What if becoming a mother is one of the biggest transformations you'll ever go through… and nobody prepares you for it?

In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Josh is joined by Rebecca Barnes, founder of Becoming The Mother, to explore the hidden realities of motherhood that so many women experience but rarely talk about.

Together they discuss matrescence – the profound physical, emotional and psychological transition into motherhood – and why so many mothers feel lost, overwhelmed and unsupported.

Rebecca also shares her own journey through addiction, recovery, divorce and healing, and how those experiences led her to create spaces where mothers can finally feel seen, heard and understood.

This episode is for mothers, fathers, partners, and anyone who wants to better understand the pressures facing modern parents and why supporting mothers matters so much.

In this episode:

What matrescence is and why every mother experiences it

Why motherhood changes you forever

The myth of "Supermum"

Why modern motherhood feels so hard

The importance of community and having a village

Recovery, addiction and codependency

The need to feel seen, heard and understood

Why mothers carry so much guilt and shame

The power of repair when we get parenting wrong

Why supporting parents creates healthier children and healthier societies

About Rebecca Barnes

Rebecca Barnes is the founder of Becoming The Mother, a matrescence educator, breathwork facilitator and guide for mothers navigating the transition into motherhood. Through her work, she helps women understand the emotional and identity shifts that come with becoming a mother and creates spaces where they can reconnect with themselves and find support in community.

Find Rebecca - https://www.instagram.com/becomingthemother/

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What if the child who was labelled "too sensitive", "too emotional", "too much", or "the problem" was never the problem at all?

In this episode of Dysfunctional, I sit down with author and master coach Candace Van Dell to explore the idea that some people aren't broken, they're simply seeing things that others can't.

We dive into family scapegoating, highly sensitive versus highly perceptive people, ADHD, spirituality, toxic systems, emotional truth, and what happens when the person who sees the dysfunction gets blamed for it.

Candace shares her own journey from being labelled as a child with "something wrong" to becoming a leading voice helping people heal the original wound of believing they are the problem.

This is a conversation about reclaiming your perception, trusting yourself, and discovering that perhaps the thing you've spent your whole life trying to fix is actually your greatest gift.

In this episode we discuss:

Why the scapegoat is often the cycle breaker

The difference between being highly sensitive and highly perceptive

Growing up feeling misunderstood and out of place

ADHD, labels, and the medicalisation of difference

Why truth-tellers are often punished in dysfunctional systems

The relationship between spirituality and healing

Candace's powerful spiritual awakening at 16

Family dysfunction and the "problem child" myth

Learning to trust your own perception

Emotional honesty as a path to healing

The loneliness of seeing things others don't see

Why fitting in can come at the cost of authenticity

Moving from self-abandonment to self-trust

What it means to be "too conscious for this world"

About Candace Van Dell

Candace Van Dell is an international bestselling author, master coach, and speaker who helps highly perceptive people heal and thrive in unconscious systems. Her work focuses on healing the original wound of believing there is something wrong with you so you can step into your authentic power, purpose, and potential.

Her new book, Too Conscious For This World: You're Not Wrong. You're Early, is available now.

Connect with Candace

Instagram: @candacevandell

Website: candacevandell.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of *Dysfunctional*, Josh welcomes back bestselling author Dr Jessica Taylor for a powerful conversation about one of the most misunderstood forms of abuse in modern society: stalking.

Drawing on her new book, *Click, Stalk, Destroy*, Jessica explains how stalking has evolved far beyond the traditional image of someone hiding outside your house. In the digital age, stalking can be relentless, anonymous, and devastatingly effective, all without the perpetrator ever meeting their victim face-to-face.

Together, Josh and Jessica explore the psychology of stalking, why victims are so often dismissed or labelled as "crazy," and how power, control, obsession, and grievance fuel much of this behaviour. They discuss the overlap between stalking, coercive control, domestic abuse, online harassment, and cancel culture, as well as the profound impact stalking can have on a person's mental health, relationships, identity, and sense of safety.

Jessica also shares her own experiences as a stalking victim and reflects on the failures of current systems to adequately recognise, investigate, and respond to these crimes.

**In this episode, we discuss:**

• What stalking really looks like in the digital age

• Why online stalking is now more common than physical stalking

• The concept of "grievance stalking" and what drives perpetrators

• How coercive control can continue long after a relationship ends

• Why victims are often dismissed, disbelieved, or pathologised

• The psychological impact of constant monitoring and surveillance

• The role of social media in modern stalking behaviour

• Why gathering evidence can become traumatic for victims

• DARVO, victim-blaming, and the reversal of victim and offender

• What to do if you think you are being stalked

• What needs to change in policing, mental health services, and society

This is an essential conversation about power, abuse, technology, and the hidden ways people can be controlled long after they think they've escaped.

UK orders of the book here:

https://amzn.eu/d/0bu9sg6e

US and international orders of the book:

https://victimfocus-resources.com/products/click-stalk-destroy-international-orders-only-pre-order?_pos=1&_psq=click&_ss=e&_v=1.0

My website for all info and mentoring: www.drjessicataylor.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.