Mastering Change | The trauma, mental health & wellbeing podcast

Masters Events
  • 4.0 (2)
  • Mental Health

Welcome to Mastering Change, a podcast co-hosted by Emma and Araminta, where we engage in meaningful conversations centred around healing. In this series, we bring together leading experts, innovative thinkers, and emerging voices to connect knowledge with real-world impact in the areas of trauma, mental health and wellbeing.    Each episode features insightful discussions with respected figures as well as promising new contributors to the field. We explore a range of topics with a focus on making this knowledge available for anyone interested in supporting their own healing journey or that of others.    At Mastering Change, we understand the significance of conversation as a means of fostering understanding and growth. Our aim is to create a ripple effect, facilitating the transfer of knowledge and establishing a community where impactful voices are heard.     Whether you are a seasoned professional or new to the field, we invite you to engage in thoughtful discussions that can inspire meaningful change in your practice and personal life. Join us as we explore critical insights and perspectives, encouraging a shared commitment to healing trauma. 

  1. 6d ago

    Can humour help us heal? | Glenn Maloney | #068 Mastering Change

    Can something as simple as laughter help us heal?  When we think about therapy, humour is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. Yet according to clinical social worker and addiction counsellor Glenn Maloney, it may be one of the most overlooked tools available to us.  This week on Mastering Change, Glenn explains that humour is far more than comic relief. He explores its role in therapy, trauma recovery and addiction treatment and argues that far from distracting from difficult emotions, it can help reduce isolation, support nervous system regulation and offer new ways of relating to challenging experiences.   At the heart of the conversation is a simple idea: humour is fundamentally about connection. When used thoughtfully, it can help people feel safer, more understood and more able to engage with challenging experiences.  We also explores the complexities of humour. Sometimes it helps us engage with difficult emotions. Sometimes it becomes a way of avoiding them. The skill lies in recognising the difference.  We discuss:  Why humour is fundamentally about connection How laughter can support nervous system regulation The role of humour in addiction recovery and trauma work When jokes become a form of avoidance The risks of humour used poorly Why therapists may need more training in the basic skills of human connection This is a thoughtful conversation about laughter, connection and why healing is often more human than we imagine.  Moment of Care: This episode discusses sensitive topics related to trauma, mental health and distressing experiences. If you feel triggered at any point, please take a moment to check in with yourself and seek support.  Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.

    31 min

  2. Jun 9

    How do you forgive the unforgivable? | Clara Naum | #067 Mastering Change

    How do you move forward when something feels impossible to forgive?  Forgiveness is often misunderstood.   When many people hear the word, they think it means excusing what happened, condoning harmful behaviour, or letting someone off the hook.  This week on Mastering Change, Clara Naum offers a different perspective.  Drawing on her work across therapy, coaching and personal development, Clara describes forgiveness not as something we do for the person who hurt us, but as a tool that helps us move from survival into possibility.   Rather than presenting forgiveness as an obligation or a requirement for healing, she invites listeners to consider it as one possible route towards releasing the hold that past experiences can continue to have on our lives.   We discuss:  Why forgiveness can be misunderstood The difference between forgiveness and condoning harm How unresolved hurt keeps us stuck Why the body remembers what the mind tries to forget Acceptance, self-forgiveness and personal freedom How forgiveness can help us regain choice This conversation offers a thoughtful exploration of healing, freedom and loosen the grip of the past.  Moment of Care: This episode discusses sensitive topics related to trauma, mental health and distressing experiences. If you feel triggered at any point, please take a moment to check in with yourself and seek support.  Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.

    29 min

  3. Jun 2

    The mental health impact of GLP-1 weight loss drugs | Charlotte Ord | #066 Mastering Change

    The rise of GLP-1 medications has changed the conversation around weight, health and body image.  But what happens when weight loss is mistaken for wellbeing?  This week on Mastering Change, we speak with Charlotte Ord – a counselling psychologist specialising in body image and eating disorder recovery, with a background in fitness, strength and conditioning, NHS bariatric and weight management services.   Charlotte reflects on the complexity of this moment. GLP-1 medications may have an important place for some people, but she warns that the current conversation around them risks pulling us backwards into diet culture, weight stigma and the pursuit of thinness.   For people with poor body image, disordered eating or eating disorder histories, suppressing appetite may remove one visible behaviour without addressing the underlying wound. As Charlotte explains, health is not simply about eating less or changing the body’s appearance – it also includes body trust, nourishment, movement, metabolic fitness and psychological safety.   We discuss:  The impact of GLP-1 medications on body image and eating disorder recovery Why weight loss is not the same as health How diet culture is re-emerging in new forms The importance of body diversity and representation Why we need to see bodies valued for what they can do, not just how they look What a more meaningful definition of healthy weight could look like This conversation offers a thoughtful, compassionate look at one of the most urgent and complicated topics in mental health today.  Moment of Care: This episode discusses sensitive topics related to trauma, mental health and distressing experiences. If you feel triggered at any point, please take a moment to check in with yourself and seek support.  Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.

