Claim OwnershipMy Holistic Therapist
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© Alex Field
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My Holistic Therapist is a podcast for women ready to heal from chronic stress, trauma, and burnout - at the root.
Hosted by Alex, a clinically trained psychotherapist and naturopath, this show blends nervous system science, trauma-informed therapy, and functional medicine to help you understand your body, reconnect to yourself, and build real regulation.
No hacks. No fluff. Just grounded insight, lived experience, and tools that actually work, because real healing takes more than mindset.
Episodes include solo deep dives, client stories, and raw reflections on everything trauma related.
Hosted by Alex, a clinically trained psychotherapist and naturopath, this show blends nervous system science, trauma-informed therapy, and functional medicine to help you understand your body, reconnect to yourself, and build real regulation.
No hacks. No fluff. Just grounded insight, lived experience, and tools that actually work, because real healing takes more than mindset.
Episodes include solo deep dives, client stories, and raw reflections on everything trauma related.
37 Episodes
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In this episode, I explore the growing scientific debate around Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory - a framework that has shaped how many therapists and clients understand nervous system regulation and trauma.Recently, neuroscientists and psychophysiologists, including Paul Grossman and colleagues, have questioned some of the biological mechanisms behind the theory. I explain what is actually being challenged, what isn’t, and what this means in practical terms for women who are learning to understand stress, overwhelm and nervous system dysregulation in midlife.I also talk about the difference between scientific research and clinical knowledge, how Polyvagal Theory moved from neuroscience into therapy through Deb Dana’s work, and why the core experiences of activation, shutdown and regulation remain real - even while the science continues to evolve.If you’ve been hearing that Polyvagal Theory has been “debunked” and aren’t sure what to make of it, this episode will help you understand what’s actually happening and why the work of nervous system healing still matters.Connect with me:Website: https://www.myholistictherapist.comNewsletter: https://www.myholistictherapist.com/newsletterInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/myholistictherapist
In this episode, I explore something I see repeatedly in my work with women in midlife: anxiety that feels new during perimenopause is often not actually new - it has simply become harder to override.Hormonal changes during this phase can increase vulnerability to anxiety, and that physiological shift is real. But for many women, perimenopause exposes long-standing patterns of nervous system activation that have been quietly managed for years.I talk about the difference between new anxiety and amplified anxiety, why midlife often reduces our tolerance for chronic stress, and why hormones alone don’t explain the full picture.If your anxiety feels louder in midlife, this episode will help you understand why.Connect with me:Website: https://www.myholistictherapist.comNewsletter: https://www.myholistictherapist.com/newsletterInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/myholistictherapist
This week’s episode was sparked by an article from Jamella Jamil with the provocative title “Ah shit, we let paedophiles decide our beauty standards.” I don’t often build a whole podcast episode around an article, but this one made me stop and think - particularly after last week’s episode on power, hierarchy and abuse.In this episode, I explore the question: Do our beauty standards keep women looking like girls?I reflect on the way adult female bodies have increasingly been shaped by expectations of hairlessness, smoothness and agelessness, and how girls and women internalise these cultural messages about what is acceptable and desirable. I also share some of my own experiences growing up in the heroine chic era, and how the transition from a girl-shaped body into a woman-shaped body felt unexpectedly threatening.From a psychological perspective, I explore how cultural standards become internalised, how girls learn to regulate their bodies long before they understand why, and why the transition into womanhood can feel psychologically loaded rather than celebratory.This is a reflective episode about culture, power and internalisation - and about what happens when adulthood in the female body starts to feel like something to resist rather than inhabit.
This week I’m speaking about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, his recent arrest, and the broader psychological impact of watching powerful men appear protected within institutions of wealth and hierarchy.I’m not dissecting gossip or speculating on legal outcomes. I’m looking at power, I’m looking at secrecy, I’m looking at what happens inside the nervous system of survivors when allegations, settlements, institutional loyalty and misaligned accountability play out publicly.In this episode, I explore secrecy, shame, betrayal trauma, and the way survivors internalise systemic protection as personal invalidation. I also speak about why cases like this are so hard to listen to, and how to externalise power dynamics rather than carrying institutional opacity as self-doubt.This is a confronting conversation. It’s also an important one.
There’s never been more access to psychological education - yet midlife women’s mental health is not improving.In this episode, I explore why insight alone doesn’t create change. Drawing on developmental neuroscience and the work of Dr. Bruce Perry, I explain how early relational experiences shape adult stress physiology - and why perimenopause often exposes what was never fully integrated.If you understand your patterns but still feel overwhelmed, wired, exhausted, or stuck, I’ll walk you through what’s actually missing.Because knowing better is not the same as feeling better.
