Stand Alone Podcast

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! In today's episode, the last of the first official "season" of the Stand Alone Podcast, meet Yasmin. Born in the Middle East, Yasmin was brought up in Scotland in a conservative Muslim household, and felt as though she didn't completely quite fit into either community.  Yasmin's estrangement resulted from a mixture of expectations of her duties as a daughter, conflicts over mental health issues in the family, and an environment that felt toxic. And with Ramadan beginning on the 23rd of this month, we dedicated some time to discussing what this time of year means for people who follow the faith of Islam, the challenges of living through this period alone, and how to make the best of religious holidays.  If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  To find out more about Stand Alone's research, you can do so on our website. We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.

Welcome to part one of two extra editions of Stand Alone's podcast - offering support and guidance for people estranged from their family in managing your mental wellbeing, your safety, and dealing with the impact that COVID-19 is having in these unprecedented times.Stand Alone's Founder and CEO Becca Bland meets with Monika Greenfield, a Life Coach based in London, to talk about ways to practice mindfulness at home, how to handle emotions effectively, and how to manage core limiting beliefs. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  To find out more about Stand Alone's research, you can do so on our website. We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here. 

Welcome to part one of two extra editions of Stand Alone's podcast - offering support and guidance for people estranged from their family in managing your mental wellbeing, your safety, and dealing with the impact that COVID-19 is having in these unprecedented times.Stand Alone's Founder and CEO Becca Bland jumps on a conference call with Jonathan Stockwell, the support group leader for one of the charity’s six support groups across the UK, based in Edinburgh. We talk through your questions and predicaments about being out of touch with family in this emergency situation. Together, Becca and Jonathan answer questions which have been sent to them over the past few days by members of the Stand Alone community. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  To find out more about Stand Alone's research, you can do so on our website. We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here. 

In this special edition of the Stand Alone Podcast, our founder Becca Bland meets with Robyn and Emma, a.k.a. the blogging duo "All Up In My Space", who last year started a new initiative called #OthersDay."If you've lost your Mum, are estranged from your Mum or struggling to be one, Other's Day is here for you, providing a safe space to share and be heard."Having both experienced the loss of their mum - or for Robyn, the loss of her nan who played the mother figure in Robyn's life - they both know from experience how difficult this time of year can be.Join in with the online discussions by using #OthersDay, on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March.Emma on Instagram - @TheCrapFlatRobyn on Instagram - @Almost_Everything_Off_eBay If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  To find out more about Stand Alone's research, you can do so on our website. We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here - and sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date with our campaigns.

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! In today's episode, meet Nicola, who has been estranged from her parents for just over a year, and also has a fragmented relationship with her four children and therefore her grandchildren. In our conversations, Nicola shares about her recent diagnosis of a mood disorder, the difference this has made for her own journey, and her family's reaction to her mental health. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  To find out more about Stand Alone's research, you can do so on our website. We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.

 Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! In today's episode, meet Mina - Mina's experience of estrangement from her family began after forming a relationship with her partner, who wasn't accepted into the family due to conflicting religions. For years following her degree, Mina experienced what she called a "semi-estrangement", before making the decision to cut contact permanently just over a year ago. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.   To find out more about Stand Alone's research, you can do so on our website. We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.  

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! In today's episode, meet David - his experience of estrangement from his three children began when he started the process of divorce from his former partner. Whilst David is in the process of reconciliation and mending the relationship with his two daughters, but remains estranged from his son. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here. To find out more about Stand Alone's research, you can do so on our website. Click here to find out more about Dr. Joshua Coleman, and his e-newsletter for estranged parents, who we discussed in today's episode.

