, Helen and Victoria found in each other a platonic soulmate, a life partner with whom they could share all the domesticities of daily life, and connect with deeply on an emotional level too. By society's standards, Helen and Victoria's relationship is very much outside of the norm, and they simply can't and won't fit neatly into a box that is recognisable, or even acceptable, to the people around them.

In this episode, Helen and Victoria share their experience of finding a soulmate in a friend, the radical acceptance and permission to be themselves that they bring to each other's lives, and their frustration at the way society has failed to recognise the significance and value of platonic relationships. Emma also reflects on a deeply meaningful platonic relationship in her own life, and identifies a potential blind spot that we could all overcome.

If you’d like to apply to appear on the podcast in season two, please click the link below to fill out the form:   

https://forms.gle/owsfs6DVxVdTMFo46  

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Friendship Therapy is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Chris Sharp and Lauren Brook.

--- 

Social media:  

Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell

Friendship Therapy @friendshiptherapypod

Email: contact@friendshiptherapypod.co.uk

Welcome back to Friendship Therapy! This is the bitesize episode, where Emma discusses her therapeutic takeaways from her conversation with this week's guest, Rachel.

On Monday's episode, Rachel bravely opened up about the loss of her father two years ago. It was a bereavement that, in her words, 'shone a light' on the friends who were willing to get in the trenches with her, and those who couldn't meet her where she was.

For Rachel, the death of her dad signified the end of an incredibly difficult six months since his re-diagnosis, during which she had to contend with the inevitable arrival of her very worst fear, and the loss of the hope that she had been holding on to since she was a 12 year old girl making wishes on birthday candles. The losses that Rachel had experienced since she was a child gave her a sense of vigilance that stayed with her into adulthood, causing her to feel fearful of change, particularly within her friendship groups.

In this bitesize episode, Emma explores where Rachel's fear of loss and endings originates from and how it is showing up in her friendships now, with the help of the blind spot profiles in her latest book, What am I Missing? Emma also explains the concept of 'compound loss' in therapy and how we can begin to navigate it, and why fear, hope, love and sadness exist most productively when we allow them to co-exist.

Find out more about the blind spot profiles: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/454959/what-am-i-missing-by-turrell-emma-reed/9780241624982

If you’d like to apply to appear on the podcast in season two, please click the link below to fill out the form:   

https://forms.gle/owsfs6DVxVdTMFo46  

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Friendship Therapy is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Chris Sharp and Lauren Brook.

--- 

Social media:  

Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell

Friendship Therapy @friendshiptherapypod

Email: contact@friendshiptherapypod.co.uk

Welcome back to Friendship Therapy, the podcast where psychotherapist, author and podcaster Emma Reed Turrell looks at your friendship experiences through a therapy lens. This week, Emma chats to 28-year-old Rachel about intertwining our identity with our friendships, the process of 'trimming' friends over time as we grow and age, and how the turbulence and loss of our teens and twenties can affect our friendships.

Rachel very sadly lost her dad when she was 26, and as an only child, she found the process of grieving incredibly isolating and lonely. It wasn't the first time she had gone through turbulence and change in her home life; Rachel's dad was first diagnosed with cancer when she was just 12 years old, and when she was 16, her parents separated. Without a sibling who she could share the loss with, Rachel's friends stepped in to hold her hand in the trenches of grief and help her navigate some of the most challenging moments in her life.

In this episode, Rachel speaks so honestly and candidly about grief, loss and hope, the parental role that she played in her friendship groups and how that changed and evolved over time, leaning into reciprocity in relationships, and navigating the fear of loss as our lives and friendships take on a different trajectory.

Learn more about the blind spots in Emma's new book, What am I Missing?: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/454959/what-am-i-missing-by-turrell-emma-reed/9780241624982

If you’d like to apply to appear on the podcast in season two, please click the link below to fill out the form:   

https://forms.gle/owsfs6DVxVdTMFo46  

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Friendship Therapy is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Chris Sharp and Lauren Brook.

