Mastering Change | The trauma, mental health & wellbeing podcast

What happens when the emotional pain we avoid begins to shape the way we treat ourselves and others? 
In this episode of Mastering Change, Emma Stapleton and Araminta are joined by author and frontline practitioner George Stoimenov to explore unresolved trauma, masculinity and the possibility of breaking cycles of pain. 
Originally from Bulgaria, George has spent more than a decade supporting people facing significant adversity, from unaccompanied young asylum seekers and young people experiencing homelessness to men on probation. 
But his work is also deeply personal. 
George reflects on his own experiences of childhood trauma, the ways he once avoided difficult emotions and the transformative experiences that eventually changed his understanding of himself.
Drawing on his personal journey and professional work, he explores how unresolved pain can influence anger, relationships and destructive behaviour, and why meaningful change may require us to look beneath what someone does to understand what they have experienced.
The conversation also considers the wider consequences of disconnection, including how declining community ties and growing polarisation can make it easier to project our pain onto others.
We explore:
How unresolved childhood experiences can shape adult behaviour
Why avoidance can prevent us from recognising emotional pain
What George has learned working with vulnerable young people and men on probation
The relationship between trauma, masculinity, anger and violence
How the father–son relationship can influence identity and emotional development
Why connection and community matter for recovery
How unresolved pain can contribute to conflict and polarisation
What breaking cycles of trauma might look like in practice
Moment of Care: This episode includes discussion of childhood trauma, violence, criminal justice experiences and emotional distress. Please take care while listening if these subjects feel close to your own experiences.
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When someone is struggling with infertility, we often encourage them to keep going, stay hopeful and try again. 
But what happens when that encouragement becomes part of the pressure they're already carrying? 
This week on Mastering Change, we're joined by reproductive trauma advocate Anita Guru, who shares her deeply personal experience of endometriosis, infertility, IVF and the psychological impact of a reproductive journey that unfolded very differently from the life she had imagined. 
Through years of treatment, loss and uncertainty, Anita came to recognise something that is still too often overlooked: infertility is not only a medical experience. It can also involve profound grief, shame, guilt and trauma.
One of the most powerful moments in our conversation comes when Anita describes reaching the point where she wanted to stop treatment, but was waiting for someone to give her permission.
Her story raises important questions about how we support people through reproductive trauma, why grief can go unrecognised when there is no visible loss, and how we can create space for different futures without diminishing the pain of letting go.
We explore:
Why infertility and pregnancy loss need to be understood through the lens of reproductive trauma
The emotional impact of endometriosis and fertility treatment
How shame and guilt can shape someone's sense of identity and self-worth
Why well-intentioned encouragement can sometimes deepen distress
The often-unrecognised grief of ending fertility treatment without a child
How earlier traumatic experiences can resurface during reproductive challenges
Why feeling seen, heard and supported can make such a difference
Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast
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Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.

Everything is connected. Diversity is essential for survival. And living systems have feedback mechanisms that tell us when something is out of balance.
What might happen if we applied these principles of ecology to mental health?
This week on Mastering Change, psychiatrist and psychotherapist Joanna Cheek introduces us to the idea of an “ecology of health” – a way of looking beyond the individual to understand our wellbeing in the context of our relationships, communities, social structures and wider environment.
One idea particularly stayed with us: distress can be feedback.
In trauma-informed care, we have learned to move beyond asking “What’s wrong with you?” towards “What happened to you?” Joanna invites us to widen the lens further. What is happening around us? What systems are we part of? And could some of the feelings we are trying to eliminate actually be signalling that something is out of balance?
It opens up a fascinating conversation about where individual healing meets collective wellbeing – and whether caring for ourselves can ever be entirely separated from caring for the world around us.
We explore:
What the principles of ecology can teach us about mental health
Why distress can sometimes be understood as feedback rather than dysfunction
How “What happened to you?” can widen to include the systems around us
Why focusing solely on the individual can leave important causes of distress unseen
The relationship between our individual and collective wellbeing
Why diversity and connection matter for healthy living systems
What changes when we see self-care and collective care as interconnected
Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast
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Much of what we understand about trauma recovery is rooted in psychology, neuroscience and the nervous system. 
But once enough safety and capacity have been established, what helps people make sense of what they have experienced? 
This week on Mastering Change, Araminta is joined by trauma educator Vanja Popovic and archetypal psychologist Lawrence Hillman for a wide-ranging conversation about archetypes, astrology, spirituality and the human search for meaning after trauma. 
They explore how symbols, stories and archetypal patterns can offer different ways of understanding our experiences and why meaning-making may become particularly important as people move towards post-traumatic growth. 
Rather than viewing astrology as prediction or personality typing, Lawrence describes archetypal psychology as a language for understanding the deeper patterns that shape our inner lives. Vanja explains how these ideas can become valuable during post-traumatic growth, helping people make sense of their experiences once enough safety and capacity has been established.  
The conversation also examines where ancient wisdom might sit alongside modern psychology and neuroscience, why science and spirituality may not be as far apart as they first appear and what our rapidly evolving relationship with AI can reveal about our very human search for connection and meaning. 
We explore: 
What archetypes are and why they appear across cultures 
Why meaning can become important after trauma 
Where ancient wisdom, psychology and spirituality intersect 
How archetypal thinking may contribute to post-traumatic growth 
What our relationship with AI reveals about human needs and relationships 
Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast
Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd
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Have we forgotten some of the ways humans have always sought to heal? 
In this episode of Mastering Change, Emma Stapleton and Dr Keisha Siriboe are joined by Leslie Salmon Jones and Jeff W. Jones, co-founders of Afro Flow Yoga, for a conversation about healing through movement, music and community. 
Drawing on nearly two decades of creating embodied healing experiences, Lesley and Jeff explore why trauma recovery can involve more than talking. Together, they discuss the role of rhythm, ancestry, breath and movement in helping people reconnect with themselves, their communities and their bodies. 
The conversation explores agency, belonging and the idea that healing may sometimes be less about learning something new than reconnecting with practices that have existed across cultures for generations. 
We explore: 
Why movement can reach places words cannot 
The relationship between trauma, music and rhythm 
What ancestral practices can teach us about healing 
The role of community in recovery 
How safety and agency can create conditions for healing 
Reconnecting with the body's innate wisdom 
Moving from suppression to expression 
Moment of Care: This episode discusses sensitive topics related to trauma, mental health and distressing experiences. If you feel triggered at any point, please take a moment to check in with yourself and seek support. 
Watch this episode on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/masteringchangepodcast
Follow us on instagram: www.instagram.com/masterseventsltd
Visit mastersevents.com/oxford-2026 for more details.