Breathwork is everywhere right now, and many women are turning to it hoping to feel calmer, more grounded, and more connected to themselves, but not all breathwork is designed for regulation. In this episode, I unpack the origins of Holotropic Breathwork - a method originally developed to facilitate non-ordinary states of consciousness - and explore why this intention is very different from the stress-relief most women are seeking today.I talk about the current breathwork trend, the confusion between practices aimed at opening versus those aimed at settling, and why stepping into altered states without therapeutic holding or integration can be destabilising for already dysregulated nervous systems. I also share why I believe regulation must come first - particularly for midlife women, people-pleasers, and those carrying unresolved trauma / stress - before any form of deep experiential work.This episode is an invitation to slow down, understand what you’re actually signing up for, and choose practices that meet your nervous system where it is, not where the wellness world says you should be.
This week I’m joined by Sheradyn Dekker, a Functional Nutritionist specialising in gut health and hormonal imbalances. Sheradyn holds a Masters in Nutrition with postgraduate training in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition and brings both clinical expertise and lived experience after years of chronic gut pain, IBS, bloating, missing periods, and food intolerances.In this conversation, we unpack why digestive symptoms so often worsen in perimenopause, how gut health, hormones, stress, and the nervous system are deeply intertwined, and why so many women are told their symptoms are “normal” when they’re not. Sheradyn explains what a true root-cause approach looks like, why quick fixes and band-aid solutions fail, and how functional testing (including comprehensive stool, thyroid, and hormone labs) can help identify underlying imbalances that appear as disconnected symptoms.This episode is for midlife women who are tired of managing symptoms and want to understand what their body is actually communicating.You can find Sheradyn here:Website: sheradyndekker.comInstagram: @sheradyn_functionalnutrition
In this episode, I explore why birthdays can feel unexpectedly heavy for people-pleasers and women with a fragile sense of self. I unpack how early conditioning, unresolved trauma, and core beliefs like “I’m not good enough” or “I’m unlovable” can come closer to the surface on birthdays, making moments of missed attention or lack of thoughtfulness feel deeply personal.I also share my own lived experience of how birthdays have shifted for me over time as my sense of self has become more grounded, and what actually helps this day feel different.As a birthday gesture, I’m offering a 48-hour flash sale on the HEAL Method - $500 off the full program. If you’ve been considering this work, you can book a call via this link.
This episode builds on last week’s conversation about the Let Them theory and the many responses it generated. One message stood out:“The Let Them theory has been everywhere lately & it has made me uncomfortable … but what you write has hit home like a light bulb for me. It has made me realise I’m not just being antagonistic and negative about the Let Them stuff… I’m yet to be convinced that I am selfish enough to turn away and live my life my way.”In this episode, I explore why that reflection resonates with so many women, particularly in midlife. I unpack how a sense of self is formed relationally, why listening to yourself is often mislabelled as selfishness, and what actually needs to happen before “living life your way” becomes possible.
In this episode, I take a clear stance on a growing problem in the mental health space: the flattening of psychological nuance on social media and the rise of coaching-style advice being delivered as if it were therapy. Using the Let Them concept and recent high-profile commentary around family estrangement as examples, I unpack why this kind of advice is not just oversimplified - but concerning and potentially harmful for people with unresolved stress, trauma, and people-pleasing or fawning patterns.I explain the real difference between therapy and coaching, why they are not interchangeable, and how advice that assumes agency, choice, and internal safety can destabilise nervous systems that are still organised around survival. This is not an anti-coaching episode - it’s a conversation about capacity, ethics, and why trauma-informed, clinically grounded work matters.This episode is for midlife women who have tried mindset shifts, boundaries, and empowerment frameworks - and still feel stuck - and for anyone wanting a more honest conversation about what actually supports healing.
If stress feels heavier and more relentless in midlife, it’s not because you’re failing - it’s because the strategies that once kept you functioning are no longer sustainable. In this episode, I unpack what stress actually is, why chronic stress is not normal, and why so many women don’t get traction despite doing “all the right things.”I explore how self-override, avoidance, and surface-level nervous system work can keep stress patterns stuck, and I break down three habits that genuinely help by changing how your nervous system responds under pressure - through capacity, consistency, and relational safety.If you’d like a deeper understanding of the different nervous system states, I recommend going back to Episode 3, where I explore this in more detail.This is a direct, grounded conversation for midlife women who are done coping and ready for real change.👉 Learn more about the HEAL Method via the link in the show notes.
As the new year begins, many women in midlife feel a quiet pull to do things differently - not through pressure or reinvention, but through deeper self-honesty. In this episode, I’m speaking to women who have spent years people-pleasing to feel safe in relationship, and who now find themselves overwhelmed, disconnected, or unsure of who they are beneath those patterns.I explore how the fawn response shapes our sense of belonging, why insight alone rarely leads to lasting change, and what needs to shift internally for a fresh start to actually hold. This is a grounded conversation about letting go of other people’s expectations, building internal safety, and beginning the year from a place of integrity rather than survival.👉 Click to learn more about the HEAL Method.
