In this episode, Wendy talks about Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), which was started by Professor Paul Gilbert OBE. He identified the three levels of emotional systems that play a role in how we feel and, therefore, act. All three of these can be dialled up and down to help us remain emotionally balanced.

Today, Wendy introduces the concept, explains how it works and tells us what each of the Threes Circles of Compassion is and how they impact the way we feel and behave. In later episodes, she will explain how you can use the CFT approach to understand each emotional driver and use that knowledge to feel much better.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Self-compassion is taking care of ourselves, especially when we are suffering.
• We need to be kind and gentle with ourselves.
• Self-compassion enables us to find the courage to deal with and face things rather than back away, which happens when we feel under threat.
• Paul Gilbert´s system defines 3 levels of emotional regulation – the Three Circles of Compassion which are coloured red, blue and green.
• In some people the compassionate, self-soothing system is underdeveloped. But it can be made stronger.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Self-compassion can help us with recovery and building self-resilience. ´

‘We may not realize it, but many of us spend the majority of our time in the red system, the threat system.’

‘We are biologically designed to be nurturing.’

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gilbert_(psychologist)

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.wendycastelino.com

https://www.instagram.com/wendycastelino/

https://www.youtube.com/@wendycastelino798

https://twitter.com/WendyCastelino

ABOUT THE HOST

Wendy Castelino has been working as a psychotherapist for over thirty-five years. As an accredited CBT and EMDR practitioner, she is committed to upholding the rigorous standards required for these accreditations and helping thousands of people reach their full potential.

Wendy currently runs a private practice where her focus is on CBT. Therapy is constantly evolving into developing new techniques, so she studies hard to integrate them into her therapy, to provide a rich and effective experience.

Wendy is aware that working in one-to-one therapy limits the number of people she can see. She has, therefore, created a range of online resources. These resources are designed to be easy to follow and provide clear, step-by-step instructions. This can help the individual to master skills and gain confidence, therefore optimising the therapy sessions. They are also suitable to be used on their own.

Further details are available at: WendyCastelino.com.

Podcast Description

Welcome to "Don't Get a Therapist - Yet!" Wendy Castelino, a psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience, aims to support individuals with mental health challenges to achieve their full potential. Although Wendy is passionate about providing individual therapy, there are limitations with this approach. This platform, therefore, is dedicated to offering self-help strategies which are designed to enhance personal well-being. The objective is not to discourage people from accessing therapy but to motivate a broader audience to explore therapeutic resources that are simple and effective to use.

This podcast aims to encourage people to make positive choices about therapy and to find a therapy that suits their individual needs. Additionally, the podcast features interviews with individuals who have successfully overcome mental health struggles

Today, Wendy is joined by Dr Debs Eastwood, a practicing anaesthetic speciality doctor. Her brother´s bone cancer and treatment journey inspired Debs to learn more about Holistic Health methods and incorporate them into her practice. To further this work, she is currently in the process of creating a new kind of wellness and health support clinic that will also be able to offer a few select services remotely.

She shares her journey and vison. As well as talking about intravenous multivitamins, hyperbaric, red light abio-resonance therapies and hypnotism.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Medical help is vital, but so is supporting the body in other ways.
• Fully assessing what vitamins and minerals are missing and filling those gaps, sometimes intravenously, sets your body up for health.
• With trained guidance, you can use the vivid imagination that is feeding your fear to overcome it.
• Being proactive and supporting your body holistically works.
• Dr Eastwood shares some of the benefits red light and hyperbaric therapies are producing for many users.
• We need to be cautious with new treatments, but those that work should and are starting to become more widely available.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I thought Ok, he´s got the medical help he needs right now, but what else is there? ´

‘It also shows the power of our imagination and how our brain links to our body.’

‘I will remain governed by the GMC.’

GUEST RESOURCES

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debs-eastwood-31309b112

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.wendycastelino.com

https://www.instagram.com/wendycastelino/

https://www.youtube.com/@wendycastelino798

https://twitter.com/WendyCastelino

ABOUT THE HOST

Wendy Castelino has been working as a psychotherapist for over thirty-five years. As an accredited CBT and EMDR practitioner, she is committed to upholding the rigorous standards required for these accreditations and helping thousands of people reach their full potential.

Wendy currently runs a private practice where her focus is on CBT. Therapy is constantly evolving into developing new techniques, so she studies hard to integrate them into her therapy, to provide a rich and effective experience.