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! Today, we'll meet Aysha. Aysha has been estranged from her entire family for three years now, after her family issued her an ultimatum - to either cut off her engagement with her partner, or to cut off contact with her family. Looking back to her decision three years ago, having established a new life for herself with her partner, Aysha shares her journey - dealing with strict and uneven family dynamics, growing up as a young Muslim woman, and the stigmas which surround her estrangement.  If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! With two young daughters aged 8 and 12 years old, Pippa vowed to break the cycle of estrangement which she has experienced from other members of her family, and fill the lives of her daughters with love and compassion. But today’s episode is a bit of a break from the regular - instead of delving into Pippa’s own experience of estrangement, we’ll be finding out more about her collection of writing, “Mother in a Mother”, and her journey to compiling the project from workshops with over 50 women. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. We will be opening registration for next year's support groups in January 2020. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here. Click here to find out more about "Mother in the Mother".

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! Meet Blair - a University student who has been speaking in Scottish Parliament in partnership with Stand Alone on the issues of estrangement, and how it effects people in higher education. "He's a really inspiration speaker, and has a really clear steer on the inequality of not offering equal support to people who have experienced similar things to those in the care system, who haven't been picked up by that system." - Becca Bland, Stand Alone's founder and CEO. At the age of 14, Blair came out as gay to his mother - who, religious in a very traditional sense, wasn’t as warmly receptive as Blair had hoped for, and persuaded him to hide his sexuality.  Blair’s mental health deteriorated, until he was able to move away from the family home. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. We will be opening registration for next year's support groups in January 2020. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! In this episode, we meet Sarah, who is estranged from the eldest of her two sons.  Sarah shares her journey coming to terms with no longer having her son in her life, her challenges communicating with him whilst she was in hospital, and the wider impact their fallout had on her family's dynamics. As ever, we are also joined by Becca, Stand Alone's founder and CEO, and Jonathon, our support group leader in Edinburgh. They both respond to some of the central themes covered in Sarah's journey; getting away and finding belonging in a new place, comparisons to a bereavement, dealing with difficult family dynamics, and managing your boundaries family events. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. We will be opening registration for next year's support groups in January 2020. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! This is our Christmas Eve special, in which all our guests join host Jay to unwrap the ideas and the imagery of Christmas: Getting away and holidays, charity work and volunteering, the media's messages, cultivating new and often non-biological connections, and taking ownership of your Christmas in whatever way that means for you. We hear thoughts and experiences from almost everyone who's featured across the Stand Alone podcast series - people whose episodes we've heard so far (Natasha and Grace), and those who we're yet to meet (Mina, Aysha, Sarah, Blair, David, Yasmin, and Pippa). We're also joined by Becca, Stand Alone's founder and CEO, and Jonathon, our support group leader in Edinburgh - they share their thoughts on how to navigate the festive period, and look after your own mental health. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. We will be opening registration for next year's support groups in January 2020. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! In this episode, we meet Grace, whose eldest daughter estranged herself nine years ago.  Grace shares her journey with Jay - in particular Grace's experience with no longer being able to contact her grandchildren. If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. We will be opening registration for next year's support groups in January 2020. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.Click here to find out more about Dr. Joshua Coleman, and his e-newsletter for estranged parents, who we discussed in today's episode.

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! In this episode, meet Natasha, who is estranged from her parents, and talks to Jay about her estrangement story. We cover themes of empathy, parental criticism, and walking away from rigid and immovable cultural expectations  If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. We will be opening registration for next year's support groups in January 2020. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.

Welcome to Stand Alone's podcast! In this first episode, we hear from all ten people who have taken part in the podcast project. Throughout the podcast series, we hear from people who are estranged from parents, children, grandchildren and siblings - who have told Jay, our host, their stories. We'll also meet Becca, Stand Alone's founder and CEO, and Jonathon, our support group leader in Edinburgh, who will be talking to Jay through each episode.  Click here to read Becca's founding article.  If you are feeling lower than normal or need immediate support with your wellbeing at this time of the year, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or make an emergency appointment with your GP.  We are such a small charity and we can't give out individual advice. We will be opening registration for next year's support groups in January 2020. If you want to talk about the podcast, get online and go to our Twitter page @UKstandalone to join the discussion. Remember that Stand Alone has lots of advice on our website as part of our guides: www.standalone.org.uk/guides/ If you want to support the podcast and Stand Alone, please consider donating to us by clicking here.