23 MAR

The Self-Compassion That Mothers Actually Need with Suzy Reading

Motherhood asks so much of us — emotionally, mentally, physically — and yet many mothers move through this transition feeling unsupported, overwhelmed, and quietly questioning themselves. In this episode of MamaThrive, I’m joined by psychologist, wellbeing expert, and author Suzy Reading for a thoughtful and deeply compassionate conversation about the realities of modern motherhood. Suzy’s work focuses on helping women develop sustainable wellbeing practices and cultivate self-compassion in the midst of life’s demands — something that feels particularly vital for mothers navigating the emotional and identity shifts that come with caring for others. Together, we explore: • Why motherhood can feel so emotionally intense and destabilising • The hidden pressures mothers carry every day • How self-compassion changes the way we experience overwhelm • The difference between self-care and sustainable wellbeing • Practical ways to build resilience within the realities of motherhood This conversation offers reassurance, insight, and practical tools for mothers who want to care for themselves with the same compassion they offer everyone else. If you’ve ever felt stretched, depleted, or unsure how to hold everything motherhood asks of you, this episode is a gentle reminder that you are not alone — and that caring for yourself is not selfish, but essential. As always, we continue this conversation over on Instagram. Come join us there. Resources: WebsiteInstagram About Suzy Reading Suzy Reading is a Chartered Psychologist and one of the UK’s leading self-care and self-advocacy experts. She has three decades of experience in the health and wellbeing industry, drawing on her qualifications in yoga and personal training, together with psychology, to empower people with sustainable healthy lifestyle habits. Suzy has a special interest in helping people heal their relationship with ‘self’. She is a monthly columnist for Top Sante Magazine; the Psychology Expert for Neom Organics; the Wellbeing Ambassador for BABTAC and is a founding member of the ‘Nourish’ app. She is the author of The Little Book of Self-Care, The Self-Care Revolution, Stand Tall Like a Mountain, Self-care for Tough Times, This Book Will (Help) Make You Happy, And Breathe, Sit to Get Fit, Rest to Reset and Self-care for Winter. How to Be Selfish is hot of the press.

45 min

21 JAN

MamaThrive Is Back: Motherhood as a Rite of Passage | Reclaimed Motherhood™

Mama Thrive is back — and this return marks a deeper evolution in how we understand and support motherhood. In this opening episode of the new season, host Kendra Blake reflects on why she stepped away, what motherhood has continued to teach her beneath the surface, and how her work has evolved into the Reclaimed Motherhood Method™ — a compassion-led framework that honours motherhood as a rite of passage, rather than a role to simply cope with or perform. Drawing on lived experience and years of supporting mothers in practice, this episode explores matrescence, identity shifts in motherhood, nervous system overwhelm, and the quiet gaps many mothers — and motherhood support professionals — feel within traditional models of care. This episode is an invitation to slow down and re-enter the conversation around motherhood with more depth, nuance, and humanity. It speaks to mothers who sense there is more beneath the surface of modern motherhood, and to the therapists, doulas, clinicians, and practitioners who support them and are seeking more embodied, ethical, and sustainable ways of working. Mama Thrive now sits at the intersection of motherhood and motherhood support — offering honest reflections, thoughtful conversations, and a reframing of motherhood not as something to “get through,” but something to reclaim, integrate, and live with meaning

15 min

14/02/2025

Matrescence and the Emotions that we Experience as Mothers.

Due to the sensitive nature of some of the information covered in this conversation, please note the following: Dr Caroline Boyd and Kendra start the call with a discussion concerning Intrusive Thoughts. It's important to make a distinction between the kinds of intrusive thoughts Caroline talks about and the kinds of thoughts arising in postpartum psychosis. Signs of postpartum psychosis can include mania, delusions and hallucinations - Action on Postpartum Psychosis offer more information & resources. If you're having an overwhelming sense or intention to hurt yourself or your baby, and making plans to do so, please seek help immediately, by calling 999 or visiting your local A&E. In this episode of MamaThrive, I have the privilege of being joined by Caroline Boyd, a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with over 10 years’ experience working to support parents perinatally. Together we explore how our experience of motherhood is driven by the patriarchal society we live in, and the internalised beliefs we hold around what makes a “good girl” and “good mother”. We discuss the effects this has on our expression of our emotions - especially anger - and how we can best care for ourselves within our very human experience of being mamas. If you have found yourself struggling with feelings such as anger, shame or guilt in motherhood then I’d love to invite you to listen to this episode. Dr Boyd has a gentle, validating and affirming manner to her approach to emotions in motherhood - and it’s a must listen! I’d love to hear your experience of this episode, please feel free to drop a comment below with any of your thoughts and share the link with anyone whom you think might benefit from giving this episode a listen! As always, we continue this conversation over onInstagram. Come join us there. Resources: Website Instagram About Caroline Boyd Caroline Boyd is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with over 10 years’ experience working in the NHS and mental health settings. She specialises in supporting parents perinatally - from pregnancy to childbirth and all aspects of the transition to parenthood. She is the author of Mindful, New Mom: A Mind-Body Approach to the Highs and Lows of Motherhood’ and offers a range of courses and resources to support parents at all stages of their parenting journeys. Caroline offers a self-paced anger course for mothers (USE THE CODE “PODCAST” TO CLAIM YOUR £100 DISCOUNT): https://dr-caroline-boyd.mykajabi.com/maternal-rage-sign-up Download Caroline’s FREE GUIDE on how to deal with partner rage: https://dr-caroline-boyd.mykajabi.com/3rs-free-download Caroline’s book, Mindful New Mum: A Mind-Body Approach to the Highs and Lows of Motherhood, is available to buy online Amazon, Waterstones or Bookshop If this episode raises any concerns for you please talk to a trusted health professional such as your GP. You can also reach out to the services below: UK: PANDAS - 0808 1961 776 Samaritans – 116 123 US: Postpartum Support International - 1-800-944-4773 (4PPD) For emergency help - call 999 or visit your local A&E department