Wendy is aware that working in one-to-one therapy limits the number of people she can see. She has, therefore, created a range of online resources. These resources are designed to be easy to follow and provide clear, step-by-step instructions. This can help the individual to master skills and gain confidence, therefore optimising the therapy sessions. They are also suitable to be used on their own.

Further details are available at: WendyCastelino.com.

Podcast Description

Welcome to "Don't Get a Therapist - Yet!" Wendy Castelino, a psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience, aims to support individuals with mental health challenges to achieve their full potential. Although Wendy is passionate about providing individual therapy, there are limitations with this approach. This platform, therefore, is dedicated to offering self-help strategies which are designed to enhance personal well-being. The objective is not to discourage people from accessing therapy but to motivate a broader audience to explore therapeutic resources that are simple and effective to use.

This podcast aims to encourage people to make positive choices about therapy and to find a therapy that suits their individual needs. Additionally, the podcast features interviews with individuals who have successfully overcome mental health struggles

In this episode, Wendy is joined by Dr Natalie Gillbanks, a consultant counselling psychologist whose main focus has been on eating disorders, in particular anorexia. She shares some of the reasons people succumb to the illness and explains why some groups of people are more prone to suffering from eating disorders. As well as explaining how to spot the early signs and what to do about it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• There are many potential root causes of anorexia.
• Eating orders tend to develop around adolescence.
• Men also suffer from eating disorders.
• A significant proportion of LGBTQIA+ people suffer from eating disorders.
• A high % of people with anorexia will also have autism. Lots of women effectively mask their autism.
• Catching anorexia early makes a big difference to recovery. Gabriele explains how to spot it.
• Your GP can help as soon as the signs appear.
• People tend to focus on food because it is something they understand and can control.
• You need to replace food control with other ways to cope.
• CBT, FBT and MANTRA along with compassion-focused therapy are highly effective for treating anorexia.

BEST MOMENTS

‘It’s often multiple reasons.’

‘It (anorexia) can happen slowly, but it can grow very quickly.’

‘It's so important in treatment that we're replacing saying the eating disorder with something else that will give them the ability to cope.’

GUEST RESOURCES

https://www.revitalisepsychology.com

drnatalie@revitalisepsychology.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnataliegillbanks

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.wendycastelino.com

https://www.instagram.com/wendycastelino/

https://www.youtube.com/@wendycastelino798

https://twitter.com/WendyCastelino

ABOUT THE HOST

Wendy Castelino has been working as a psychotherapist for over thirty-five years. As an accredited CBT and EMDR practitioner, she is committed to upholding the rigorous standards required for these accreditations and helping thousands of people reach their full potential.

Wendy currently runs a private practice where her focus is on CBT. Therapy is constantly evolving into developing new techniques, so she studies hard to integrate them into her therapy, to provide a rich and effective experience.

Wendy is aware that working in one-to-one therapy limits the number of people she can see. She has, therefore, created a range of online resources. These resources are designed to be easy to follow and provide clear, step-by-step instructions. This can help the individual to master skills and gain confidence, therefore optimising the therapy sessions. They are also suitable to be used on their own.

Further details are available at: WendyCastelino.com.

Podcast Description

Welcome to "Don't Get a Therapist - Yet!" Wendy Castelino, a psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience, aims to support individuals with mental health challenges to achieve their full potential. Although Wendy is passionate about providing individual therapy, there are limitations with this approach. This platform, therefore, is dedicated to offering self-help strategies which are designed to enhance personal well-being. The objective is not to discourage people from accessing therapy but to motivate a broader audience to explore therapeutic resources that are simple and effective to use.

