This episode contains discussion around family relationship breakdown, young people's mental health (including self-harm and suicide ideation), body-based therapy approaches, and post-pandemic challenges.

🎧 Join us for an insightful and compassionate conversation with Gestalt psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor Jo Small as she shares her journey from growing up in a northern town before mental health was widely discussed to becoming a specialist in body-based therapy and working extensively with young people.

This essential discussion explores how our bodies communicate what words cannot, and why understanding the physical language of emotions is crucial for healing troubled relationships and supporting young people in today's challenging world.

Hosted by:

Michaela McCarthy (Founder of The Awareness Centre, The Awareness Centre Training School, and Creator and Host of A Bunch of Therapists Podcast. Senior BACP Accredited Psychotherapist and Influential Leader) and Dipti Solanki (Therapist, Coach & Consultant, Mental Health Trainer and Founder of Grief Matters 4 All CIC).

In this compelling episode, Jo openly shares:

• Growing up in a northern town before mental health was widely discussed

• How she would have benefitted from therapy during her parents' relationship breakup

• Her transformative experience working with a Gestalt therapist

• Using specific techniques to repair troubled relationships, particularly with her father

• Training as a Gestalt therapist, trainer and supervisor

• Working extensively with the body to understand emotional communication

• How gesture, posture and physical feelings reveal what clients are experiencing

• Her work in schools supporting young people's mental health

• How challenging life has become for children and teenagers post-pandemic

• The impact of social media on young people's wellbeing

• Recognising and interpreting the language our bodies speak

This essential conversation offers valuable guidance for anyone curious about body-based therapeutic approaches, working with young people, or understanding how thoughts and feelings manifest physically.

🔍 Key Topics Discussed:

• The importance of mental health support during family breakdown

• Gestalt therapy techniques for repairing damaged relationships

• How the body communicates emotions through gesture and posture

• Working therapeutically with physical feelings and sensations

• Young people's mental health in schools

• The post-pandemic impact on children and teenagers

• Social media's effect on young people's wellbeing

• Body-based approaches to therapy and healing

• Training and supervising in Gestalt therapy

• Recognising what your body is telling you about your emotional state

Chapters:

00:00 From Difficult Childhood to Becoming a Therapist

02:36 Addressing Self-Harm and Post-Pandemic Challenges in Schools 08:50 The Here and Now: Awareness and Relational Patterns

14:57 Using Gestalt to Repair a Difficult Father Relationship

18:28 How Embodied Practice Reveals Emotions and Anxieties

26:18 Marathons, Authenticity, and Social Media's Impact

30:22 The Value of Self-Disclosure in Podcast Conversations

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