An Evolving Man Podcast

Piers Cross
  • 5.0 (3)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

An Evolving Man Podcast looks at leadership, peak performance, psychology, healing trauma, boarding school syndrome, spirituality and complexhealing. Every week there will be an interview or a podcast around topics ranging from self-development, leadership, relationships, spirituality, education, and peak performance featuring authors and leaders in these fields.

  1. Masati: Near-Death Experiences, Trauma, Coherence & Exponential Intelligence | AEM #149

    3D AGO

    Masati: Near-Death Experiences, Trauma, Coherence & Exponential Intelligence | AEM #149

    In this episode of An Evolving Man, I’m joined by Masati, CEO and founder of Exponential Intelligence Science (XI). After multiple near-death experiences, Masati devoted his life to understanding human potential beyond conventional performance psychology—exploring coherence, consciousness, and what creates real, measurable change. We begin with Masati’s personal story: a life-threatening accident in his mid-20s, the profound “life relive” experience many describe as a life review, and what shifted in his perception when he returned. We then explore why many high performers—particularly those with childhood trauma—build success through a hidden internal equation: using achievement to stabilise an inner wound. This is a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, trauma, identity, and presence—including a practical exercise to reconnect with the body and reduce overthinking. Topics include: Near-death experiences and expanded perceptionTrauma, success, and the hidden cost of “proving yourself”Why performance doesn’t heal the original woundCoherence vs. mindsetSpatial referencing as a daily stabilising practicePresence, happiness, and aligning with your highest potentialIf you’re a leader, ex-boarder, or high performer exploring deeper healing and sustainable success, this one is for you. #NearDeathExperience #TraumaHealing #HumanPotential #Consciousness #NervousSystem #Leadership #Meditation #SomaticHealing --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community Many blessings, Piers Cross http://piers-cross.com/

    57 min

  2. 5D AGO

    Why Ex-Boarders Struggle With Decision-Making | Trauma, Leadership & Intuition

    Why do so many ex-boarders struggle with decision-making — especially in senior leadership, relationships, and life? In this reflective solo episode, I explore how boarding school conditioning shapes our ability to think independently, trust intuition, and make decisions without fear of rejection or punishment. Drawing on the work of Nick Duffell, I unpack the three core survival patterns often seen in ex-boarders — the Complier, the Rebel, and the Crushed — and how each one impacts confidence, intuition, and leadership. We explore: Why decision-making feels easier in middle management but overwhelming at the topHow humiliation, conformity, and peer policing suppress independent thoughtWhy intuition is essential for good decisions — and how boarding school disconnects us from itThe role of dissociation, overthinking, and perfectionismHow to rebuild embodied decision-making through nervous system awarenessReferencing insights from Jim Collins, Antonio Damasio, and Alex Ferguson, this episode brings together leadership research, neuroscience, and lived experience. Decision-making isn’t just cognitive.  It’s emotional, embodied, and relational. If you grew up being told what to think, when to act, and how to fit in — this episode is an invitation to reconnect with your inner authority and begin deciding from a place of self-trust. --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community Many blessings, Piers Cross http://piers-cross.com/

    16 min
  3. Jon Wedger (Ex-Met Detective) on Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, Cover-Ups, and Why Justice Matters | AEM #148

    JAN 23

    Jon Wedger (Ex-Met Detective) on Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, Cover-Ups, and Why Justice Matters | AEM #148

    In this powerful episode of An Evolving Man, Piers Cross speaks with Jon Wedger (also widely known as John Wedger) — former Metropolitan Police detective and leading UK whistleblower on institutional child sexual abuse and safeguarding failures. Jon shares what he witnessed while working in specialist units, including child protection, and why he believes abuse is too often protected by silence, status, and institutional self-preservation. He reflects on the cost of speaking out, the long shadow trauma casts over survivors’ lives, and the urgent need for accountability that leads to real-world change. This conversation is released ahead of the House of Commons screening on Monday 19 January 2026, focused on mandatory reporting and stronger child protection structures. Content note: This episode discusses child sexual abuse and institutional failures. Please listen with care. Key themes: How systems of silence form inside institutionsWhy justice is central to healing for survivorsTrauma, dissociation, emotional dysregulation, and survival adaptationsWhat reform could actually look like: accountability, transparency, and effective safeguardingPractical steps: reporting, recording, contacting MPs, and applying pressure for changeTo explore Jon’s public work, visit: https://www.jonwedger.org/ --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community Many blessings, Piers Cross http://piers-cross.com/

    1h 30m

  4. JAN 21

    Speaking Up at the House of Commons: Fear, Courage & Choosing the Challenge Response | Piers Cross

    In this short reflection recorded outside the House of Commons, Piers Cross shares a deeply personal moment before screening a documentary on institutional harm and child protection. He explores: The fear of speaking upHow trauma can wire us to avoid, hide, or runThe shift from threat response to challenge responseWhy embracing discomfort can improve performance, resilience, and even longevityReferencing research by Elizabeth Blackburn and Kelly McGonigal, this episode is a reminder that meaningful change often begins at the edge of fear — when we choose to stay, speak, and move forward anyway. --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community Many blessings, Piers Cross http://piers-cross.com/

    4 min
  5. Boarding School Syndrome in Women: Trauma, Hyper-Independence & Healing | Kara Blackmore | AEM #147

    JAN 16

    Boarding School Syndrome in Women: Trauma, Hyper-Independence & Healing | Kara Blackmore | AEM #147

