Clinical psychologist Jeremy Stevenson joins Toni Jones on The Shelf Help Podcast to ask: beneath all the books, theories and advice, what actually helps us change?

Jeremy and his co-author Spencer Greenberg examined more than 100 self-help books and 23 therapeutic approaches, gathering hundreds of techniques before finding that they could be grouped into 12 broad “levers”.

Jeremy's interest in self-help is personal as well as professional; in his twenties, a self-help technique helped him challenge the thoughts that were making him miserable and ultimately inspired him to become a psychologist.

And in this conversation, he explains how we can all use the levers as tools to ease our suffering and support our wellbeing when we start by understanding what’s happening, then choose a technique that fits.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• How to break down an anxious experience using the ABC method and spot what you may be able to change.
• Why gradually approaching something you fear can help with social anxiety, and how our unconscious 'safety behaviours' might actually be getting in the way.
• What 'parts work' means, and how speaking kindly to an anxious part of yourself might help you take the next step.
• Why self-compassion can support change without letting you off the hook.
• How to decide when to work on a feeling and when acceptance may be the more helpful response.
• Why doing more activities you’re glad you did afterwards can lift your mood, even when you really don’t feel like starting.

And you'll learn that you don’t have to master all 12 levers or use them in order. Whether you’re navigating anxiety, feeling a little flat, or simply curious about how to put self-help into practice, this conversation offers a place to begin.

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🔎 Find out more about The 12 Levers and Jeremy Stevenson

TV presenter and bestselling author Andrea McLean joins Toni Jones on The Shelf Help Podcast for a raw and revealing conversation about shame, identity and what happens when the life you've built falls apart. In the publi eye.

After more than 20 years in television, Andrea publicly left her successful career to start a business, telling viewers she wanted to find out whether she would "fall or fly".

She fell. The business failed, Andrea became seriously ill with Covid, she and her husband Nick lost their money and had to sell their home, and the former Loose Women presenter found herself unable to even get a job in a coffee shop.

In this honest conversation, Andrea shares what it was really like to lose the identity and lifestyle she'd worked decades to build, why she eventually decided to stop hiding and write her fifth book, Shameless, and how confronting her shame has changed the way she thinks about failure, money, marriage, parenting and herself.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why Andrea says the best financial advice she received was to "panic early", and why shame can keep you hanging on when it's time to change course.
• What happened when Andrea's financial struggles became national headlines, and why she cried on the morning Shameless was published.
• How losing their financial safety net unexpectedly brought Andrea's blended family closer and taught her children about money and resilience.
• The "ugly truth" conversations Andrea and Nick use to navigate conflict and difficult conversations in their marriage.
• Why guilt says "I did something bad" while shame says "I am bad", and how changing the language you use about yourself can change the story you carry.
• Andrea also talks candidly about ageing in the public eye, being told just 12 weeks after having a baby that "no one wants to see a fat weather girl", Botox, hair extensions, menopause and why, at 56, she feels very differently about her face, body and age.

Whether you're dealing with failure, financial pressure, a changing identity or simply a life that hasn't turned out quite as planned, this conversation is a powerful reminder that you are not the mistake. You may have made the mess, but you are also the person who can start cleaning it up.

📚 More about the Shelf Help Book Club (hosted on Substack)

📖 Get the book: Shameless by Andrea McLean

Journalist, campaigner and bestselling author Milli Hill joins Toni Jones on The Shelf Help Podcast to celebrate the publication of her empowering new book, The Body Myth.

Together they explore the stories women inherit about their bodies, from menstruation and motherhood to menopause, ageing and body image, and ask what might change if we understood our bodies with more curiosity and compassion - and celebration! - instead of criticism.

From the concept of matriflux - the continual cycle of change throughout a woman's life - to the power of body literacy and self-acceptance, this is a thoughtful conversation about challenging old myths and building a kinder relationship with yourself.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why so many of us inherit and internalise beliefs about our bodies without ever questioning them.
• The concept of matriflux and what it teaches us about change, resilience and reinvention.
• How our first experiences of puberty can shape our relationship with our bodies for decades.
• Why body and hormonal literacy is about far more than fertility.
• How wwareness is 50% of transformation.

Whether you're navigating puberty, motherhood, menopause or simply learning to feel more at home in your own skin, this conversation is a reminder that understanding yourself includes understanding the body you live in.

📚 More about the Shelf Help Book Club (⁠hosted on Substack⁠)

📖 Get the book: The Body Myth by Milli Hill