    41 min

  4. May 26

    Trauma, culture and belonging | Dr Yemi Penn | #065 Mastering Change

    What if culture is not just tradition or identity – but trauma repeated over time?  This week on Mastering Change, we speak with Dr Yemi Joy Penn – a self-described “pracademic” – who is challenging how we understand trauma, culture and belonging.   Her work sits at the intersection of lived experience, research and storytelling. Through her PhD, Yemi explores how cultural trauma is formed, how it is sustained, and how it can be transformed – using documentary filmmaking as both method and medium.  At the centre of the conversation is a powerful reframe: what we call “culture” may often be a set of behaviours, beliefs and patterns that have emerged in response to unprocessed collective trauma.  We discuss:  How trauma becomes embedded in culture Why identity is more complex than labels or geography What it really means to belong How people make meaning after suffering Why storytelling and witnessing are central to healing The limitations of traditional academic models This is not just a conversation about trauma. It is a wider exploration of identity, systems and what it means to be human in a complex world.  Moment of Care: This episode discusses sensitive topics related to trauma, mental health and distressing experiences. If you feel triggered at any point, please take a moment to check in with yourself and seek support.  See Dr Yemi Penn’s session Transforming Cultural Trauma with a Decolonised Lens, at this year’s Transform Trauma Oxford – 4 days, 100+ speakers, up to 40 CE credits Connect with Yemi via the below links  www.yemipenn.com https://www.instagram.com/dr.yemipenn/?hl=en Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.

    26 min

  5. May 19

    Trauma, ADHD and the power of self-trust | Amelia Kelley | #064 Mastering Change

    Trauma recovery is not only about what happened. It is also about rebuilding the capacity to know what you feel, what you think and what you need.  This week on Mastering Change, we speak with Amelia Kelley – a therapist, professor and writer whose work sits at the intersection of trauma, relationships and neurodivergence.   Amelia’s work centres on empowerment, particularly for survivors of abuse, domestic violence and interpersonal trauma. She explores how trauma can erode emotional individuation – the ability to have your own opinion, your own experience and your own boundaries without feeling unsafe.  This becomes especially important for neurodivergent clients, many of whom have grown up being corrected, redirected or misunderstood. Amelia highlights research suggesting that children with ADHD receive more than 10,000 additional redirections by puberty – messages that can quietly shape self-worth, confidence and relational safety.   We discuss:  How trauma, relationships and neurodivergence intersect Why empowerment is central to recovery after interpersonal trauma Emotional individuation and the ability to safely disagree ADHD, rejection sensitivity and people-pleasing Why highly sensitive men are often underrepresented and unsupported How empathy can become a pathway to compassion This conversation offers a grounded lens on trauma recovery – one that begins with relationship, but ultimately helps people say: here is who I am.  Moment of Care: This episode discusses sensitive topics related to trauma, mental health and distressing experiences. If you feel triggered at any point, please take a moment to check in with yourself and seek support.  Show notes:  Website: https://www.ameliakelley.com   Podcast: The Sensitivity Doctor https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sensitivity-doctor/id1649511241   or   https://www.ameliakelley.com/podcast   Trainings & Speaking (PESI): https://www.pesi.com/speaker/amelia-kelley-577330?srsltid=AfmBOoru1Cejk2pRHGE3CZPRXxmw1FO_XzVYlcF1y64VAr8Jw_2LBTY5  Social Media:  Instagram: @drameliakelley  Facebook: @drameliakelley  About Dr Amelia Kelley:  Dr Amelia Kelley is a trauma-informed therapist, author, psychology professor, and trainer specializing in high sensitivity, ADHD, and relational trauma. Her work integrates neuroscience, somatic approaches, Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR, and Brainspotting to help individuals move from burnout and self-doubt toward empowerment and sustainable change.  Upcoming Work: Dr Amelia Kelley has a forthcoming article in Psychotherapy Networker exploring rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) and ADHD. She is also under contract with W.W. Norton for an upcoming book. Her Women-Centered ADHD Treatment (W-CAT) model training will be launching for the first time this June through PESI. She also speaks internationally on W-CAT and regulation-based integrative therapy for ADHD in women.  Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.