This podcast aims to encourage people to make positive choices about therapy and to find a therapy that suits their individual needs. Additionally, the podcast features interviews with individuals who have successfully overcome mental health struggles

In this episode, Wendy is joined by Laura and Barry Ash who are the co-founders of Rock Solid. They help people to transform their health and wellbeing. Including teaching people stress management and how to avoid or come back from physical, emotional, or mental health burnout. They explain how to learn to listen to your body and deal with stress in a healthy way.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Burnout is a common problem.
• Burnout tells you it is time for a reset.
• Stress is a normal part of life which we all need to learn to manage well.
• There are positive and negative forms of stress.
• Constant stress makes you ill so, you have to deal with it appropriately.
• Your body will alert you to stress. Pause and listen to it.
• Medication alone simply masks the stress. You need to deal with the underlying cause.
• Strength allows you to show your emotions.
• With support and accountability, it is easier to recover from burnout.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Stress is simply a stimulus that is applied to the body. ´

‘Every emotion has a purpose, including anxiety.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Laura and Barry Ash are not your ordinary couple. With backgrounds as former prison, police and counter-terrorism officers, their journey has taken them from the front lines of law enforcement to the forefront of the well-being revolution. These two dynamic individuals have transitioned their life experiences into a mission to transform lives.

https://rocksolidhealth.co.uk/

The Energy Reset Book

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.wendycastelino.com

https://www.instagram.com/wendycastelino/

https://www.youtube.com/@wendycastelino798

https://twitter.com/WendyCastelino

ABOUT THE HOST

Wendy Castelino has been working as a psychotherapist for over thirty-five years. As an accredited CBT and EMDR practitioner, she is committed to upholding the rigorous standards required for these accreditations and helping thousands of people reach their full potential.

Wendy currently runs a private practice where her focus is on CBT. Therapy is constantly evolving into developing new techniques, so she studies hard to integrate them into her therapy, to provide a rich and effective experience.

Wendy is aware that working in one-to-one therapy limits the number of people she can see. She has, therefore, created a range of online resources. These resources are designed to be easy to follow and provide clear, step-by-step instructions. This can help the individual to master skills and gain confidence, therefore optimising the therapy sessions. They are also suitable to be used on their own.

Further details are available at: WendyCastelino.com.

Podcast Description

Welcome to "Don't Get a Therapist - Yet!" Wendy Castelino, a psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience, aims to support individuals with mental health challenges to achieve their full potential. Although Wendy is passionate about providing individual therapy, there are limitations with this approach. This platform, therefore, is dedicated to offering self-help strategies which are designed to enhance personal well-being. The objective is not to discourage people from accessing therapy but to motivate a broader audience to explore therapeutic resources that are simple and effective to use.

This podcast aims to encourage people to make positive choices about therapy and to find a therapy that suits their individual needs. Additionally, the podcast features interviews with individuals who have successfully overcome mental health struggles

In this episode, Wendy talks about a specific component of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) – how to challenge the rigid self-beliefs that are playing a role in your feeling stuck and unhappy. She explains the importance of recognizing and transforming these beliefs and shares two simple exercises to help with that.

Using these exercises will enable you to begin to challenge and change rigid self-beliefs. This will enable you to see yourself in a more positive light so that you can see that you are better than you thought and are capable of achieving much more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Everyone has rigid self-beliefs.
• Self-beliefs are ingrained ideas about oneself, that are often developed from early experiences such as failing at something or being bullied.
• These self-beliefs become a part of our identity and impact our self-perception and behaviour.
• I´m not good enough is a common negative self-belief.
• Identifying and acknowledging positive qualities helps to combat negative self-beliefs. Doing this helps you to get things into perspective so that you can see yourself in a more balanced way.
• You can train yourself to reduce the impact a negative self-belief has on you and the way you behave.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Rigid self-beliefs can be so strong and developed from an early age that we just see them as part of our identity. ´

‘You need to actually challenge that belief.’

‘Stop reading off the negatives… It’s about really focusing on your qualities.".’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.wendycastelino.com

https://www.instagram.com/wendycastelino/

https://www.youtube.com/@wendycastelino798

https://twitter.com/WendyCastelino

ABOUT THE HOST

Wendy Castelino has been working as a psychotherapist for over thirty-five years. As an accredited CBT and EMDR practitioner, she is committed to upholding the rigorous standards required for these accreditations and helping thousands of people reach their full potential.

Wendy currently runs a private practice where her focus is on CBT. Therapy is constantly evolving into developing new techniques, so she studies hard to integrate them into her therapy, to provide a rich and effective experience.

Wendy is aware that working in one-to-one therapy limits the number of people she can see. She has, therefore, created a range of online resources. These resources are designed to be easy to follow and provide clear, step-by-step instructions. This can help the individual to master skills and gain confidence, therefore optimising the therapy sessions. They are also suitable to be used on their own.

Further details are available at: WendyCastelino.com.

