Relational feminist psychotherapist • PhD • interested in politics and psychotherapy • passionate about ending domestic abuse against cis and trans women •
#ME and
#FND • Reproductive and Disability rights are human rights • she/her • Ⓥ •
Season Finale! I’m so proud to have been a small part of this podcast with my fellow experts. But the credit goes to
@sturdyalex.bsky.social who has worked incredibly hard and produced an outstanding podcast. He really is as lovely, inclusive, funny and clever as he comes across on his podcasts 💜
🐍 MEDUSA - Here's Looking At You, Kid 🪦
Before Medusa was monstrous, she was beautiful. And before she was beautiful, she was powerful. She is a riddle that defies solution, from a time before the shape of things was settled.
🍊
open.spotify.com/episode/67sR...
🍏
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
MEDUSA - Here's Looking at You, Kid
Podcast Episode · Alex Andreou's Podyssey · 01/09/2025 · 1h 35m
Fellow therapists: do you also feel uneasy with BetterHelp ads on every podcast?
I can’t identify the source of my concern but I’m aware of the criticisms (low pay/high caseloads, mismatch in client needs and therapist expertise)
Does it erode trust in
#therapy?
#counselling #psychotherapyHere’s my take. I resent having to hear voices that I trust endorsing a platform that erodes the value and viability of our profession. As a kicker, they are helping to line the pockets of US tech bros and investors whose values I (and I suspect they) find repellent. 🤑💰
#podcast #advertisingWell said David - I couldn’t agree more!
@decodemestudy.bsky.social found eight genetic signals linked to
#MECFS They show differences in immune and nervous system function, and how the body responds to infection. This indicates immunological and neurological causes.
ME is real. We are ill.
#DecodeME
www.decodeme.org.uk 
Initial DecodeME DNA Results - DecodeME
06 August 2025 The DecodeME team is delighted to announce that the initial analysis of 15,579 DNA samples is complete, and we have important news to share. Main findings from our analysis Your genes ...
[Not loaded yet]
Yes! Because it was always written off as a modern version of hysteria. Gaslighting and misogyny working against us and causing irreparable harm. I was diagnosed in 2000 and nothing has changed in 25 years.
[Not loaded yet]
They felt they didn’t need research because it was “all in our heads” 😑
Another wonderful episode of
@alexpodyssey.bsky.social
Although I am a contributor, I am an avid listener too and it’s a real treat to hear the whole episode and expand my own understanding. Alex beautifully shows us how and why the Greeks myths are still alive today.
🆕 AESOP II: A dolphin and a seagull were hurling insults at each other 🐬
Is truth a set of facts? Might something fake be authentic? Can you contruct a truth out of lies? And why are unreliable narrators more compelling?
🎧
open.spotify.com/episode/4hZ8...
🍏
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
8. AESOP II - A dolphin and a seagull were hurling insults at each other
Podcast Episode · Alex Andreou's Podyssey · 26/07/2025 · 1h 13m
I’ve worked as a trauma psychotherapist with refugees who experienced war, torture and sex trafficking.
I’ve heard stories of what happens to civilians during war and more methods of torture than I thought possible.
Without doubt: shooting starving people in search of aid is a form of torture.
I've wanted to say something on Gaza for days, but nothing seems adequate. Still, I must.
I cannot fathom a more perverse or wicked policy - and it's happened too many times not be policy - of starving people, then shooting them as they try to get food from an "aid" location, set up as a trap. 1/2
Who would you have host MasterChef?
Let’s have three like the other formats:
✅ Nigella: home cook’s perspective
✅ Grace Dent: critic’s perspective
✅ Michel Roux Jr: professional chef perspective
Stopped watching years ago because the shouty macho style put me off so let’s have a more positive, nurturing and kinder show!
July is
#DisabilityPride Month. The social model of
#Disability holds that disability doesn’t reside in the body, but is shaped by the world’s refusal to include us.
Practical provisions, compassion and justice are not extras, they are entry points to belonging.
#InvisibleDisabilities #MECFS #FNDFirst disabled adults, now children with SEND…. Great article by
@johnharris1969.bsky.social 👏
“Labour needs to stop sowing fear and dread among people whose lives are already full of those things”.
