What if protecting yourself came at the cost of everything familiar?In this episode of The Liberation Effect, Elizabeth shares the story of a life reshaped by bold decisions. After walking away from toxic workplaces, family estrangement, and an abusive relationship abroad, she found herself free, but deeply alone. She and Helen explore what it means to honour the choices made for survival while grieving what was lost along the way.Together, they unpack the tension between strength and sadness, self-trust and self-abandonment. Elizabeth speaks candidly about navigating estrangement, sobriety, and grief, and the quiet ache of not knowing how to access love. Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

What if the way you parent reveals the parts of you that are still hurting?

In this episode, Lucy explores the uncomfortable truth that she finds her daughter more triggering than her son, even when they display the same behaviours. What unfolds is a powerful, emotionally honest conversation about the legacy of childhood rejection, and how easily unhealed wounds can echo through the next generation.

Helen helps Lucy trace the roots of her inner critic, the shame she carries around being “too much,” and the fear of what it would mean to truly honour her younger self. From family dynamics that blamed her for others’ behaviour to the belief that love must be earned through perfection, Lucy brings humour, clarity and real insight to a story that will feel painfully familiar for many.

Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

What if being the good child meant being the forgotten one?

In this episode, Charlotte joins Helen to explore the long shadow of emotional neglect, people-pleasing, and being cast as the family scapegoat. As a child, Charlotte learned to stay quiet, meet expectations, and avoid conflict. But underneath the surface was a deep loneliness, a constant pressure to be easy, and a silence that cost her a sense of self.

Together, they unpack how roles like “good girl” or “too much” get assigned to children without their consent, and how those labels can shape your entire identity. Charlotte shares the pain of being punished for setting boundaries, the grief of realising her parents never truly protected her, and the courage it takes to finally trust your own voice.

This is a conversation about survival, clarity, and the moment you decide to stop carrying a story that was never yours.

Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

What if everything that made you different was dismissed, not just by the world, but by the people meant to protect you?

Christina joins Helen to share the quiet heartbreak of being visibly different but never truly seen. Despite clear signs of neurodivergence from a young age, her parents dismissed the red flags, choosing image, denial and normality over acceptance and support. Now, with a late autism, ADHD and dyscalculia diagnosis, Christina is left untangling years of confusion, anger, and grief.

Together, they explore what it means to grow up performing for approval while being punished for your needs. From emotional shutdowns and school struggles to masking, meltdowns and the fear of peace itself, this conversation cuts to the core of what happens when your suffering is invisible - even to the people who say they love you most.

If you’ve ever found yourself asking why they didn’t do more, or how to stop needing their validation to move forward - this episode will speak to you.Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

What if everything you thought was real… wasn’t?

In this episode of The Liberation Effect, Helen is joined by Emma, who’s facing the grief of being discarded by her narcissistic mother - not because she walked away, but because she finally said no.

Now in her fifties and newly separated, Emma is navigating the disorienting fallout of a lifetime spent performing for love, questioning every memory, and grieving the identity she was never allowed to form. Together, she and Helen unpack what happens when your childhood starts to unravel in adulthood, and how hard it is to trust yourself when you've spent your whole life being told who to be.Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

What if understanding it won’t make it hurt less?

In this episode of The Liberation Effect, Helen is joined by Megan, who’s gone no contact with her parents but is still being pulled back in through guilt, shame, and flying monkey messages. Now pregnant again, Megan finds herself circling old patterns of self-doubt and wondering if she really was the problem all along.

What unfolds is a conversation about grief, survival, and the desperate need to make sense of the senseless. Together, Helen and Megan explore how the urge to understand - to explain, justify, or find a reason - can sometimes be a trauma response in itself. Because if we can figure it out, maybe we can fix it. And if we can fix it, maybe we weren’t really abandoned at all.

Trigger warning: this episode involves discussions about child loss and bereavement.

Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

What happens when the fear of rejection runs so deep it controls your every decision?

In this episode of The Liberation Effect, Helen sits down with Laura, who is climbing the corporate ladder while quietly battling burnout. Behind her inability to say no lies a lifetime of people-pleasing, a deeply enmeshed family system, and a childhood marked by secrecy and survival.

Together, Helen and Laura trace the emotional roots of this fear - from Laura’s experience growing up with a mother who demanded complete emotional transparency while forcing her to conceal dangerous truths, to the trauma of abandonment and the impossible role of being everyone's safe place.

This conversation gently unpacks how trauma echoes in professional spaces, how enmeshment distorts boundaries, and how we start learning to say no - not just as a boundary, but as a form of self-protection.

Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

What happens when the ‘safe parent’ lets you down?

In this episode, Lucy joins host Helen to explore the painful realisation that the parent she once saw as kind, gentle and safe – may never have been that at all.

After going no contact with her emotionally abusive stepmother, Lucy began speaking to her dad about what she’d lived through. But what followed was denial, gaslighting and invalidation – not just from her stepmother, but from the man she thought would be in her corner.

Together, Helen and Lucy explore toxic hope, the idolisation of the “good dad”, and the heartbreak of seeing someone clearly for the first time.

If you’ve ever been made to feel too sensitive, too difficult, or like you’re remembering it all wrong – this one’s for you.

Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠

To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application