Dial Emma

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, our listener dilemma comes from a concerned mother, whose teenage daughter is struggling under the pressure to be perfect. To help me unpack it, I'm joined by Dr. Tara Porter, a chartered psychologist and author who has more than 25 years' experience in mental health - particularly in child and adolescent contexts.We delve into the impact that academic expectations can have on young people, the importance of self-reflection as a parent, and the value of allowing young people to experience failure. Tara also shares some practical steps for parents to address their own perfectionism and embrace a 'good enough' approach to life.---Find out more about Tara's work: https://www.taraporterpsychologist.com/If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, I'm delighted to be tackling our listener dilemma with another special guest: psychologist and author of How to Be Selfish, Suzy Reading.Suzy joins me to talk about the emotional toll of constantly “holding everything together” and why so many people, especially women, struggle to rest without guilt. Responding to a listener who feels invisible after years of caring for her children, ageing parents, and partner, we explore how cultural conditioning and inherited beliefs teach us that self-worth comes from selflessness, and how we can reframe those beliefs to find better self-advocacy in our daily lives.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.In this week's episode, I explore the sharp end of love - those crossroads where heart and future pull in opposite directions.Two listeners share life-defining dilemmas that ask the same haunting question: What do you do when your heart and your future don’t want the same thing?In our first letter, a woman faces the agony of wanting children, when her long-term partner does not. To answer it, I unpack the difference between change and self-realisation, how resentment grows in the spaces where love stands still, and why sometimes two truths can both be right but no longer fit together.In our second dilemma, a happily married listener confesses to falling in love with someone else. I delve into the anatomy of emotional infidelity, the unmet needs that lie beneath attraction, and the difference between a relationship that’s wrong and one that’s simply outgrown.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.Our dilemma this week comes from a listener who is navigating a lifelong struggle with weight and self-acceptance. After years of dieting without lasting success, she finally found hope through weight-loss injections - but when she had to stop due to the cost, the weight, and the shame that comes with it, returned. Now, she finds herself caught between the pressure to start the medication again and the desire to accept herself as she is.To help me respond to our lovely listener and provide some much needed scientific insight, I'm delighted to be joined by Dr. Fredrik Nyström, professor of medicine at Linköping University in Sweden and author of Lighten the Load on Your Shoulders. Fredrik has spent more than 30 years working within endocrinology and studying hormone-producing glands and organs, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes.Fredrik and I explore the complexities of weight management, the societal pressures that often influence our relationship with food and appearance, and the psychological impacts of dieting. We also discuss the role of GLP-1 agonists in weight loss, the importance of self-acceptance in a world filled with conflicting messages about body image, and the power of challenging societal norms and embracing personal choices when it comes to our health and wellbeing.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, we hear from a 31-year-old listener who is struggling to set boundaries around sex and dating. This listener feels fearful of disappointing potential partners or ending up alone altogether, and often finds herself prioritising their desires over her own wants and needs.To help me unpack this dilemma, I'm joined by Kate Moyle, a psychosexual therapist and certified psycho-sexologist who aims to normalise conversations around sex and empower us all to make informed decisions about our sexual lives.We explore the complexities of dating, boundaries, sexual empowerment and consent, the impact of societal norms on sexual experiences, and the psychological aspects of anxiety and avoidance in sexual relationships. Kate also talks about the need for open communication in relationships, getting to know our personal desires, and the role of better sex education in fostering a healthier relationship with our sexuality.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.In this week’s episode, I'm exploring the complex family roles that shape who we become, and how hard it can be to step outside them.Firstly, we hear from listener has spent her life as “the responsible one” - the organiser, the fixer, the steady sister who always keeps things together. But now she wonders what it would mean to stop playing that part. Can she step into her own light without feeling like she’s abandoning her sister?Our second dilemma comes from someone who has built a very different life from the one she grew up in - a life of comfort and success that feels at odds with her working-class roots. She finds herself hiding her achievements to avoid standing out, torn between loyalty to her past and honesty about her present.