Podcast Description

Welcome to "Don't Get a Therapist - Yet!" Wendy Castelino, a psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience, aims to support individuals with mental health challenges to achieve their full potential. Although Wendy is passionate about providing individual therapy, there are limitations with this approach. This platform, therefore, is dedicated to offering self-help strategies which are designed to enhance personal well-being. The objective is not to discourage people from accessing therapy but to motivate a broader audience to explore therapeutic resources that are simple and effective to use.

This podcast aims to encourage people to make positive choices about therapy and to find a therapy that suits their individual needs. Additionally, the podcast features interviews with individuals who have successfully overcome mental health struggles

In this episode, Wendy explains what self-compassion is and why it is something we all need to learn to practice. She shares over a dozen self-soothing techniques, you can use to switch on your parasympathetic nervous system to balance things out again, so you no longer feel frozen or overwhelmed.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Self-compassion is about taking care of ourselves and building resilience.
• Be kind and gentle with yourself, especially when you are suffering.
• Strong leaders like Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, and the Dalai Lama all practised self-compassion as a way to help them fight for what is right.
• Accessing the nurturing part of your mind and self-soothing enables you to stop being too hard on yourself.
• Smells can be used for self-soothing.
• Visualising is highly effective, especially when you use all 5 senses.
• Slowing down your breathing is powerful.
• Moving to a safe space or wearing specific clothing that you like are both soothing.
• Focusing on a sound or something visual has the potential to be very calming.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Self-compassion is not a soft or fluffy concept. ´

‘Use your phone to enhance certain images that give you joy, and pleasure.’

‘Affirmations are reminders. Think about how you can use positive affirmations to help you to feel calmer and self-soothe.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.wendycastelino.com

https://www.instagram.com/wendycastelino/

https://www.youtube.com/@wendycastelino798

https://twitter.com/WendyCastelino

ABOUT THE HOST

Wendy Castelino has been working as a psychotherapist for over thirty-five years. As an accredited CBT and EMDR practitioner, she is committed to upholding the rigorous standards required for these accreditations and helping thousands of people reach their full potential.

Wendy currently runs a private practice where her focus is on CBT. Therapy is constantly evolving into developing new techniques, so she studies hard to integrate them into her therapy, to provide a rich and effective experience.

Wendy is aware that working in one-to-one therapy limits the number of people she can see. She has, therefore, created a range of online resources. These resources are designed to be easy to follow and provide clear, step-by-step instructions. This can help the individual to master skills and gain confidence, therefore optimising the therapy sessions. They are also suitable to be used on their own.

Further details are available at: WendyCastelino.com.

Podcast Description

Welcome to "Don't Get a Therapist - Yet!" Wendy Castelino, a psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience, aims to support individuals with mental health challenges to achieve their full potential. Although Wendy is passionate about providing individual therapy, there are limitations with this approach. This platform, therefore, is dedicated to offering self-help strategies which are designed to enhance personal well-being. The objective is not to discourage people from accessing therapy but to motivate a broader audience to explore therapeutic resources that are simple and effective to use.

This podcast aims to encourage people to make positive choices about therapy and to find a therapy that suits their individual needs. Additionally, the podcast features interviews with individuals who have successfully overcome mental health struggles

Today, Wendy is joined by Jim Lucas a very experienced CBT psychotherapist, supervisor, and ACT trainer, who founded Open Forwards. His practice offers evidence-based therapies to help adults, children, adolescents, and couples in person and online. He also trains other therapists to use ACT.

Jim explains how ACT works and improves our psychological flexibility to get unstuck mentally.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• ACT Acceptance and Commitment Therapy improves psychological flexibility, which enhances your life.
• People get stuck regretting things in the past or living according to the labels society gives them.
• We all try to get rid of bad feelings like anger, which does not work. Be open to it and find workable solutions to feel them less often.
• Learning to make room for your emotions gives you much more power over your life. You find ways to carry what you feel in a way that does not control you the entire time.
• ACT taps into your values.
• Focusing on what makes you feel good helps you to uncover what is truly important to you.
• You don´t have to change anything inside you to be able to put one foot in front of another and make progress, you just need to act.

BEST MOMENTS

‘It's built on pragmatism.’

‘I'm here to help you be better at feeling.’

‘Values are like verbs, it’s the way you do something.’

‘It’s the difference between living from the head down and living from the feet up.’

