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The Liberation Effect

The Liberation Effect

By: Helen Villiers MA
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Each week Helen invites a guest to explore a problem they’re facing and works through it with them; peeling back the layers to understand what’s happening and offering ways to move forward and make changes to resolve the issue. Whether it’s coping with narcissistic parents; going no contact; parenting ADHD or Autistic children; parenting after trauma; or their own ADHD or Autism; Helen helps the listener untangle the parts that keeps them stuck. To access Helen’s community focused on healing, learning and support, visit https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/Helen Villiers MA Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • 15. Was I Too Sensitive?
    Jul 16 2025

    What if the hardest part wasn’t what happened, but what it meant about who you were?


    In this episode of The Liberation Effect, Louise speaks with Helen about the long-term impact of childhood emotional abuse. She shares how years of being controlled, shamed, and repeatedly told she was “too sensitive” left her doubting her instincts and shrinking herself to survive. What unfolds is a powerful conversation about the cost of being silenced, the confusion of loving people who hurt you, and the quiet strength it takes to begin telling the truth.


    Together, they explore the inherited roles that keep families functioning at your expense, the shame of not feeling “bad enough” to ask for help, and the slow rebuilding of self-worth after decades of internalised blame. Louise speaks with clarity and courage about becoming someone she trusts again, and choosing a life that no longer revolves around being easy to love.


    Content warning: This episode contains references to covert sexual abuse.


    Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠

    To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • 14. Am I Being Unreasonable?
    Jul 9 2025

    What if love meant always being available, even when it cost you your future?

    In this episode, Christine speaks with Helen about growing up with a mother who expected complete emotional and practical availability. She shares how her life was shaped around her mother’s needs, including being asked not to get a job, not to go to university, even to plan her days around minding the dog. Christine reflects on how these constant, unreasonable demands blurred the line between love and control.


    Together, they explore the guilt of saying no, the pressure to stay small and agreeable, and the work of reclaiming autonomy after years of self-abandonment. Christine speaks with honesty and insight about learning to disappoint others in order to protect herself, and the slow process of becoming someone who lives by choice, not obligation.


    Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠


    To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

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    1 hr and 32 mins
  • 13. Why Did They Choose My Abuser Over Me?
    Jul 2 2025

    What if the person who hurt you most was the one everyone protected?


    In this episode of The Liberation Effect, Emily speaks with Helen about the long shadow of sibling abuse, and the emotional cost of growing up in a family that denied her reality. She shares how her mother’s repeated refusal to acknowledge what happened left her isolated, gaslit, and cast as the source of the problem.


    Together, they explore the deep confusion of being harmed and then blamed for it, the long road to rebuilding self-trust, and the clarity that comes with naming what was never allowed to be named. Emily speaks with honesty and conviction about her choice to remain no contact, her decision not to forgive, and the freedom that comes from choosing herself after years of being erased.


    Grow, connect and thrive with a free 7-day trial of The Hub: ⁠⁠https://liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub/⁠⁠


    To be on the show please apply here: ⁠⁠https://hub.liberationacademy.co.uk/podcast-application

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 13 mins

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