In this episode of This Voice Is Mine, Dr Emma Offord is joined by clinical psychologist, author, and maternal mental health specialist Dr Caroline Boyd for a deeply honest and necessary conversation about motherhood, anger, and the stories we are taught to silence.

Together, they explore the realities that so many parents live but rarely feel able to name: intrusive thoughts, maternal rage, emotional overload, and the crushing weight of expectation placed on mothers, particularly within a culture that still clings to myths of calm, self-sacrificing, endlessly patient ‘good’ motherhood.

Caroline brings her clinical expertise, research, and lived experience to unpack why anger is not a failure, but a meaningful signal.

They discuss how suppressed anger can manifest as anxiety, shame, burnout, and even physical illness, and why learning to listen to anger, rather than fear it, can be a powerful act of repair and self-compassion.

This episode also names the wider systems at play: patriarchy, unsupported caregiving structures, isolation, and the lack of societal scaffolding for parents. Rather than pathologising mothers, Emma and Caroline invite us to see anger as both a protector and a messenger, one that deserves attention, not punishment.

This is a conversation about reclaiming voice, dignity, and humanity in parenthood. Not about fixing mothers, but about finally listening to them.

Clinical psychologist Dr Caroline Boyd has over 10 years experience working in
the NHS and mental health settings, and she supports parents from pregnancy
to childbirth and beyond.

Caroline offers anger courses, workshops and 1:1 therapy in her independent psychology practice, Parent Therapy Hub.

Caroline is the author of Mindful New Mum, and her published research
explores mothers experiences of intrusive thoughts about their babies. Her
work has been featured in You magazine, Elle, Grazia, the Telegraph and
Womans Hour on BBC Radio 4, and she is an Ambassador for UK perinatal
mental health charity, PANDAS. Caroline shares psychology ideas on Instagram
and in the media to help parents feel less alone and more connected - to
themselves and their children.

You can reach Caroline at drcarolineboyd.com or via Instagram @_drboyd

Caroline offers a self-paced anger course for mothers
(USE THE CODE “PODCAST” TO CLAIM YOUR £100 DISCOUNT):

Download Caroline’s FREE GUIDE on how to handle anger in HOT moments:
For an overview of Caroline’s work, including her book, Mindful New Mum,
click here.

If you’re struggling with difficult thoughts and feelings or if this episode raises
any concerns for you, please talk to a trusted health professional such as your
GP.

You can also reach out to the services below:
UK: PANDAS offer a free, bookable call service
Samaritans – 116 123
US: Postpartum Support International - 1-800-944-4773 (4PPD)
For emergency help - call 999 or visit your local A&E department.

In this intimate, reflective episode of This Voice Is Mine: The Unquiet Podcast, Dr Emma Offord and the DL team are joined by Helen Marie, a UK-based registered integrative therapist, author of Choose You, and host of the podcast I Don’t Think We Talk Enough About.

Together, Emma and Helen, along with Jolene and Jo, explore what it really means to grow full size: not as a performance of confidence, but as a nervous-system-led journey of becoming. Helen shares her path from a first career in public health into psychotherapy, and the lived experiences that changed everything, including what happens when you’re pulled into the “helper” role and your own story disappears into survival mode.

This conversation goes deep into the “good girl” conditioning, people pleasing, and the myth of self sufficiency. Emma reflects on the hidden pressure to appear “together” as professionals, and why authenticity is not arriving at a perfect destination, but learning to meet yourself with truth, in real time.

You’ll also hear rich insights on somatic work, safety, and voice: why it’s not enough for an environment to be safe if your internal environment still believes vulnerability is dangerous, and how embodiment becomes the bridge between knowing your story and actually feeling it.

A grounded, soul-level dialogue about permission, growth, and the quiet courage it takes to be seen.

Follow Helen Marie and her work on her Instagram account here.

Parenting a neurodivergent child in a system that was never designed for their brain is hard. Parenting that child while you are still healing your own school trauma is something else entirely.

In this episode of This Voice Is Mine: The Unquiet Podcast, Dr Emma Offord is joined by parenting coach and host of the Parent Unplugged podcast, Charis Halsall. A mum of three and an outspoken advocate for children and adults with dyslexia, Charis was diagnosed at seven and spent her school years collecting what she later learned to call “micro-traumas”: the red pen, the laptop that was meant to “fix” everything, the report cards that said “try harder” when she was already at her limit.

Charis shares how those experiences shaped her sense of self, the long shadow they cast over her confidence, and the moment she realised the problem was never her brain. It was the system. We explore what happens when a diagnosis is treated as the end of the story rather than the beginning of systemic change, and how many dyslexic children are still being asked to fit an environment that actively dysregulates their nervous system.

Now a neuro-affirming parent to a dyslexic son, Charis talks honestly about advocating in school, asking for small but powerful adjustments, and choosing self-esteem over “catching up”. From changing bright blue maths squares to softer grey, to switching to voice-to-text and watching his ideas finally spill onto the page, she offers real-life examples of what support can look like in practice.

We also talk about Charis’ own path to reclaiming her voice: reading over 300 parenting books as a very slow reader, turning her curiosity into the Parent Unplugged podcast, and treating those conversations as the “degree” she was once told she would never manage.

If you have ever been told to try harder, if you are parenting a child the system does not understand, or if you are still untangling your own school story, this conversation is a reminder that there is nothing wrong with your brain. It is the environment that needs to change, and there is always another way.

Follow Charis and her work on her Instagram account here.