My Sh*t Therapist My Sh*t Therapist

Hello I’m Michelle Thomas and welcome to My Shit Therapist, the podcast pick of the week in The Times! The actual Times! I’m so happy and proud. I’m a one woman band, and sometimes it can feel like I'm chucking stuff out into the void. It’s hard to make an impact with no marketing budget and a full time job, so I’m really glad to have a bit of recognition, and I’m really glad you’re here. And if you want to spread the word you can leave a lovely 5 star review and subscribe , and I’ll be your friend forever. 


Today I’m speaking with Hywel Harrington, a trainee therapist from South Wales who now lives in Bristol. 


Just a heads up, when I spoke to Hywel he was recovering from top surgery, and we’re going to talk a little bit about the details of that, we’re also going to touch on gender dysphoria, substance abuse, and a suicide attempt, so as ever if you’re not feeling up to it today, come back another time.  


Having said that we do laugh a lot in this episode, and Hywel is incredibly charming and funny and wonderful, you’re going to love him.




You can find Hywel’s Instagram account @howl.skellington because it’s spooky season. 


Thank you so much for listening, until next time take care and take your meds xx

Hello hello! I’ve been quiet for a couple of months.


I love doing this podcast, but I work full time and I’m planning to write another book, a follow up to My Sh*t Therapist and other mental health stories, and doing ALL THE THINGS ALL THE TIMES during, y'know, The Apocalypse is a lot 


So from now’ll be releasing a new episode of My Sh*t Therapist every month. And I’m very excited abut some of the sexy stuff I’ve got lined up for you fo the next six months. Let’s get into it. 


For this episode I spoke with the luminescent author Caroline O’Donoghue. Caroline is the author of Scenes of a Graphic Nature, which is a beautiful dark stormy jewel of a book that I loved last summer. 


We talked about her on off relationship with talking therapy, why Freud and Jung are like the Jets and the Sharks, sexy 70s names, books, tarot, catholicism, and coping with grief.


I love her and I think you’re going to love this. 

No guest this week, so here's a quick run down of what I've been up to, including making a BBC documentary and seeing a new therapist x

In this episode I’m takng to mental health author Kate Lucey. If you enjoy my book, My Sh*t Therapist and other mental health stories, I think you’ll really like her book, Get a Grip, Love. It’s a chatty, accessible, no-nonsense book about her experience with depression, medication, therapy and more. 

 

She’s a fellow Welsh lass, - shes’s from the South, I’m from the North: we have our differences at home but across the border we present a united front. 

 

We also spoke at a time when her brain was acting like a dickhead so I'm particularly thankful that Kate took the time to have a chat. I know how easy it is to push the world away when your brain tells you no one wants to hear what you have to say. 

 
You can follow her @katelucey on Insta and Twitter. 

Amanda Prowse is one of the most prolific novelists working today – she’s published 27 novels, many of which have been best-sellers all over the world including An Ordinary life, The Girl In The Corner, and The Coordinates Of Loss. 

 

She has co-written one non-fiction title, The Boy Between, with her son Josiah (Josh) Hartley about his suicidal depression. 

We talk very candidly about Josh’s suicide attempts and self-harm. Please only listen if you’re feeling up to it, if you think it’s going to trigger you, give it a miss.

 

I loved this conversation because it’s the first time I’ve spoken to a mother and child about their collective experience of one person’s illness, and they both absolutely radiate with love for each other. So although parts it are very, very painful, the love that exists in spite of and because of that pain, is a privilege to witness. 

 

If you have a mental health story and you’d like to be a guest on the podcast, email me at myshittherapist at gmail.com or follow me on twitter @michelletomos or @myshittherapistpod 

 

The Boy Between is out now, Amanda is @mrsamandaprowse on Instagram and Josh is @josiahhartley97. 

 

Thank you for listening, until next time take care and take your meds 

 

In this episode I’m taking to the brilliant, incisive and wise Nell Frizzell. Nell is the author of the book The Panic Years which explores that tumultuous period the late twenties and early forties when women (and men) are faced with weighty, life-changing decisions about parenthood, careers, relationships. She also hosts a podcast of the same name which is ace. 




Nell’s been in therapy for about 9 years and after chatting about th do's and don'ts of choosing a therapist (do trust your instincts, don't go by Google images alone), we fell into talking about how we can examine our relationship with our fathers and how that’s perceived in women and men. 

 

You can follow Nell on twitter @nellfrizzell. You can email me at myshittherapist at gmail.com