35 min

10/12/2024

Mothering, Imprints, Connection & Compassion

In this episode of MamaThrive, I have the privilege of being joined by Lael Stone as we dive into what it means to bring connection and compassion into our mothering journeys. In this episode we explore the fundamental shift that women go through when they become mothers, and how we often bring our own childhood stories into our roles as parents. We discuss the ways in which we can become more conscious about how we mother our children, and tools and strategies to deepen our connection to ourselves and our little ones. This episode is for you if you see motherhood as an opportunity for deep healing and desire to build awareness around your own stories so that you can actively choose how you would like to mother your children, whilst still remaining connected with yourself. I’d love to hear your experience of this episode, please feel free to drop a comment below with any of your thoughts and share the link with anyone whom you think might benefit from giving this episode a listen! As always, we continue this conversation over on Instagram. Come join us there. Resources: Website Instagram About Lael Stone Lael Stone is an Australian Speaker, Educator and Author whose passion is supporting parents to understand their children, helping adults process their own childhood trauma and creating education systems that value emotional awareness. She is a wife and mother of three big kids – who are teenagers and young adults and she is currently putting all her research into practice with them! All her work is based on the fundamental principles of connection and compassion. The purpose of her work is to help all humans understand themselves better and be inspired to live the life they desire.

45 min

12/11/2024

Inner Child Healing through Motherhood

In this episode of MamaThrive, I have the privilege of being joined by Lavinia Brown, a trauma-informed psychodynamic coach and expert in inner child healing. Together we discuss what the inner child is, and how these younger parts of us show up during the course of our day-to-day life as parents, as partners and in many of the interactions and experiences that we have. We talk about how to connect with our inner child and explore what is coming up for us; what the practice of moving towards these feelings involves and how it is supportive for conscious parenting. It is a conversation rich in supporting our continued growth and self-awareness through motherhood! I’d love to hear your experience of this episode, please feel free to drop a comment below with any of your thoughts and share the link with anyone whom you think might benefit from giving this episode a listen! As always, we continue this conversation over on Instagram. Come join us there. Resources: Website Instagram About Lavinia Brown Lavinia is a trauma-informed psychodynamic coach who supports mamas to become the conscious parents they want to be through healing their inner child. Through acknowledging and integrating unprocessed pain from the past, overcoming unconscious patterns and learning how to accept, love themselves and assert healthy boundaries, mamas stop feeling ashamed, anxious, guilty and angry, and can show up as the authentic parent, partner and woman that they want to be, instead of who their primary caregivers thought they should be. Lavinia lives with her partner and 3 children in the UK.

