The Richard Nicholls Mental Health Podcast

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If you're soaking up all the negative stuff that goes on in the world it can be really hard to feel safe ourselves unless we work hard to.
Ignorance is bliss sometimes and you have nothing to feel guilty about by looking the other way when you have to.

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The world can feel quite stressful sometimes and it's really important to find ways of not making things worse for ourselves.
One of those ways is to learn how to let go of some things and find the best ways to delegate.

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This week I’m talking about grounding techniques, those simple little ways we can bring ourselves back to the present when stress, anxiety, or overwhelm start pulling us in all sorts of directions.

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What if the parts of yourself you try hardest to hide are the very parts that need the most understanding? Today we're looking at the idea of the shadow side, the uncomfortable emotions and reactions we often judge, suppress, or avoid. Rather than seeing anger, jealousy, resentment, or insecurity as proof that something is wrong with you, it's good to approach them with curiosity and compassion. 

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A bad attitude is like a flat car tyre.
You're not going anywhere unless you change it.

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Dreams have fascinated us for thousands of years. From ancient prophecies to Freud’s theories about hidden desires, people have long believed that dreams must contain some deeper symbolic meaning. But what if they don’t?

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This week’s episode looks at the tiny influences that shape the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Most people assume big life changes come from big events. Trauma, major decisions, life turning points. But in the therapy room what I often see is something much quieter than that. A slow drip of messages and expectations that build up over time.

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Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “I should be better than this” or “I mustn’t upset anyone” and wondered where that rule actually came from?
This week, we're having a look at the psychology of introjects. The beliefs, attitudes and standards we unconsciously absorb from parents, teachers, partners and society. The invisible scripts that quietly shape our self esteem, anxiety, relationships and sense of worth.

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Happy Easter everyone,

Spring has sprung, the rabbits are at it like, well, rabbits. And it got me thinking about love.

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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 hurts everyone.

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This week I'm talking about something so many of you have mentioned in emails and messages, that Sunday evening anxiety that seems to arrive like clockwork.
Why does the body react to a calendar change as if it’s a threat?
Why can Sunday feel tense even after a lovely weekend?

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This week I’m exploring something quietly powerful about the social brain. From old school photos to bonobos recognising family decades later, it turns out we don’t just remember faces… we remember feelings. I also look at how curiosity shapes identity, especially in children, and what that means for us as adults. 

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If you’ve ever wondered “What if…?” about your health, this one’s for you.
I'm digging into the often misunderstood world of health anxiety today, what many still call hypochondria. Which is not about drama or attention-seeking. Hypochondria is about fear. Real, convincing fear that something’s wrong, even when every check-up says otherwise.
I’ll be exploring where that fear comes from, how it shows up in our day-to-day lives, and what we can do to break the cycle. From panic spirals and over-Googling to learning how to sit with uncertainty an...

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In this episode, I’m talking about something called zoochosis. A term used to describe distress in captive animals, and how something very similar might be happening to us as humans in the modern world.

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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 practice. And the only way to do that is to get it wrong.
Time to embrace our failures!

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Today I'm looking at conformity and how it affects everything from our smallest decisions to our deepest sense of self. We’ll explore how group pressure shapes our thoughts and behaviours, and why pretending to fit in can damage our mental health over time.

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This week, I’m looking at the quieter side of victim blaming, the unintentional kind. The sort that sneaks into everyday conversations when we try to help someone through something, but accidentally end up making them feel worse.

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Being in control of our goal setting also means being responsible for achieving them, or not.
Sometimes we need to shift our perspectives, focus on intentions and acknowledge the need for adjustments.

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It's no secret that stretching our comfort zone to include more situations is a good idea. But it's called a comfort zone for a reason isnt it? It's comfortable there.
So if life is comfortable and the alternative is uncomfortable then we're not going to have a great deal of motivation to make a change.
But do we even need to? And if so, how?

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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.

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Today I'm exploring the playful psychology of “Would You Rather” questions.
They might seem like silly dilemmas but they can lead to some surprisingly deep reflections.
Our choices reveal our values, thoughts, and emotions that create insight you might not expect.

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People sometimes make the mistake of thinking that accepting reality and moving on from the past makes them weak or naive in some way. So they hold onto their pain.
It takes a lot of strength to be the bigger person and say "You know what, the only one this is hurting is me, I'm moving on from that." But it doesn't mean you have to forgive and forget. 

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This week I'm peeking into the quiet power of self-compassion. What it really means, why it feels so difficult, and how we can gently build it into our daily lives.

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Today I'm looking at Conversion Disorder, or as it’s more often called these days, Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder.
It’s one of those things that shows just how powerful the mind-body connection really is. Where the body can suddenly stop working properly but with no clear medical cause. Whether it’s something you’ve experienced yourself, or it’s touched the life of someone you love, this one might help connect a few dots.

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Today I’m talking about the five emotional needs we all have in childhood, and how things can get a bit messy in adulthood if those needs weren’t fully met.
We’ll look at how this might show up in your life now, from people-pleasing to emotional detachment or even struggling to let yourself play. 

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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.

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Mixing negative beliefs about self with the idea that we can mind read is not a good idea. It can easily lead us down the path of feeling like an imposter at the first hint of any success.

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Freud had some weird ideas back in the day. But this one really has stood the test of time.

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Nostalgia can feel lovely, can’t it? But if we’re not careful, we start thinking the past was better than it really was. This episode’s about why we do that, and how we can stop missing out on today by staring too hard at yesterday.

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Some specialists say we need 8 hours every night, some say we need more. In truth, there's only one person who knows how much sleep you need.
You.

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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?

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You don’t need to be anxiety-free to live fully. You just need the right process, and a bit of patience with yourself.

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I once heard someone say that if you're on your own and lonely then you obviously don't like the company you're in. And when listening to clients talk about their loneliness that really does ring true. 

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Sometimes all it takes is a tiny tweak in how we talk to ourselves. You can actually have the same event but create a completely different feeling about it. It's called reframing and can shift your mindset, boost gratitude, and make everyday life feel that bit lighter.

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Change unsettles us, even when it’s positive. So today I explore why our brains resist it and share simple, compassionate strategies to face change with confidence and resilience.

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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.

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If you ever find yourself stuck in the same old arguments, playing out like a bad soap opera then that might be the Drama Triangle at work. Where we slip into roles of Victim, Rescuer, or Persecutor without even realising. So, today I’ll explain how the cycle works, why we get caught in it, and how to step out of the drama by choosing healthier roles instead.

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Why do families, schools and workplaces so often create “roles” like the star, the scapegoat, the peacekeeper or the joker? In this episode we dive into systems theory, exploring how groups unconsciously assign parts to people in order to keep balance, and the cost this can have on our self-esteem and identity.

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Happiness isn’t a destination. It’s the small, fleeting sparks that weave through ordinary days. A sip of coffee, a kind word, a favourite song on the radio. In this episode I explore how these micro-moments of joy soften life’s edges, shift our perspective, and remind us that even on tough days, good things are still here.

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It's World Mental Health Day today, a good day to challenge some old beliefs that have been holding us back.
Sometimes what you think is “just how I am” is actually a hand-me-down. And when you realise that, you get to choose whether to keep something or let it go.

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