I’m done with
#Labour
#SEND #Disability #DisabilityRights
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
After disability benefits, is Labour really about to target the educational rights of special needs children? | John Harris
Noise has been building about restricting help for kids who badly need it. As a special needs parent, I can tell you: it’s terrifying, says Guardian columnist John Harris
Good discussion on re: 16-26y/o attitudes re: democracy. Interest in autocracy may stem from lacking autonomy or hope for the future, thus wanting “strong” leaders to ‘fix’ things. The scared inner child and rebellious inner child working in sync perhaps?
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
Sunday School: Not Another One!
Podcast Episode · Quiet Riot · 06/07/2025 · 56m
⬆️ Also applicable to adults too, hence Trump and Brexit et al.
July is Disability Pride Month. It’s a time to celebrate identity, community, and resistance. Amid ongoing welfare reforms that too often devalue disabled lives, our visibility is not just important, it’s necessary.
#DisabilityPride #Disability #StopTheCuts #MECFS #FND #LongCovid #welfarenotwareThe Government (first Tories, now Labour) delays a vital report in
#MECFS yet again—calling it a “distraction” from its 10-year NHS plan. But without addressing chronic illness, what are we really planning for?
#ChronicIllness #Disability #InvisibleIllness #DisabilityJustice
archive.ph/X4m2mI previously wrote to my MP about the proposed
#PIP changes.
My MP hasn’t joined colleagues in speaking out against the proposals. I’ve followed up to ask why. If your MP is silent too, I urge you to write.
Our voices matter. Our lives matter.
#Disability #PIPReforms #labour #WelfarenotWarfare[Not loaded yet]
I know! The “concessions” are meant to placate, not rectify, the harmful changes.
Clip from 1989 and 36 yrs later we’re still experiencing the same relief when a doctor believes us and given the same advice. It shows we’re still fighting the same battles, with the same results and doing so while being very unwell.
#MECFS #FND #disability #chronicillness #longcovid#chronicillness and guilt are constant companions. Especially when we have to say “no”: to family, friends, work & ourselves. Remember: no is a full sentence. No need to explain or apologise. Your life isn’t an apology.
#disability #chronicillness #neis #MECFS #FND This is incredible and a breakthrough the
#MECFS community have been waiting for. I just hope this will begin to de-stigmatise the condition and the erroneous perception it’s psychological.
#ME #longcovid #neis #chronicillness #disability
Unlocked link to The Times article:
archive.ph/19dzr[Not loaded yet]
I fear too long. Graded Exercise Therapy is still recommended despite us knowing how harmful it is. At least we’ll have scientific evidence to take to appointments, as our lived experiences clearly haven’t been sufficient!
I want to see non-disabled people shouting about the disability benefit cuts. If you spoke out about trans rights, abortion rights, or migrant rights in recent weeks? Good on you! If you aren’t doing the same for disabled people, ask yourself why.
I haven’t properly processed that this fear in our
#disability community is coming from a *Labour* government. They’ve made a costly electoral mistake to the anger/scare the disability and carers community.We won’t forget. We need support from allies, as we can’t fight this threat alone.
It was disability rights activists who coined the phrase “nothing about us without us!”. So if you’re
#disabled or a disability ally, please take a look at
#TakingthePiP and sign the petitions on their website.
#Disability #PIP #MECFS #FND
takingthepip.co.uk/sign-the-pet...Sign The Petitions - Taking The PIP
Sign The Petitions Support These Calls to Stop the Cuts We haven’t launched our own petition because we believe in amplifying the powerful petitions already created by others in our community. Click b...
“If these plans go ahead, 700,000 families already living in poverty will face further devastation,” they write. “This is not reform; it is cruelty by policy.”
I couldn’t agree more!
#Disability #Labour #MECFS #FND
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Disabled celebrities urge Keir Starmer to scrap ‘inhumane’ benefit cuts
Exclusive: More than 100 people including Liz Carr and Rosie Jones sign letter criticising Pip and universal credit changes
[Not loaded yet]
Thank you for your work!
This was my favourite episode to record as the Cassandra myth resonates deeply with me.
I have two chronic illnesses and as a psychotherapist, I specialise in working with female survivors of abuse and women with chronic illnesses. A myth where a woman who speaks the truth is ignored is familiar…
🏛️🔥 6. Cassandra - Everything Must Be Said Again 🔥🏛️
NEW EPISODE: Cassandra. Unheeded wisdom or unnecessary pessimism? Woman vs Man? East vs West? Science vs Denial?
Why we listen to some people. Why we don't listen to others.
🎧
open.spotify.com/episode/0tCz...
