Emily’s Group October 2025 Prescription

Hi everyone,

Do you feel it’s a full-time job keeping on top of life admin? Paying bills, switching utility providers, booking dentist appointments, vet appointments. The never ending to do list. On the flip side, some admin can be fun like planning trips with friends or browsing what film or play to go to but you still have to pin everyone down to a date.

I had admin fatigue recently and decided to book a concert ticket just for me. It felt liberating, I didn’t need to wait to see who wanted to come, worry about logistics or feel pressure to be on good form.

During the concert interval, I moved away from the sleeping man (seriously) beside me and next to a woman on my left who it turned out was also on her own. She was in her mid twenties and told me that she has a solo date once a month and how much she loves it. We both beamed at each other as we smugly discussed the benefits of going out alone and not worrying about anyone else’s enjoyment.

We have connected on LinkedIn but have agreed to keep the magic and consciously not make a plan to go to a concert together but I hope our paths do cross again.

Emily

Mind & Body

Autumn Exhibitions

This time of year in the UK, when autumn kicks in when there it’s blue skies and sunshine, it’s wonderful but a lot of the time we have gloomy, flat, grey days which make me feel like I am never going to see the sun again. One thing that lifts my mood are exhibitions, escaping the grey and getting a fresh perspective.  There’s something rewarding about making the effort to go out when it is easier just to stay at home and let a dreary, grey day drift by.

Here are several exhibitions on my list to help me
get through the darker months.

Tate Britain –  Lee Miller

Described as a major exhibition of the trailblazing surrealist photographer Lee Miller. This exhibition showcases her incredible career, from her participation in French surrealism to her fashion and war photography. It includes some prints never previously displayed.

Tate Modern – Emily Kam Kngwarray

Emily Kim Kngwarray’s work is being displayed in Europe for the first time. Kngwarray was in her late 70s when she became serious about painting and for the next eight years until her death, she painted intensely. Tate Modern describes her work as ‘teeming with the life and spirit of her homeland in Australia’s Northern Territory’. Kngwarray never left her community despite national fame in her lifetime. 

William Kentridge Exhibition

I am planning a trip to see the William Kentridge exhibition, The Pull of Gravity, at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It’s a major exhibition, comprising works Kentridge made between 2007 and 2024. This project fills the underground gallery with some of his works in the surrounding gardens. This would be a fantastic emilysgroup day trip. If you live locally to the Sculpture Park, then join us, and those of you who are further afield could get the train to Leeds and then a minibus to The Sculpture Park, see the exhibition, have lunch, and then jump back on the train homeward bound. I am planning a late weekday trip for Feb/March 2026.

Email me at emily@emilysgroup.com, if this day trip idea is popular then I can organise a group train booking and mini minibus in the spring. If we don’t get a big uptake, but a few members are keen, then I’ll let you know when I am going, in case you want to join me. (The exhibition finishes on Sunday, 19th April 2026) .

To Read

addicted to anxiety
Owen O’Kane

I really like Owen O’Kane and first heard him interviewed on The High Performance Podcast with Jake Humphries and Damian Hughes. This is O’Kane’s fourth published book, and he’s written addicted to anxiety to help us explore the habits we build around our anxiety, becoming hooked on behaviours and thought patterns that help encourage rather than discourage our anxious thoughts. I am on page 60 of 312 and I can already see how this book can help us all, especially given how much our anxiety increases with the daily barrage of tough news from around the world.
Background notes on Owen. He’s a psychotherapist and a former NHS mental health clinical lead. He’s a Sunday Times bestselling author and the resident expert on BBC Radio 5 Live, helping listeners manage their everyday fears, as well as being a regular podcast guest. If you buy the book, let me know what you think and if it helps you or someone close to you.

To Listen

Music Uncovered : David Bowie Changeling

I really enjoyed this series about David Bowie, it made me think about the impact he had on popular culture. I’ve been playing his music a lot since listening to this podcast. Is there a musician today who in years to come will be regarded as having a similar influence to Bowie for so many generations?

teenagers untangled

The presenter is Rachel Richards, a journalist and parenting coach with children and stepchildren of her own. I like Rachel’s presenting style; she’s personable and well-informed. There’s bound to be an episode that you find helpful if you’re a parent. Rachel covers all ages including young adults. The episode I have linked to is Stop pushing your kids: The science of success, resilience and reduced stress with Ned Johnson.

Strangers On A Bench

Tom Rosenthal (of Friday Night Dinner Fame) hosts this extraordinary podcast series. He approaches random bench dwellers and asks them if he can sit down and record their conversation. Every stranger remains anonymous, which means Tom has these incredibly open conversations with the participants. It’s pretty addictive to listen to and hard to stop once you start. If you read some of the comments that listeners leave after listening to some of the particularly moving episodes, it will restore your faith in humanity. I was struck by the woman in the first episode I listened to who has been through so much but still offers great words of wisdom and retains her sense of humour. She says, ‘Accept the help of others, it doesn’t mean you are a weak person.’ The significance of this statement will become clear if you listen to this episode.

To Investigate

Gut Microbes

Scientists have discovered that certain species of microbe found in the human gut can absorb PFAS, the toxic and long-lasting forever chemicals. These man made chemicals are in everyday items, including non stick pans, lipsticks, and food packaging.

They say boosting these species in our gut microbiome could help protect us from the harmful effects of PFAS. I have included the link to the article from Cambridge University’s MRC Toxicology Unit. The scientists conducting the research have also co-founded a start-up called Cambiotics to develop probiotics that remove PFAS from the body. While the new probiotics are being developed, the advice is to look for brands that clearly state their products are free from PFAS and to use a good water filter.

To Entertain

TED talk

How to find the person who can help you get ahead at work. This is not discussed enough in the workplace. This Ted talk is hosted by Carla Harris, Career Mentor and as she describes herself, a 35+ years  Wall Street Veteran. Carla makes a great case for finding a sponsor and  what we would probably call in the UK a champion. She discusses  the long-term benefits it can have on your career. The TED talk is lengthy (14 minutes), but it’s worth watching it all. You may not feel your style is suited to the directness Carla suggests you demonstrate, but I am sure you’ll take at least one tip from listening to her TEDtalk. 


Tiny Desk Concert

I missed this NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert the first time around, so I am sharing it with you in case you missed it too. Watch the first four minutes of An Englishman in New York without smiling, singing or swaying!

Celebrity Traitors

The remote control is in my domain at the moment, so I am making the most of it. My sister-in-law kept telling me I must watch Celebrity Traitors so I finally succumbed, now I can see what the fuss is about!

Mr Scorsese

This docu-series on Apple about Martin Scorsese is fascinating, I really begun to understand how much Scorsese’s childhood and young adulthood in NY influenced not only what he directs but the way he directs. I also hadn’t appreciated the depth of the relationship, both on and off screen, between Scorsese and De Niro. This doc series is quite heavy-duty in places, so it’s definitely an early/mid-week watch.

Martha Stewart

Watching Scorsese reminded me of another profile documentary I watched last year about Martha Stewart. What a story behind her rise, her fall and her reinvention. It’s a fascinating watch, poignant in parts, but there are also some really uplifting moments, including her collaboration with Snoop Dogg. Despite all the trials and tribulations Martha’s been through, including a stint in prison, it doesn’t seem to have prevented her from re-establishing the Martha Stewart brand. Infact, she seems to have increased her profile amongst a new generation which includes the 5.8 million followers she has on Instagram.

Stick

I never thought this would be my kind of series, as it’s about a washed-up pro golfer, but my interest in the sport developed after my son introduced me to Full Swing on Netflix.

It really piqued my interest in a sport that I had always perceived as uptight and old fashioned. If you are looking for a family-friendly, feel-good show, then try Stick, starring Owen Wilson, Peter Danger, Lilli Kay, Mariana Treviño, and Marc Maron. If Stick was a soup, it would be a heartwarming minestrone.

EG Member: Julianna Challenor

Q&A

Could you tell me about your career? In my mid-30’s I left television production after having my children, and re-trained as a Counselling Psychologist. The training in total took a little over 5 years, and I qualified in 2012. Since then, while bringing up my family, I have split my time between working as an academic on doctorate programmes for counselling psychology, and maintaining an independent practice, seeing clients with a wide range of mental health presentations in west London. More recently, I have worked in the NHS in palliative and cancer psychology, which I have loved and want to continue as a specialty.    You are currently on a sabbatical – what was the catalyst for you to make this decision and take a break? There was no single catalyst, but a few things all came together to make it possible. I’m in the fantastically lucky position of having a window – my children are now adults and happily embarking on their own lives, and my parents and step-parents are thankfully still fit and well – meaning that for the first time in over 20 years, I am relatively free of caring responsibilities and have also reached a point in my career where I don’t mind if I don’t progress any further. I decided to take the gap year that I never had as a young person. I was starting to feel a bit jaded in my role, I certainly would not go so far as to call it anything like burnout, but I was finding myself feeling irritated and frustrated more often than I liked. Working in the hospice had some impact too, but in a positive way. It really brought home the fact that we can’t take anything for granted, and that life is for living, as clichéd as that sounds.   How are you planning to spend the year? I’m not doing anything very inspiring or even going very far, but the general idea is for the year to be a re-set – stepping off the hamster wheel of work and slowing down. I’m interested to see if I can do not very much! I’m aware of what a privileged position I’m in, both to be able to do the work that I do, and to have this choice to step off for a while. I know it’s not one that the majority of people can have, and I’m grateful to be able to do it.  I’ve divided the year roughly into quarters – for the first three months I have come with my partner Jonathan to the Peloponnese region in Greece. It’s a very beautiful part of the world and relatively free of distractions other than the wonderful sea and countryside, which is what I’m looking for. We are swimming, walking, reading a lot, talking to people we meet, occasionally looking at ancient places, and doing all the normal life things while trying to learn a bit of Greek. We are going to spend three weeks working on an organic farm working on and learning about the olive harvest – through WWOOF (world wide opportunities on organic farms https://wwoof.net).  Everyone we have met has told us what hard physical work it’s going to be, so that’s a little daunting but we are looking forward to living with the family and being part of life here – the olive harvest is central to the region’s identity so it seems like it will be a way to be a little bit less of a tourist.  The thing that I’m most struck by is not feeling as though I’m in a constant rush, or counting the days until we have to go home like on holiday.  Then it’s home for Christmas and probably some locum psychology work to keep the funds topped up and then in the spring a huge road trip down through France, Spain and Portugal – I’ll have to update you on that next year! If we enjoy the olive harvesting work, we may look for a similar experience in Spain too.  What an inspiring experience – What advice would you give others who may be considering doing the same?   It’s early days yet, and I will probably be able to give better advice at the end of it. It took a lot of very careful financial and other planning for both work and home life. Arranging to hand over my role and winding down my clinical and supervision practice took the best part of 18 months. It was important to me that at work I left everything as organised as possible. I was determined that my break wouldn’t create stress or extra work for my team. The same went for home life. I made a spreadsheet and worked out exactly what I needed to keep all of the day-to-day bills paid for the year, and then what would be a reasonable amount to live on while away. Then I saved really hard for those 18 months. We cancelled streaming subscriptions, bought no takeaway coffees or meals, had very few nights out and cut back on things like cinema and theatre tickets. It didn’t feel as though we were depriving ourselves because we had such a great incentive. Now the year has started, we are being quite frugal but not living like student backpackers either. We have a budget of about 120 euros a day while travelling which seems a lot, but that’s for everything, including food, accommodation and transport.    What do you love about being an Emily’s Group member? I’ve watched Emily’s group grow from when Emily came back to London from living in New York and it’s just a wonderful resource, but the thing that makes it very special is the degree of trust and care that exists between members – it just feels like a really “safe space” which is increasingly rare in our online lives. It’s a real-life community that also exists online.

Get in touch with Julianna You can contact Julianna at: jchallenor@gmail.com 07549 499 59

  Drop me a line with any comments or feedback on what you have read. I really appreciate hearing from you.

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