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.It's World Mental Health Day this Friday 10th October, so I'm delighted to be joined by a special guest who knows the power of martial arts for mental health better than most: four-time black belt, double gold medal champion and founder of Graham's Academy of Martial Arts, Steve Graham.Our dilemma this week comes from a concerned mother, whose teenage son is struggling with anxiety, depression and a loss of confidence and spends much of his time in his room. She asks: how can I support my son and encourage him to try something new, without making him feel pressured?To help this lovely listener, Steve and I go back to grassroots mental health as it has shown up in our own lives. We discuss the challenges teenagers are facing, especially on social media, the importance of role models to help them navigate those challenges, and how martial arts can serve as a powerful tool for building confidence and providing support.Steve also tells us the benefits of martial arts for our mental wellbeing and the practical steps we can take to get involved in physical activities, encouraging both parents and teens to take action for better mental health.---Useful links:Dopamine Nation by Anna LembkeChimp Paradox by Steve Peters---If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.What happens when a friendship fades without explanation, or ends in a way that feels like a betrayal?This week, I'm exploring the fragile bonds of friendship, and the lack of rituals for closure, clear endings, or language to help us process when they unravel. Our first dilemma involves a friendship that has been slowly, quietly drifting away with no explanation, leaving our listener wondering if they're asking for too much; the second sees a childhood promise broken in a very public way, creating a rupture in a 25-year friendship that is proving difficult to move past.This episode is a reminder that friendships don’t have to be constant to be real - but they do have to be mutual. When they no longer are, the grief of their loss is both real and valid. By acknowledging it, we create the space for new connections that choose us back, in the here and now.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, I'm tackling two dilemmas around work, identity, and balance. First, we hear from a new mum who wonders if it’s selfish to leave a safe but uninspiring job in pursuit of a more fulfilling career, torn between the security her family needs and the desire to model courage and purpose for her daughter. Our second dilemma comes from a listener who has reduced their working hours to focus on health, wellbeing and sustainability long-term, but now faces judgment from colleagues who see part-time work as “slacking.”This episode explores guilt, fear, workplace culture, and the importance of aligning our choices with who we are becoming, not just who we’ve been.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, I'm joined by psychotherapist and author Joshua Fletcher, aka Anxiety Josh, to help a listener who is struggling with anxious feelings around self-optimisation - the pursuit of trying to be our 'best selves' (whatever that actually means). From 5am clubs to wellness trackers, we explore why trying to do everything right can leave us feeling wrong, and how embracing failure, feelings, and self-acceptance offers a far more authentic path to wellbeing.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, I'm joined by trauma and self-work therapist Helen Marie, to unpack a dilemma involving estranged siblings. Together, we explore themes of trauma, attachment, and self-worth, the complexity of sibling relationships, and the impact that difficult childhood experiences can have on family dynamics later in life.Helen also shares her expertise on regulating the nervous system through somatic practices and techniques, showing listeners how to perform a 'physiological sigh' to reset and gain clarity when we feel dysregulated.Helen Marie is a renowned psychotherapist with a phenomenal presence on Instagram and TikTok, where she shares accessible advice on self-work and trauma. Her book, "Choose You," guides readers on a compassionate journey of self-discovery, while her podcast "I Don't Think We Talk Enough About..." is a must-listen for more in-depth discussions.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, I'm answering two dilemmas about intimacy, connection and betrayal. One listener writes about being blindsided after finding her partner's hidden Viagra pills and porn subscriptions; another wants to know whether love can be enough in a relationship, when sex is almost entirely absent.In this episode, I explore shame, secrecy, desire, and the courage it takes to talk openly about what we really need in relationship. Whether you’re grappling with similar questions yourself or simply listening in, this episode is a reminder that intimacy is about much more than sex—and that honesty, vulnerability, and communication are the real bridges to closeness.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.In this week's episode, we hear two dilemmas that sit in the grey zone when it comes to relationships. One listener is torn between a promising new partner and the pull of an ex, while another faces an unplanned pregnancy and the fear of disappointing her parents. I explore why we hold on to the past, how to let go, and what it means to make life-changing choices on our own terms.