49 min

29/10/2024

Conflicting Feelings (Ambivalence) in Motherhood

In this episode of MamaThrive, I have the privilege of being joined by Margo Lowy, the author of "The Maternal Experience: Encounters with Ambivalence and Love”. She is interested in disrupting taboos and reframing and opening the conversation about mothering and ambivalence and our conversation in this episode does just that! Margo shares her wisdom around how maternal ambivalence - the experience of conflicting emotions - is not only a normal part of our human experience but something that can be transformational when a woman is able to give herself permission to embrace the full complexity of her feelings in motherhood. Together we dive into what makes it challenging for mother’s to acknowledge feelings such a hatred, anger or resentment towards their children, and what practices and strategies may be useful to help change this - and why it is so important. If you find yourself experiencing fear, resistance and/or shame in some of what you experience in motherhood, then this episode may be just for you. We peel back the layers of expectations placed on mothers and welcome a new paradigm that sees mother’s as “good enough” - welcoming every part of their experience as mamas. I’d love to hear your experience of this episode, please feel free to drop a comment below with any of your thoughts and share the link with anyone whom you think might benefit from giving this episode a listen! As always, we continue this conversation over on Instagram. Come join us there. Resources: Website Instagram About Margo Lowy Margo Lowy is a psychotherapist with an interest in mothering and women’s reproductive health. She completed her doctorate and research masters at the UNSW in Sydney investigating the fields of maternal ambivalence and infertility with her first book titled "The Maternal Experience: Encounters with Ambivalence and Love” - based on her PhD (published by Routledge in 2021). She has a second book, a more conversational book on maternal ambivalence, that will be published by Post Hill Press early 2025. She is interested in disrupting taboos and reframing and opening the conversation about mothering

44 min

15/10/2024

Modern Motherhood & the Patriarchy - a recipe for burnout, overwhelm and rage

In this episode of MamaThrive, I’m excited to be joined in conversation with Erin Spahr, a licensed therapist, mother of two & feminist. Erin uses a feminist lens in her work with mothers and strives to help mothers free themselves from oppressive societal expectations and find more self-confidence and self-compassion. In this conversation, Erin shares how the impossible standards placed on mothers, combined with the lack of support on a societal level and incredible pressure to perform within patriarchy, can contribute to excessive stress, overwhelm and mental health challenges within mothers. We dive into understanding motherhood from a feminist perspective and explore the transformative power of being able to embrace our authenticity as mama’s, as one of the ways to liberate ourselves from the societal pressures we face. I’d love to hear your experience of this episode, please feel free to drop a comment below with any of your thoughts and share the link with anyone whom you think might benefit from giving this episode a listen! As always, we continue this conversation over on Instagram. Come join us there. Resources: Website Instagram About Erin Spahr Erin Spahr is a licensed therapist, mother, feminist, podcast host, and maternal mental health advocate based out of Raleigh, NC. Erin uses a feminist lens in her work with mothers and strives to help mothers free themselves from oppressive societal expectations and find more self-confidence and self-compassion. She hosts the Feminist Mom Podcast where she discusses the intersection of feminism and motherhood with inspiring guests. Erin recently launched the Inclusive Provider Directory, a directory that serves as a vital link connecting mothers, birthing individuals, and families in the United States and Canada with perinatal providers who prioritize inclusivity and identity-affirming care. Erin sees clients in her private practice (available to folks in North Carolina and Maryland). She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband and two kids.

40 min

01/10/2024

Rethinking Stay-at-home Motherhood

In this episode of MamaThrive, I’m excited to be joined in conversation with Neha Ruch, the founder of Mother Untitled and the author of the forthcoming book, the Power Pause. She is on a mission to update and elevate the perception of stay-at-home motherhood in America and has been inspiring women across the globe with her work and impact In this conversation, Neha shares her experience of how motherhood invited her to downshift her career, and reexamine her identity that was part of her success in the corporate world. We speak about how the unpaid labor of stay-at-home mothers is still labor, and what societal shifts need to happen to support working mothers and how motherhood influences professional lives. I’d love to hear your experience of this episode, please feel free to drop a comment below with any of your thoughts and share the link with anyone whom you think might benefit from giving this episode a listen! As always, we continue this conversation over on Instagram. Come join us there. Resources: Website Instagram Book About Neha Ruch As the founder of Mother Untitled and the author of the forthcoming book, THE POWER PAUSE (Putnam, 2025), Neha Ruch is on a mission to update and elevate the perception of stay-at-home motherhood in America. A rising thought leader, influencer, and sought-after speaker in the world of women, work, parenting, and identity, Neha's mindset shifts are shared. widely by tens of thousands of women, including Mandy Moore, Kourtney Kardashian, Gabby Bernstein and Joanna Goddard. Neha received her B.A. from Skidmore College and her M.B.A. from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Prior to downshifting her career for motherhood, she led brand strategy at a number of highly successful luxury startups, including Zola and Carats & Cake. Neha immigrated to the United States from Mumbai, India, as a child, and grew up in Massachusetts. She currently resides in Manhattan with her husband, their two children, and their dog Coconut.

46 min

MamaThrive

Episodes

The Self-Compassion That Mothers Actually Need with Suzy Reading

MamaThrive Is Back: Motherhood as a Rite of Passage | Reclaimed Motherhood™

Matrescence and the Emotions that we Experience as Mothers.

Mothering, Imprints, Connection & Compassion

Inner Child Healing through Motherhood

Conflicting Feelings (Ambivalence) in Motherhood

Modern Motherhood & the Patriarchy - a recipe for burnout, overwhelm and rage

Rethinking Stay-at-home Motherhood

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