GUEST RESOURCES

https://openforwards.com/

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.wendycastelino.com

https://www.instagram.com/wendycastelino/

https://www.youtube.com/@wendycastelino798

https://twitter.com/WendyCastelino

ABOUT THE HOST

Wendy Castelino has been working as a psychotherapist for over thirty-five years. As an accredited CBT and EMDR practitioner, she is committed to upholding the rigorous standards required for these accreditations and helping thousands of people reach their full potential.

Wendy currently runs a private practice where her focus is on CBT. Therapy is constantly evolving into developing new techniques, so she studies hard to integrate them into her therapy, to provide a rich and effective experience.

Wendy is aware that working in one-to-one therapy limits the number of people she can see. She has, therefore, created a range of online resources. These resources are designed to be easy to follow and provide clear, step-by-step instructions. This can help the individual to master skills and gain confidence, therefore optimising the therapy sessions. They are also suitable to be used on their own.

Further details are available at: WendyCastelino.com.

Podcast Description

Welcome to "Don't Get a Therapist - Yet!" Wendy Castelino, a psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience, aims to support individuals with mental health challenges to achieve their full potential. Although Wendy is passionate about providing individual therapy, there are limitations with this approach. This platform, therefore, is dedicated to offering self-help strategies which are designed to enhance personal well-being. The objective is not to discourage people from accessing therapy but to motivate a broader audience to explore therapeutic resources that are simple and effective to use.

This podcast aims to encourage people to make positive choices about therapy and to find a therapy that suits their individual needs. Additionally, the podcast features interviews with individuals who have successfully overcome mental health struggles

In this episode, Wendy is joined by Nicky Edwards an amazing woman, entrepreneur and physiotherapist who focuses on helping women achieve more than they believe is possible through movement, exercise and running. She is an incredibly active person who uses running to help her to cope and remain well mentally. An outlet that was taken away from her overnight when complications after an operation led to her not even being able to make a cup of tea.

Nikki explains what that was like and how she coped and eventually regained her mental and physical fitness.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Movement is medicine, it encourages the release of happy hormones.
• Do a little each day.
• Set small goals and reward yourself.
• Self-care isn’t selfish it is essential.
• Surround yourself with the right people.
• Remember that people care about you even if they are not messaging every day. You have to bear in mind that people have busy lives.
• Having a connection with others helps to pull you through.
• A strong why pushes you to do amazing things.
• The best exercise you can do is the one that you enjoy.
• As a woman´s hormones change, how they exercise needs to evolve.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Movement is medicine. ´

‘Just being surrounded by good people is so so important.’

‘Our brain works well on that kind of reward mentality.’

GUEST AND EPISODE RESOURCES

https://www.nickyedwards.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nickyedwardsphysio/

https://www.facebook.com/NickyEdwardsPhysio/

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.wendycastelino.com

https://www.instagram.com/wendycastelino/

https://www.youtube.com/@wendycastelino798

https://twitter.com/WendyCastelino

ABOUT THE HOST

Wendy Castelino has been working as a psychotherapist for over thirty-five years. As an accredited CBT and EMDR practitioner, she is committed to upholding the rigorous standards required for these accreditations and helping thousands of people reach their full potential.

Wendy currently runs a private practice where her focus is on CBT. Therapy is constantly evolving into developing new techniques, so she studies hard to integrate them into her therapy, to provide a rich and effective experience.

Wendy is aware that working in one-to-one therapy limits the number of people she can see. She has, therefore, created a range of online resources. These resources are designed to be easy to follow and provide clear, step-by-step instructions. This can help the individual to master skills and gain confidence, therefore optimising the therapy sessions. They are also suitable to be used on their own.

Further details are available at: WendyCastelino.com.

Podcast Description

Welcome to "Don't Get a Therapist - Yet!" Wendy Castelino, a psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience, aims to support individuals with mental health challenges to achieve their full potential. Although Wendy is passionate about providing individual therapy, there are limitations with this approach. This platform, therefore, is dedicated to offering self-help strategies which are designed to enhance personal well-being. The objective is not to discourage people from accessing therapy but to motivate a broader audience to explore therapeutic resources that are simple and effective to use.

This podcast aims to encourage people to make positive choices about therapy and to find a therapy that suits their individual needs. Additionally, the podcast features interviews with individuals who have successfully overcome mental health struggles