In this episode, I share why I don’t encourage New Year’s resolutions - especially for women who already carry a lot of internal pressure and self-expectation. I explore how resolutions can quietly erode self-trust when they’re not aligned with our nervous system, capacity, or deepest knowing, and why what we often label as “self-sabotage” is actually the body trying to keep us safe.I’ll walk you through the difference between a resolution and an intention, why intentions create far more freedom and flexibility, and how intention-setting allows real, embodied change to unfold without force or punishment. If you’re ready to approach the new year with more honesty, self-trust, and nervous-system safety, this episode offers a grounded alternative to the usual “new year, new you” pressure.👉 Click here to learn more about the HEAL Method - my integrative, nervous-system-led approach to sustainable healing and change, starting up again this January 2026
You’ve done the therapy. Taken the supplements. Tried journaling, yoga, maybe even medication. So why are you still stuck in survival?In this episode, I break down one of the most common frustrations in healing: doing “all the right things” and still not feeling better. I explain how trauma impacts the nervous system and why traditional top-down approaches, like CBT, often fall short if your body isn’t ready.You’ll learn:What dysregulation really is (and how it keeps you in coping mode)The difference between managing symptoms and healing at the rootWhy coping strategies can masquerade as personality traitsHow integration - not intensity - is the missing linkThis is the episode to listen to if you’re exhausted from trying, and finally ready to understand what your system actually needs to heal.
Anxiety, burnout, emotional numbness - what if these aren’t just symptoms, but signs your nervous system is stuck in survival mode?In this episode, I unpack what nervous system dysregulation really feels like, why it often hides behind high-functioning behaviours, and how to recognise the patterns in your own life. We’ll explore the key nervous system states (fight/flight, shutdown, and regulation), what they look like day-to-day, and how to begin shifting from coping to true resourcing.If rest feels impossible or you’re doing “all the right things” but still not healing - this one’s for you.
In this episode, I’m sharing a personal reflection that I suspect many women in midlife will see parts of themselves in. I talk about the quiet but powerful shifts that happen around fifty - when motherhood evolves, menopause arrives, identities soften, and we start asking deeper questions about who we are now and who we’re becoming. Using the Existential Psychology framework and the modern lens on the “dark night of the soul,” I explore themes of purpose, transition, letting go, and the reorientation that midlife so often brings. If you’re moving through your own season of change - feeling something shifting inside you, even if nothing dramatic is happening on the outside - this episode will speak to that experience with honesty, warmth, and companionship.
Ever wondered why you can’t relax during the silly season, no matter how much you try? In this episode, I’m breaking down what’s actually happening inside your nervous system at the end of the year, and why December sends so many women into overwhelm, irritation, or complete shutdown.From collective stress in shopping centres to neuroception, co-dysregulation, and that wired-but-tired feeling, I’ll explain the real physiology behind your exhaustion. And more importantly, I’ll give you practical tools to help you regulate, reset, and protect your energy before the chaos ramps up.I’ve also created a free resource to support you through this season, and it will help you identify your nervous-system state and build your own regulation plan.If you’re feeling stretched thin or running on fumes already, this episode will help you understand yourself with compassion, and find a steadier way through the season.
In this episode, I’m exploring the quiet revolution happening inside so many women in midlife - the moment where we start to ask, “Is this it?” and begin to re-evaluate the relationships, marriages, and friendships we’ve carried for decades. I dive into new research around overall divorce rates and I also look at what friendship really looks like in this season.This is a grounded, compassionate conversation about all types of relationships, maturity, and self-honesty - and what it truly means to grow into the kind of woman who loves deeply, but no longer at her own expense.Here is the link if you want to sign up to my weekly newsletter, I follow the theme for the week, including any suggestions so you have them written down: https://www.healforlifeprograms.com/newsletter
In this episode, I’m exploring what really happens when your body - and your hormones - decide they’re done with people-pleasing. For many women, midlife brings a strange mix of liberation and guilt. The part of us that’s spent decades smoothing things over and keeping the peace starts to feel exhausted, while another part begins whispering, “I can’t keep living like this.”We’ll talk about the hormonal shifts that drive this change, from fluctuating oestrogen and progesterone levels, to the role of testosterone - and how these biochemical transitions collide with your attachment style. I’ll break down the four adult attachment patterns and explain why anxious, avoidant, or people pleasing tendencies can create havoc in perimenopause, as the body pushes you toward truth and integrity.
You know those moments when you catch yourself thinking, “I know better than this”, but you still overreact, shut down, or find yourself managing everyone else’s emotions? In this episode, I’m unpacking the hidden ways emotional immaturity can still show up, even in self-aware women who’ve done years of therapy and inner work. I’ll share a personal story about a friendship that ended, explore what true emotional maturity actually looks like (beyond the performative “boundaries and healing” we see online), and talk honestly about why some relationships start to shift, or even end, when one person begins to grow.And because insight without integration doesn’t change much, I’ll also share three practical ways you can start becoming more emotionally mature.If you’ve ever wondered why certain relationships still feel hard, even after all the inner work, this episode will help you see yourself, and your connections, with fresh eyes and a deeper understanding.
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