The Richard Nicholls Mental Health Podcast
To inspire, educate and motivate you to be the best you can be. Learn about tackling mental health problems like Anxiety and Depression as well as simple tips to understand the world better, in a down to earth and genuine way with the Best Selling Author and Psychotherapist Richard Nicholls.
Episodes
130 episodes
Short Stuff: Laughter & Perspectives
Is laughter the best medicine?Maybe not, but it's better than nothing!
Short Stuff: Empty Nest Syndrome
Empty nest syndrome is one of those things people feel a bit embarrassed to admit to. Your child leaving home is meant to be a success story, so why does the house suddenly feel so wrong? In this episode I look at what's really going on when th...
Short Stuff: Infidelity
Infidelity is one of those topics that gets talked about constantly but almost never honestly. The public conversation tends to collapse into judgment or defence, and neither actually helps anyone understand what's going on.
Short Stuff: Trauma and Personality
Following on from last week I'm going into why some neurodiversity isn't genetic. How childhood trauma can shape a brain in ways that look a lot like neurodivergence and why so many people get handed the wrong diagnosis.
Clutter & Overwhelm
Why is it so much easier to sort out a friend's messy cupboard than my own?This month I'm getting into overwhelm and executive dysfunction, specifically the pile that's been sat on the chair for 3 weeks, the drawer that only opens halfwa...
Short Stuff: Neurodiversity
Different brains aren't broken brains. They're just running on an operating system the world wasn't built to support. So this week I'm talking about why neurodivergence and mental health are more tangled together than most people realise, and w...
Short Stuff: Bullying
This week we're talking about bullying, and not just the playground kind. We dig into how being bullied as a child can leave a lasting mark on the nervous system, even when home life was safe and loving.
Short Stuff: Anger
Anger gets such a rough deal, doesn't it. People either think they've got too much of it and feel ashamed, or they reckon they never get angry and think that's something to be proud of. And honestly, both of those things are worth looking at.
Short Stuff: Acceptance and Commitment
This week I’m talking about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT. A therapy model that sounds a bit like “just accept things” on the surface, but actually has a lot more depth to it than that.
Panic Attacks
People often use the word panic to mean the same as anxiety. But in my world, the 2 are separated so as to ensure people get the right sort of therapy.
Resilience Isn't What You Think
Who's responsible if we fall flat on our face and nothing goes right?More importantly, who's responsible if we don't pick ourselves up again?
Attitude
A bad attitude is like a flat car tyre.You're not going anywhere unless you change it.
Toxic Masculinity
The rules of toxic masculinity suggest that to be a real man you should never lose, have no needs, suffer in silence, show no emotions except bravado and anger, be independent, show no weakness.It’s an impossible code to live by and it hurt...
Failure
Because we're not born knowing how to do anything that comes naturally to us as adults, we're literally born to fail along the way.Whether that's learning to walk, talk or how to be calm in difficult situations. We have to learn. We have to...
Limerence: Addicted To Love?
Call it a crush, call it new relationship energy, call it infatuation. But if it becomes an addiction, then you can easily become your own drug dealer by retreating into fantasy.That's when it starts to become a very serious problem.
Willpower
Not only is my house full left over Christmas chocolate but the supermarkets are already pushing Easter eggs onto me and there's only so much willpower we have to resist.But sometimes it's all a matter of perspective.
Parenting - Helicopters vs Bulldozers
Understanding a little bit about the effects of different parenting styles can really help us understand ourselves better. As well as help us to understand others.Let's have a peek into some of the basics shall we?
Phenomenology
Phenomenology is a posh word that psychologists use to mean the idea of someone's subjective and individual experience.We could all have exactly the same experience but feel completely different about it and it's important we understand why...
Dependence and Codependence
If your sense of self is based around helping others and it's the only place where you get your self worth from. It might be worth checking that you don't make things worse.
Accepting Criticism
According to multiple studies, fear of judgement is the number one biggest fear, above dying.The author Elbert Hubbard once wrote, "Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing, and you'll never be criticised." And that's probably the only way t...
Short Stuff: Guided Relaxation
Today is International Relaxation Day. So I thought I'd do something different this week for my bonus episode and guide you through a 5 minute relaxation exercise.
Boundaries
Most people think of boundaries as being like a physical thing as if there's a chalk outline on the ground everywhere you go and if someone steps into it it makes you upset. The thing is the only one that knows the boundary is there is you....
Motivation
What's the difference between someone who has all the motivation and enthusiasm you could wish for and someone who, even though they don't have depression, still can't feel motivated? Well, in order to answer that I think it's worth looking at ...