--- 

Social media:  

Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell

Friendship Therapy @friendshiptherapypod

Email: contact@friendshiptherapypod.co.uk

Welcome back to Friendship Therapy! This is the bitesize episode, where Emma discusses her therapeutic takeaways from her conversation with this week's guest, Jemima.

Jemima joined us to talk about her experience of being diagnosied with dyspraxia when she was just six years old, and the impact that neurodivergence has had on her life and friendships. We heard about the remedial classes that she was put through, the hours spent throwing and catching balls in her back garden, the extra effort that she had to put in to try to fit in with the other children; all of which led her to resent her diagnosis. Later, in adulthood, Jemima found herself rejecting the idea of being 'parented' by her friends, having already spent almost her entire life being told what her limits were and what she definitely couldn't do because she is neurodivergent.

In this bitesize episode, Emma returns to Eric Berne's parent, adult, child model in transactional analysis, exploring how the different facets of the parent and child ego states might be showing up in Jemima's friendships and in her own internal processes.

Eric Berne's parent, adult, child theory: https://www.simplypsychology.org/transactional-analysis-eric-berne.html

If you’d like to apply to appear on the podcast in season two, please click the link below to fill out the form:   

https://forms.gle/owsfs6DVxVdTMFo46  

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Friendship Therapy is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Chris Sharp and Lauren Brook.

--- 

Social media:  

Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell

Friendship Therapy @friendshiptherapypod

Email: contact@friendshiptherapypod.co.uk

Welcome back to Friendship Therapy, the podcast where psychotherapist, author and podcaster Emma Reed Turrell looks at your friendship experiences through a therapy lens. This week, Emma chats to Jemima, who reached out to Emma to talk about the impact that neurodivergence has had on her friendships.

Diagnosed at just six years old, dyspraxia has affected every aspect of Jemima's life since she was a small child, from being put into remedial classes at school, to throwing and catching balls with her brother so she could be more like the other children. Jemima's family just wanted to keep her safe from a world that didn't necessarily understand her, but Jemima wanted to reject her dyspraxia diagnosis altogether. Now, as a woman in her forties, she has come to learn a lot about herself and the way she exists in the world as a neurodiverse woman with her own unique experiences in life and in friendship.

In this episode, Jemima generously shares how she navigates friendship and dyspraxia. We hear about her experience of being neurodivergent in a world that doesn't always celebrate difference, struggling with burnout and feelings of rejection and abandonment, and through it all, the unwavering support, love and encouragement that her friends and family have shown her.

Jemima's story reminds us that when we mess up, as we inevitably will, having grace for ourselves and for our friends can be an incredibly powerful metric of friendship.

To find out more about Eric Berne's Parent, Adult, Child theory, click here:  https://www.simplypsychology.org/transactional-analysis-eric-berne.html

Information on dyspraxia from the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia-in-adults/

Exceptional Individuals - https://exceptionalindividuals.com/

Some book recommendations from Jemima:

The Lion Who Wanted to Love - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lion-Who-Wanted-Love/dp/1860399134/ref=asc_df_1860399134/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697208928393&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9929041182393392105&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046002&hvtargid=pla-537898099083&psc=1&mcid=36f7310928af3f02b640a4340b0442d0&th=1&psc=1&gad_source=1

Autism in Heels - https://booksplea.se/autism-in-heels-the-untold-story-of-a-female-life-on-the-spectrum-by-jennifer-cook-otoole/?setCurrencyId=1&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqanE7ZXbhgMVspVQBh3j_QLDEAQYASABEgL6MfD_BwE

Rhinocorn Rules - https://www.theworks.co.uk/p/picture-books/rhinocorn-rules/WKS_9780008617103.html?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyLf5iZbbhgMVw4hQBh2_rAo8EAQYASABEgJYv_D_BwE

If you’d like to apply to appear on the podcast in season two, please click the link below to fill out the form:   

https://forms.gle/owsfs6DVxVdTMFo46  

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Friendship Therapy is hosted by...