    In this episode of An Evolving Man, Piers speaks with Kara Blackmore — a trauma-informed coach specialising in the long-term emotional and nervous system impacts of boarding school experiences, especially for women. Kara shares her personal story: choosing boarding school at age 10, the shock of early separation, and the reality of living in an environment with minimal adult supervision, rigid control, and peer-led power dynamics. Together, Piers and Kara explore how emotional neglect and chronic stress can shape adulthood — from hyper-independence and people-pleasing to perfectionism, difficulty resting, and challenges with intimacy, trust, and receiving support. This conversation is honest, powerful, and at times harrowing — but it also offers hope. Kara speaks about the healing journey: awareness, learning emotional language, inner child work, nervous system safety, and building a life that makes your “soul sing.” Key themes include: “I chose to go” and why childhood “choice” isn’t true consentemotional neglect, lack of nurturing, and chronic lonelinesspuberty, privacy, and missing maternal supportperfectionism/control as a survival strategywhy ex-boarders struggle to rest, receive, and ask for helphealing through awareness, compassion, and nervous system repairFind Kara: https://karablackmorecoach.com/ https://www.facebook.com/kara.thompson.589 https://www.instagram.com/kara__blackmore_coach/  If you found this episode meaningful, please share it — these stories stay hidden for decades, and speaking them is how change happens. --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community Many blessings, Piers Cross http://piers-cross.com/

    1h 5m

  6. JAN 14

    Moral Injury & Boarding School | How Early Institutional Trauma Damages a Child’s Moral Compass

    In this episode, Piers explores the concept of moral injury and asks whether boarding school environments can create a deep, values-based psychological wound in children. Moral injury occurs when someone is forced to act against, witness, or remain silent in the face of behaviour that violates their inner moral values. Unlike PTSD, which is fear-based, moral injury is rooted in guilt, shame, loss of integrity, and betrayal of self. Drawing on lived experience, survivor stories, and trauma-informed perspectives, this episode explores how institutional environments override a child’s moral compass — forcing silence, complicity, and self-betrayal as survival strategies. Topics include: Moral injury vs PTSDBoarding school as an ethical conflict for childrenWitnessing abuse and being unable to interveneDissociation and loss of authenticityLong-term impacts on mental health, leadership, and relationshipsPathways to healing through truth-telling, moral coherence, and self-compassionThis episode is especially relevant for former boarders, educators, clinicians, leaders, and anyone interested in trauma-informed leadership and child protection. --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community Many blessings, Piers Cross http://piers-cross.com/

    16 min

  7. JAN 7

    Boarding School, Stress & Performance: England Cricket, Trauma & Leadership

    Here is the link to reach out to your MP for the screening in the House of Commons: https://seenheard.org.uk/boarding-on-insanity-parliamentary-screening/ In this New Year reflection episode, I share an update on the upcoming House of Commons screening of Boarding on Insanity and explore a powerful insight that emerged for me over Christmas while watching the Ashes series. Why does England’s cricket team — full of talent — so often struggle under pressure? Drawing on research from the Sutton Trust, Nick Duffell’s Wounded Leaders, and trauma experts including Judith Herman, Peter Levine, and Bessel van der Kolk, I explore how early boarding school experiences shape the nervous system — particularly our ability to regulate stress. We discuss: why many former boarders struggle to access the parasympathetic “rest and digest” statehow dissociation works under pressure — and why it eventually failswhy England’s performance improved once the pressure of winning was removedhow unresolved childhood stress shows up in leadership, sport, and public lifeI also share a simple nervous system regulation practice I use personally and with clients — helping leaders move from chronic stress into safety, embodiment, and clarity. This episode connects leadership, sport, trauma, and child development — and asks what might be possible if we became a trauma-informed society. 📌 House of Commons Screening – 19 January Please contact your MP and support the call for mandatory reporting and improved child protection. Thank you for listening, and for being part of this movement. --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community Many blessings, Piers Cross http://piers-cross.com/

    11 min
  8. Home Alone vs UK Boarding School Culture: The Psychology of Separation | Piers Cross

    12/24/2025

    Home Alone vs UK Boarding School Culture: The Psychology of Separation | Piers Cross

    This week I rewatched Home Alone — and realised it can be viewed as a surprisingly powerful study of child development, attachment, and the psychology of separation. Kevin is eight years old — an age that matters deeply in the UK context, because it has historically been an age when many children began boarding school. In this short reflection, I explore key moments in the film through a boarding-school lens, drawing on the work of Joy Schaverien and Nick Duffell. We reflect on: why “not knowing the basics” at eight is development — not failurethe confusion children experience when we warn them about strangers, then send them to live with strangersthe mother’s panic response and what it reveals about attachmentrupture and repair — and why apology matterswhy many ex-boarders don’t tell their parents what really happenedA gentle, thoughtful Christmas reflection — and a question for all of us:  What kind of childhood are we protecting… and what kind are we cutting short? --- Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community Many blessings, Piers Cross http://piers-cross.com/

    15 min
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5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

An Evolving Man Podcast looks at leadership, peak performance, psychology, healing trauma, boarding school syndrome, spirituality and complexhealing. Every week there will be an interview or a podcast around topics ranging from self-development, leadership, relationships, spirituality, education, and peak performance featuring authors and leaders in these fields.

Information

  • Creator
    Piers Cross
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    278
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 An Evolving Man Podcast
  • Show Website
    An Evolving Man Podcast