Today's conversation features the incredibly insightful and informative Katie McKenna and Helen Villers. In this episode, we are talking about the impact of growing up with emotionally abusive or narcissistic parents, understanding this through the lens of neurodivergence and healing from this behaviour so we can finally break systemic generational patterns.

Helen Villiers, LLB, PG Cert, PG Dip, MA, is a psychotherapist with a master's degree in Working Therapeutically with Adult Children of Narcissistic Parents. Helen works with clients recovering from narcissistic abuse; she also specialises in autism and ADHD and is a couples counsellor, too.

Katie McKenna, BA, MIACP is an accredited psychotherapist who specialises in parentification and emotional abuse. Katie educates adults on how their childhood relationships are impacting their current relationships. She helps them recognise and heal from the lifelong impacts of dysfunctional family dynamics through the psychotherapy process.

Together, they co-host the successful podcast 'In Sight', and they have just brought out their brand new book, You’re Not the Problem: The Impact of Narcissism and Emotional Abuse and How to Heal.

On the ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast, with Kate, they talk about:

• Understanding the definition of Narcissistic Personality Disorder - NPD
• Defining terms, such as 'Narcissist' and 'Parentification'
• The impact of growing up with an emotionally abusive parent
• How a narcissistic parent behaves and the traits of a narcissist
• How to set your own boundaries in relationships
• Recognising what are neurodivergent traits and what could've been narcissism
• Validating your trauma and feelings toward a narcissistic parent
• Emotional responsibility, motivational empathy and feeling more empowered
• Healing ourselves from emotional abuse
• Releasing resentment towards an emotionally abusive family member
• How we gaslight ourselves to think their behaviour is justifiable
• Breaking the generational cycle of trauma and doing the work so as not to pass on the abusive behaviour
• Taking responsibility for traumatised, abusive and narcissistic behaviour
• Hypervigilance and being an empath
• Understanding 'weaponised ignorance'
• Understanding infantilization and enmeshment

Have a look at some of Kate's workshops and free resources here.

Kate Moryoussef is a women’s ADHD Lifestyle & Wellbeing coach and EFT practitioner who helps overwhelmed and unfulfilled newly diagnosed ADHD women find more calm, balance, hope, health, compassion, creativity, and clarity.

Follow the podcast on Instagram here

Follow Kate on Instagram here

Find Kate's resources on ADDitude magazine here

Have you noticed how your ADHD ebbs and flows, impacting your mood and energy during did phases of your month?

This conversation will empower you to understand why and, importantly, how you can help yourself and feel more in control of both your ADHD and hormones.

This week’s Kate chats with Adele Wimsett, a Women's Health Practitioner & Cyclical Living Expert diagnosed with combined type ADHD.

Having co-authored the book Essential Feminine Wisdom, she is passionate about educating women & girls on how to harness the power of their cyclical nature. Adele bridges the woo & the science, supporting women to balance their hormones naturally and is passionate about speaking on all things menstrual education!

During this episode, Kate and Adele spoke about:

• How the female ADHD brain is affected by hormones
• The different stages of our cycle and the feelings and emotions that often arise on different days
• How to advocate for yourself with ADHD and hormone support
• Why tracking your cycle is important
• How working with the moon can help create more awareness in the cycle
• How can we look after ourselves in the different cyclic phases to help our ADHD
• Ovulation and ADHD
• Progesterone sensitivity
• Recognising all the unknown with hormones and ADHD
• What perimenopause does to women with ADHD
• HRT, menopause and ADHD - what we need to know and the powerful changes HRT
• Memory and ADHD traits that flare up during our hormonal changes
• Essential oils to work with your cycle

You can connect with Adele via her website harmoniseyou.co.uk or on Instagram, @harmoniseyou.

Kate's new four-part workshop series, Regulating Your ADHD Nervous System, is available here.

Welcome to a new episode of ADHD Women's Wellbeing Wisdom! Have a look at some of Kate's workshops and free resources here.

Kate Moryoussef is a women’s ADHD Lifestyle & Wellbeing coach and EFT practitioner who helps overwhelmed and unfulfilled newly diagnosed ADHD women find more calm, balance, hope, health, compassion, creativity, and clarity.

Follow the podcast on Instagram here.

Follow Kate on Instagram here

Find Kate's resources on ADDitude magazine here

Dopamine sensitivity and sugar addiction are familiar traits of ADHD. Perhaps using sugar to self-medicate, re-energise, or dopamine-seek may be a pattern you relate to?

If so, you're going to want to listen to this week's episode of The ADHD Women's Wellbeing, with guest Dr. Nicole Avena, an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and a Visiting Professor of Health Psychology at Princeton University.

Nicole is a research neuroscientist and nutrition, diet, and addiction expert. Her research focuses on nutrition during early life and pregnancy and women’s health. She has done groundbreaking work developing models to characterize food addiction and the dangers of excess sugar intake.

Dr Avena's latest book, Sugarless, covers the latest science on sugar addiction and how to overcome it. She has the #2 most watched TED-ED Health talk, How Sugar Affects Your Brain, with over 17 million views and counting.

On this episode of The ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast, Dr Avena and Kate talk about:

• The link between sugar addiction and dopamine-seeking brains
• The effects of dopamine released by sugar consumption on the brain
• Why you might find it challenging to cut out sugar
• How processed sugar affects ADHD children
• How sugar affects your body and your health
• Parenting and teaching our kids nutritional choices and consuming processed sugar
• Having a susceptible dopamine system
• Managing a sugar addiction, binges and regaining control
• Our busy society doesn't lend itself to healthy eating
• ADHD and female social expectations
• Implementing small incremental changes to help reduce sugar addiction
• Showing ourselves compassion when consuming sugar
• Understanding sugar addiction compared to other addictions
• Learning to bring in more balance when consuming sugary foods

Thanks to our sponsor, Get Dopa!

Created by and for neurodivergent brains, this smart supplement contains 16 powerful nootropic ingredients. Use code Kate10 at the checkout to get your 10% discount. Click here to find out more.

Have a look at some of Kate's workshops and free resources here.

Kate Moryoussef is a women’s ADHD Lifestyle & Wellbeing coach and EFT practitioner who helps overwhelmed and unfulfilled newly diagnosed ADHD women find more calm, balance, hope, health, compassion, creativity, and clarity.

Follow the podcast on Instagram here.

Follow Kate on Instagram here

Find Kate's resources on ADDitude magazine here