🍏
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
6. Cassandra - Everything Must Be Said Again
Podcast Episode · Alex Andreou's Podyssey · 10/05/2025 · 58m
[Not loaded yet]
Thank you so much Victoria 😌
[Not loaded yet]
This means a lot, thank you ☺️
[Not loaded yet]
Thank you for your lovely words 💐
[Not loaded yet]
I hope you enjoy it
V. interesting episode with
@zackpolanski.bsky.social I was struck by Zack’s energy and enthusiasm - qualities that feel absent in UK politics.
As someone who is politically homeless yet engaged, this was intriguing.
Interested in the future Lib Dem episode too.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
It's Not Easy Being Greens
Podcast Episode · Quiet Riot · 08/05/2025 · 1h 11m
[Not loaded yet]
Thank you for a fab interview and the food for thought, particularly around Labour.
Trump’s obsession with being the biggest and the best, speaks to his narcissism but for some, his subservient behaviour and admiration around Putin and other strongmen personalities is confusing 1/?
-
View full thread
* if you’re dealing with a narcissist in your life I recommend looking up the Grey Rock Method and/or BIFF communication method
BIFF = Brief, Informative, Friendly and Firm. 6/
And as a caveat: I am aware that I don’t know him personally, that this is conjecture and that professionals shouldn’t make comments about public figures mental health. But we are in unique circumstances and watching a wannabe dictatorship in action. It feels more unethical to stay quiet. /END
This can manifest as:
• Gaslighting (everything is fine)
• Self-aggrandising (I/America is powerful)
• Being the victim (yet the rest of the world takes advantage)
• Attempts to isolate targets (Zelenskyy/NATO etc)
• Relying on allies to provided narcissistic supply (MAGA) 4/
Mark Carney is perfectly demonstrating how to deal with a narcissist:
• Firm boundaries
• Remaining calm
• Accepting you can’t change them
• Building separate support systems
• Keeping communication brief and factual* 5/
It perhaps speaks to his relationship with his father (also a narcissist and bully): it’s like he reverts to his child ego state in their presence. There’s perhaps a familiarity in the dynamic between (to him) an all powerful male figure 2/
However, anyone he perceives as less than him - or perhaps even outclassed - the grandiosity is on full display. The lies too: the ones he tells to himself and others. Essentially he says anything and does anything to feel important 3/
Another episode I’m proud to be a part of ✨ I was particularly excited to have an opportunity to talk about post-traumatic growth (PTG) as it’s a concept that needs more awareness: PTG recognises that post-trauma, a deeper understanding and connection to oneself is possible.
Enjoy!
[Not loaded yet]
I’m pleased to hear that you found it useful and applicable to your own experience. I think PTG offers hope when in the midst of trauma. It’s been a privilege of my work with trauma survivors to see them reach that place.
[Not loaded yet]
Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying the podcast.
[Not loaded yet]
I went to (very small) CofE in the 90s and we had an Easter garden competition in 1996 where we had to make miniature gardens. Not sure if it this is correct way of doing it but it’s how my school decided to interpret it.
Feminists have long challenged society's rigid definition of womanhood—across bodily autonomy, education, work, law, health, and self-expression.
This decision by the Supreme Court threatens that progress for all women. Just look at what’s happening in America.
#transrightsarehumanrightsAs always, this was a joy to both be a contributor and a listener to this amazing podcast.
@sturdyalex.bsky.social weaves myth, literature, art, history and psychotherapy (my contribution) into a tapestry that tells us something important about our contemporary world. It’s a gem of a podcast.
[Not loaded yet]
In a society and political climate that measures worth by productivity, being
#disabled or having a
#chronicillness can mean that sometimes you feel less than. I’m here to remind you that isn’t true: you are more than what you can do and what you can’t do 💜
#disability #MECFS #longcovid #neisQuiet Riot always provides a measured and compassionate political point of view.
But in these troubling times, this particular episode is a refreshing tonic and an important reminder that good people continue do good things.
@quietriotpod.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...BONUS: Grin And Share It Special
Podcast Episode · Quiet Riot · S2, E43 Bonus · 28m
Episode 3 of
@alexpodyssey.bsky.social is here!
This is a 90min treasure of an episode that
@alexpodyssey.bsky.social has beautifully written and delivered.
I’m so pleased to be one of the contributors along with
@poisonchallis.bsky.social
@aalekas.bsky.social
@lindamarric.bsky.social
Enjoy 🌟
[Not loaded yet]
Thank you James! I will eagerly read and share this. Would love to connect with Dr Bandy Lee.
