David Wilson
David Wilson
Julia Samuel MBE
Julia Samuel MBE
Julia Samuel MBE
Friday 15th August 2025
Join Julia Samuel MBE as she discusses grief, healing, and reframing addiction with insights from decades of psychotherapy experience.
Explicit
55 minutes
informative
hopeful
reflective
uplifting
challenging
About this podcast
Author:
David Wilson
Overview:
Categories:
Sobriety Toolkit
Creative Recovery Journeys
Empowering Recovery Journeys
Family Recovery from Addiction
Sexual Empowerment & Identity
Links:
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Episodes:
149 (View all)
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Get the buttons here!Julia Samuel MBE: Navigating Grief & Healing
Episode Overview
- Julia Samuel's approach to grief involves accommodation, not forgetting.
- Addiction reframed as a survival strategy using the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model.
- Complex grief involves rumination and unresolved emotional states.
- Emotional regulation includes conscious breathing and slowing down.
- Active listening and emotional awareness are key skills in personal growth.
It isn't something that you forget and move on from, it's something that you accommodate, you build your life around it and you learn to live with it.
In this episode of 'One For The Road,' host Sober Dave welcomes Julia Samuel MBE, a leading UK psychotherapist renowned for her extensive work in the field of grief and bereavement. Julia has spent over 30 years helping individuals navigate complex emotional landscapes, especially those dealing with grief due to death or other life events. Julia discusses her unique perspective on grief, emphasizing it as an experience to accommodate rather than forget.
She believes that grieving is a lifelong process where individuals learn to build their lives around their loss rather than attempting to move on completely. This view challenges the conventional approach of 'getting over' grief, offering a more compassionate and realistic pathway to healing. One of the fascinating aspects of the discussion is Julia's development of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model. This model reframes addiction as a survival strategy rather than a moral failing or disease.
It suggests that addictive behaviors are mechanisms through which the nervous system attempts to regulate overwhelming emotional states. Julia explains how this understanding can shift the focus from judgment to empathy, enabling more effective therapeutic interventions. The episode also touches on the complexity of grief, characterized by rumination and persistent questioning. Julia shares insights into how individuals can become stuck in a cycle of 'what ifs' and guilt, seeking answers that may never be found.
She suggests that active listening and emotional awareness are crucial skills for managing such states. Throughout the conversation, Julia emphasizes the importance of emotional regulation, advocating for practices like conscious breathing and slowing down. These techniques allow individuals to pause and choose how to respond to their impulses, creating space for healthier coping mechanisms. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights into the nature of grief and addiction, offering listeners practical strategies for emotional healing and personal growth.
Julia Samuel's wisdom and compassion shine through, making this a must-listen for anyone facing emotional challenges.