Mother’s Day is often presented as a day of warmth, gratitude and celebration.

But for many women, the reality of that relationship is far more complicated.

In this episode, Leanne speaks openly about the emotional impact of growing up with a difficult relationship with her own mother, and the quiet grief many women carry when their experience doesn’t match the cultural script of what a mother - child relationship is supposed to look like.

From the pressure of social media tributes to the silence surrounding difficult family dynamics, this conversation explores the hidden side of Mother’s Day that rarely gets acknowledged.

Leanne also shares parts of her own journey navigating a strained relationship with her mother, and the turning point that allowed her to move from trying to prove her worth to understanding her mother’s limitations without letting them define her value.

This episode is not about blame or bitterness.

It’s about honesty, emotional maturity, and recognising that love and pain can exist in the same relationship.

If Mother’s Day feels complicated for you, this conversation may help you organise some of your thoughts and realise that you are not alone.

In this episode we explore:

• Why Mother’s Day can trigger deep emotional responses
• The cultural fantasy of motherhood versus lived experience
• How early relationships shape self-worth and emotional regulation
• The guilt many women feel when acknowledging harm in family relationships
• Why two truths can exist at the same time - love and impact
• Moving from longing for a different mother to building emotional stability within yourself

This episode is for the women who find themselves in the grey area of Mother’s Day - where the relationship with their mother isn’t simple, but their experience still deserves to be acknowledged.

https://braverwomen.com/

www.braverwomen.com

In this episode, you’ll hear a real Braver Women transformation story.

You're going to listen to Sally, 64, a retired teacher who for most of her life on the the outside she appeared as steady, capable and confident. For decades she managed her life well enough that no one would have questioned her resilience. She grew up in a home shaped by strong religious beliefs and high expectations, where she learned early that love and approval had to be earned. Emotional regulation was never modelled, so uncomfortable feelings became something to avoid rather than move through - all the way through her adult life. As a young adult, Sally left the UK and moved to Berlin. There she discovered the gay scene and experienced, for the first time, a sense of belonging that had been missing growing up. Alongside that freedom came escapism - alcohol, drugs and intensity became ways of managing emotions she didn’t yet know how to tolerate. Over the five decades that followed, she continued to function well. She built a life and like so many women in the lesbian and queer community, she coped - in her head. But in her body the relationship she had with her nervous system's ability to experience uncomfortable emotions made her spiral and collapse internally, when they became too much to handle. The avoidance coping strategies that had once helped her survive were the very thing maintaining anxiety, emotional reactivity and a deep fear of inadequacy - for years.

After a personal crisis at 64, she realised those strategies were no longer working and she needed help to change these.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• What masking confidence looked like in real terms for Sally
• How avoidance and escapism were linked to shame and emotional avoidance
• Why belonging externally didn’t resolve her internal insecurity
• What changed when she stopped abandoning herself
• How structured, daily therapeutic work created emotional stability in her body that she could actually feel
• What life feels like now compared to before

This episode explores identity, shame, distress intolerance and the long-term impact of conditional approval.

If you recognise yourself in the experience of appearing strong while struggling internally, this conversation will resonate.

Bravery isn’t a heroic performance. It’s the decision to stay with yourself even when it’s uncomfortable.

Sally’s story shows what becomes possible when that work is done consistently and properly.

You can reach Leanne at www.braverwomen.com or by email at: info@braverwomen.com

This episode is a little different.

After experiencing a sudden health scare, Leanne shares the clarity that comes when life interrupts autopilot. Not from fear - but from the realisation that many of us are quietly living in a waiting room. Waiting to feel ready, waiting to feel certain, waiting for permission before we move. Living inside your head instead of

Through a familiar story we can all recognise, Leanne explores why insight alone doesn’t create change, how familiar discomfort can become normalised, and why so many capable women stay stuck even when they know exactly what needs to shift.

This is not about motivation. This is a clear eyed episode about what needs to happen if you're lesbian or queer woman who is circling around things in your life that are making you truly miserable. Leanne will tell you what conditions create happiness in a single sentence.
It’s about recognising avoidance, facing uncertainty differently, and choosing movement in your life, instead of floating about and overthinking.

In This Episode

• Why thinking, analysing and understanding can start to feel like progress - even when nothing changes
• The hidden pattern behind procrastination, overthinking and “waiting to feel ready”
• What a recent health scare revealed about the illusion of control
• What intolerance for uncertainty keeps you in
• The difference between insight and movement - and why presence changes relationships
• Why happiness isn’t something you chase, but something else entirely
• The moment many women reach breaking point - and how to move before you get there

www.braverwomen.com