    28 min

  6. May 12

    How you listen changes everything | Paul Browde | #063 Mastering Change

    In times of increasing isolation, how we listen matters.  This week on Mastering Change, we speak with Paul Browde – psychiatrist, storyteller and couples guide – whose work explores how listening shapes what can be said, and how the stories people tell shape how they live.  Paul reflects on the changes he has seen since the pandemic. More fear. More loneliness. A growing difficulty for many people to engage in ordinary human conversation. In this context, listening becomes more than a skill. It becomes the foundation for connection.  He also challenges how couples often arrive in therapy. When a relationship is framed as a problem, both people become stuck inside that story. When it is approached as something to face together, new possibilities begin to open.  In this episode:  Why listening and telling are inseparable What has shifted in how people relate since Covid Listening as a full-body experience, not just words How secrecy can limit what becomes possible in therapy Why relationships may be better understood as something to face, not fix The role of the therapist in holding possibility alongside pain A thoughtful conversation on connection, therapy and the stories we live inside. Moment of Care: This episode discusses sensitive topics related to trauma, mental health and distressing experiences. If you feel triggered at any point, please take a moment to check in with yourself and seek support. Show Notes: –  Free Live Event (June 2nd) – Paul Browde's upcoming course with the Academy of Therapy Wisdom: On June 2nd 2026 free 90-minute introductory session: The Heart of Elderhood: How to Age Consciously and Help Others Do The Same: – Esther Perel's Sessions Live: Paul will be participating in this event.   Use code Browde100 for $100 off the in-person event registration or code Browde50 for $50 off a virtual ticket.  – Four Directions of a Queer Man - Men’s Retreat: This retreat in California still has spots available:  – Transform Trauma Oxford 2026:   Paul Browde will be speaking at Transform Trauma Oxford 2026 alongside Gabor Maté, Bessel van der Kolk, Dan Siegel, Ruth Lanius, Janina Fisher and many more. – Website: www.paulbrowde.com  – Instagram: @pbrowde  Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.

    36 min

  7. May 5

    Why nervous system capacity must comes first: Avoiding retraumatisation | Carla Shohet | #062 Mastering Change

    Trauma therapy often begins with the past – but what if that’s the problem?  This week on Mastering Change, psychologist Carla Shohet challenges the way trauma is commonly approached – arguing that many therapeutic models move too quickly into processing, without first building the capacity to hold what emerges.  Carla’s work centres on nervous system regulation as the foundation for healing. Because without that foundation, trauma work can become overwhelming, ineffective – and in some cases, re-traumatising.   Drawing on her own experience of nervous system shutdown, Carla developed the NTN model – Now, Then, Next – a cyclical framework that prioritises building capacity in the present before revisiting the past or moving towards change.  We discuss:  Why nervous system capacity must come first  How trauma work can reinforce patterns if done too early  The risks of relying on talk therapy alone  What it means to move from surviving to thriving  Why healing is not linear, but cyclical  This conversation offers a reframe of trauma recovery – one that begins not with the story, but with the state of the nervous system.  Moment of Care: This episode discusses sensitive episodes related to trauma, mental health and distressing experiences. If you feel triggered at any point, please take a moment to check in with yourself and seek support.  Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.

    32 min

  8. Apr 28

    Why Trauma Healing Starts With Feeling Safe in the Body | BG Mancini | #061 Mastering Change

    Healing trauma is not only about understanding the story.  This week on Mastering Change, we speak with BG Mancini, a neurodevelopmental specialist working across integrative medicine, primary care and brain-based healing. BG’s work sits at the meeting point of research and daily life – translating what we know about the nervous system, sensory input and the gut-brain axis into practical ways of supporting healing.   Her central argument is simple but significant: therapeutic work lands differently when the body is less inflamed, less overstimulated and less defensive. In other words, healing is not only psychological. It is also biological.   She explores how everyday sensory inputs – light, noise, screens, food and other environmental stressors – can quietly shape our nervous system state, often without our awareness. And she makes the case that creating more cues of safety in the body can make people more available for therapeutic change.   We discuss:  Why the nervous system is the gateway to healing How sensory input can become a hidden source of stress The relationship between the gut, the brain and the vagus nerve Why trauma healing must address both story and biology How therapists and integrative practitioners can work more closely together This conversation offers a grounded, whole person lens on trauma – and a reminder that helping someone heal may begin with making their body feel safer to live in.  Moment of Care: This episode discusses sensitive episodes related to trauma, mental health and distressing experiences. If you feel triggered at any point, please take a moment to check in with yourself and seek support.  Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.

    31 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Welcome to Mastering Change, a podcast co-hosted by Emma and Araminta, where we engage in meaningful conversations centred around healing. In this series, we bring together leading experts, innovative thinkers, and emerging voices to connect knowledge with real-world impact in the areas of trauma, mental health and wellbeing.    Each episode features insightful discussions with respected figures as well as promising new contributors to the field. We explore a range of topics with a focus on making this knowledge available for anyone interested in supporting their own healing journey or that of others.    At Mastering Change, we understand the significance of conversation as a means of fostering understanding and growth. Our aim is to create a ripple effect, facilitating the transfer of knowledge and establishing a community where impactful voices are heard.     Whether you are a seasoned professional or new to the field, we invite you to engage in thoughtful discussions that can inspire meaningful change in your practice and personal life. Join us as we explore critical insights and perspectives, encouraging a shared commitment to healing trauma. 

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