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome to season two of Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.In this first episode of season two, I'm delving into love, secrets, and the emotional weight of family expectations through two dilemmas. One listener struggles to imagine herself coming out to her family in the lead-up to her wedding; another yearns for her sister's absent acceptance of her same-sex relationship.I explore the importance of self-alignment and authenticity in relationships, how to navigate the emotional terrain of revealing hidden truths to loved ones, and the impact of hiding parts of ourselves from the people we love.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.It's the last episode of season one of Dial Emma, but never fear! I'll be back with season two very soon, so if you have a dilemma that you'd like my help with, please do submit it anonymously here.In this season finale, I'm tackling three dilemmas, all with a common theme: heartbreak.Whether it's the ex you can't forget, a partner who left without closure, or the fear of opening up again, I delve into the emotional wounds that we're left with after heartbreak, and the therapeutic insights, techniques and advice that might help our listeners to find a deeper understanding of themselves and the way forward.Thank you so much for listening, and I can't wait to see you again in season two.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.To help me unpack today's dilemma, I'm joined by another special guest: podcaster, author, coach and founder of Motherkind, Zoe Blaskey!Our dilemma this week is all about balancing career ambitions and motherhood - or, as our listener puts it, 'career vs motherhood.' She's 33 and plans to start trying for a baby in the near future, but a combination of loss of confidence in a male-dominated, high-pressure work environment, a desire to follow her own professional ambitions and a fear of failing at having a career AND being a mother have left her feeling completely stuck.In this episode, we tackle the conspiracy of 'having it all' when it comes to mothering and working, why building self-confidence is the first step to figuring out the way forward, and the transformative power of matrescence. Zoe also shares her insights on navigating toxic work environments, the value of mentorship, and how to find the organisations that value and support employees who also happen to be parents.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, we have a dilemma from a listener who shares how it feels to continue in friendships after bereavement.At 53, our listener was very sadly widowed, a devastating loss which came after seven other significant bereavements. In the aftermath, long-term friends who initially supported her through grief have now drifted away, leaving behind a fragile web of transactional interactions and emotional limbo.In this episode, we'll unpack the grief beneath the grief that our listener has experienced, the second heartbreak of watching friendships fade just when they’re needed most, and why friends often retreat after death even with the best intentions.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, we explore a dilemma that will feel all too familiar to recovering people-pleasers: What happens when your efforts to support a struggling colleague backfire? Is it toxic complaining?!Our listener shares the challenge of working with a teammate who constantly complains, leaving them feeling drained, excluded, and unsure if they’re somehow the problem. I unpack what's really going on beneath the surface, looking at people-pleasing patterns, emotional projection, and the complex dynamics that can make even the most positive workplaces feel heavy.This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt responsible for someone else’s emotional state—or who wonders if being “too helpful” might be doing more harm than good.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

TW: miscarriage, abortion and fertility strugglesWelcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week's dilemma comes from a listener who is navigating a complex and painful fertility journey - but not one that necessarily fits into our pre-conceived ideas of what fertility struggles *should* look and feel like. To help me answer it, I'm joined by my first special guest: author and podcaster Elizabeth Day.Our listener, 43, writes with extraordinary vulnerability about her unexpected pregnancy in 2023, the decision to terminate, and the heartbreak of multiple miscarriages that followed. While her partner’s desire for parenthood has since waned, her own longing has grown, and she now finds herself grieving something she never expected to want so deeply.This is a conversation about grief, identity, truth, and the emotional complexities of fertility, especially when the path isn’t linear. Elizabeth also shares her personal experiences of miscarriage and fertility treatment, and how she found peace on the other side of her decision to stop pursuing biological motherhood.If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.This week, we hear a deeply personal and vulnerable dilemma from a listener who feels like an imposter in her own life. She struggles to feel like she 'belongs' in her friendship groups and her family unit, and often leans into self-sabotage and feelings of jealousy to cope with an overwhelming fear of ending up alone.During the episode, we unpack where these painful beliefs often come from—early life experiences where a child might learn to take the blame in order to feel safe. Through therapeutic insight and compassion, we explore how harsh self-judgment, fear of rejection, and unmet needs can shape adult relationships and our inner narrative.This episode offers a gentle, validating invitation to reconsider: Is it really you that’s not okay—or is there something about this that’s not okay?If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk