The Worry Wizard Podcast
The Worry Wizard Podcast is hosted by Amy Smythe, an accredited counsellor and psychotherapist with over twenty years of experience supporting children and the grownups who love them. Alongside family therapist Denise Bevan, Amy explores children's worries, emotional wellbeing, and the questions that keep parents awake at night. Each 15 to 20 minute episode covers a theme, from bedtime worries to the anxieties grownups carry, through warm conversation and gentle storytelling. The podcast aims not to fix or manage worries, but to help listeners understand them and feel less alone. It is freely available so that no family has to navigate worries without support.
Episodes
When Advocating For Your Child Makes You Feel 'Too Much'
What happens to you when you keep advocating for your child and the spaces around them resist? In this episode, Amy and family therapist Denise reflect on the emotional experience many parents carry quietly. The feeling of being seen as too demanding. The effort of staying composed so you will be taken seriously. The slow shift from noticing resistance around you to questioning yourself. Th
When Being 'Too Much' Starts to Feel Unsafe
There are times when children begin to make themselves smaller. They apologise for taking up space, soften their needs, or quieten parts of themselves that once felt free. Often, this is not a problem to fix, but a response to what feels safe around them. In this conversation, Amy and Denise reflect on how children adapt to their environments, and what it can mean when being fully themselves no lo
When Your Child Feels Like A Failure And Nothing You Say Helps
When your child feels like a failure, even your most loving words can start to feel as though they are not landing. You may find yourself repeating reassurance, trying to soften the harshness, and quietly wondering why nothing you say seems to help. In this episode, Amy Smythe and family therapist Denise Bevan explore what is happening beneath the surface when children speak about themselves with
When My Child Only Sees What They Did Wrong: What Can I Say?
When a child can only see what they have done wrong, reassurance often is not enough. In this compassionate conversation, Amy Smythe and Denise Bevan gently explore why children can become stuck in self critical stories, and what it can mean for a grown up to hold the good stories a child cannot yet see. They reflect on why reassurance so often fails in these moments, and how witnessing rather tha
The Power of Repair: Reconnecting After Emotional Rupture
When things wobble in our relationships with children, partners, or ourselves, it can feel unsettling and confusing. Moments of disconnection can arrive suddenly, leaving us unsure how to find our way back. In this gentle conversation, Amy Smythe and Denise Bevan explore rupture and repair. They reflect on why wobbles are a natural part of being human, how children experience these moments differe
When Feelings Are Too Big for Words
When feelings grow too overwhelming for words, children do not need perfect explanations. They need us. In this grounding conversation, Amy Smythe and Denise Bevan explore why a calm, steady presence can be the safety children are searching for. They reflect on co regulation, emotional safety, and the power of staying alongside rather than rushing to fix or explain. This episode offers reassurance
Where Anxiety Lives in the Body: Listening to Big Feelings
Big feelings often show up in the body before there are words for them, especially for children. In this episode, Amy Smythe and Denise Bevan explore how listening to the body can help us understand what is happening beneath anxiety and overwhelm. They share gentle, compassionate ways to pause, notice, and respond, and include a playful invitation to try the Body Detective game at home.
Making Friends With Fear: A Kinder Way to Work With Anxiety
Stepping into uncomfortable spaces can stir fear, worry, and a strong urge to fix things quickly, especially when children are involved. In this opening episode, Amy Smythe and Denise Bevan explore what might shift when we meet anxiety with curiosity instead of urgency. They reflect on courage, fear, and the delicate balance between wanting to protect and needing to grow. This conversation invites
