PODCAST · science
Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge
by Decibelle Creative
A psychologist's insight into the fascinating world of human behaviour without the jargon, with Psychologist & coach, Leila Ainge. Blending scientific research with real experiences, Leila is on a mission to reframe outdated notions of imposter syndrome. Psychologically Speaking delves into Leila's own ground-breaking research, exploring what drives those pesky fraudulent feelings in entrepreneurs, the unexpected advantages, and how you can actually leverage imposter moments to your benefit (yes, really). This podcast is for anyone who has ever felt like a fraud, just moments away from being 'found out'. This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative
Episodes
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What are you protecting and why? | Reflection Room August
A glass gold gilded conker from Effie Burns collection is the inspiration for our final reflection room taster session. We are thinking about what brings out our prickly side, what are we protecting and why? I also share details of the Reflection Room, starting on 14th September, details here on...
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Could One Room Tell Your Story? | Reflection Room August Week 3
What if a room could become a self-portrait? This week in the Reflection Room, psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge pairs a painting by Lottie Cole with a simple but thought-provoking reflection about identity, environment and the spaces we quietly create around ourselves. Drawing on…
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What Threshold Are You Standing On? | Reflection Room August Week 2
What happens when you've left one chapter behind but haven't quite arrived at the next? Inspired by Frances Featherstone's Dower House from her Threshold series, this Reflection Room episode explores the psychology of liminality—the in-between spaces where identity, perspective and possibility...
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Are You Leaving Yourself Out of Your Own Story? | Reflection Room August Week 1
What stories have you inherited about where you belong? This week's reflection uses art and psychology to help you revise your own narrative. Join psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge for the first Reflection Room prompt, where psychology, art and curiosity come together to help you see...
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Evidence Over Ego: Why Curiosity Leads to Better Decisions
How do we make better decisions when certainty is impossible? In this solo episode of Psychologically Speaking, psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge explores why confidence isn't about having all the answers—it's about asking better questions. Drawing on psychology, decision-making research…
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63. Build What the World Needs - Tif Bryant on innovation and risk.
What if the biggest risk isn't failing—but standing still? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge is joined by entrepreneur, UK Innovator Founder visa holder and CEO of The Doula Hive, Tif Bryant. Growing up in poverty, becoming a teenage mum and...
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62. The Five-Figure Decision. The psychology of risk taking with Niki Hutchison and Leila Ainge
What does it really mean to invest in yourself? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila is joined by marketing strategist and entrepreneur Niki Hutchison, founder of Enjoy Marketing®. With more than 25 years in marketing strategy and two six-figure businesses behind her, Niki helps...
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61. She quit the job she'd worked years to get. - Louise Duncum
Louise Duncum spent nearly a decade designing for major high street fashion brands before realising she'd become successful at something that no longer felt like her. In this episode we talk about leaving, comparison, taking on debt to grow a business, multiple identities, and why building a...
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60. The patriarchy has been squatting in my temple - Emma While
What happens when body shame isn't actually about your body? This week I'm joined by coach and facilitator Emma While, who decided to evict what she calls "the patriarchy squatting in my temple" by taking a beginners' burlesque class at 49. We talk about shame, visibility, motherhood,...
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59. Backing Yourself When the Stakes Are High
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila Ainge is joined by strategic advisor and facilitator Rachel Cashman to explore the relationship between imposter phenomenon, risk taking, legitimacy, and trust. Rachel has worked across government, healthcare, defence, and the life sciences,...
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Why Does This Feel So Hard? | Imposter Phenomenon, Risk & the Psychology of Difficult Things
Why do some things feel emotionally bigger than they “should”? In this bonus episode of Psychologically Speaking, psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge introduces The Hard Thing Challenge — a free five-day reflection challenge exploring the psychology behind difficult tasks, imposter feelings,...
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58. Your Whole Axis Shifts: What Grief Changes About Work and Life
What happens when loss changes everything—not just emotionally, but structurally? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila Ainge is joined by wellbeing consultant and psychotherapist Chrissy Orson to explore grief, identity shifts, and the moment your life no longer fits the way it used...
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57. Off the Beaten Path: Identity, Belonging & Building a Career That Actually Fits
What happens when your life doesn’t follow the path you thought it would? A conversation on identity, belonging, and the courage to build a career that doesn’t look right on paper but feels right in your life. In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, I’m joined by coach and podcast host...
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What if interviews don’t just reveal what we think… but actually change it?
We often assume interviews are a way of capturing what people already think. But qualitative psychology suggests something different. Interviews can be active sites of meaning-making, where thoughts are not just shared, but formed in real time. Drawing on ideas like the double hermeneutic from...
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I Refuse to Hate Myself: Emma Seville on 'Starting Again'
“I refuse to hate myself in any way… I hope women reclaim ageing as a gift.” When everything shifts at once, home, body, identity, what does it take to rebuild a sense of safety and self? Leila Ainge and Emma Seville explore menopause, midlife transitions, and the psychology of starting over. In...
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Bonus: Everything we know is shaped by where we stand in the world.
Hi, I’m Leila, and I’m currently doing a PhD exploring the experiences of women who are independent workers, including entrepreneurs, freelancers, and the self-employed, who use online communities as part of their working lives. My first study is collecting data through a series of interviews…
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55. From War Zones to Motherhood: The Unexpected Path to Building a Business
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila Ainge speaks with entrepreneur Femke Harris about the unexpected twists that shape our lives. From growing up as a third-culture kid in Hong Kong to managing operations on a NATO base in Afghanistan, Femke’s career path has been anything but...
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54. Can Digging in the Dirt Really Improve Your Mental Health? : The Science of Gardening and Wellbeing
What if one of the most powerful mental health tools was already in your garden? In this episode, I’m joined by horticultural therapist Kendall Marie Platt to explore the science behind soil, why getting your hands in the dirt can change your mood, and how gardening might help us regulate stress…
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53. Goals Don’t Fail, They Reveal: What Happens After the Plan?
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila Ainge checks back in with coaches Emma Thomas and Lucy Green a few months after they set ambitious business goals. The conversation reveals how real progress unfolds. Emma shares how a community project had to pause due to unforeseen…
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What Actually Happens After You Set a Goal?
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila is joined by three Goal Sprint participants, Hannah Isted, Jen Vaughan and Darren Scotland, for an honest progress check-in just weeks into the year. Together they explore: • Why momentum matters more than motivation • How perfectionismblocks...
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“Nothing Bad Happened”: What Visibility Teaches Us About Confidence
What actually happens to your confidence once you start pursuing a goal? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, psychologist Leila Ainge checks back in with three creatives who set goals on the podcast weeks earlier, Graphic Designer Bhavini, Animator Duncan and Documentary Maker Dany....
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Are you Avoidance Crafting?
Why do resolutions wobble just when we think they should be working? This episode explores avoidance crafting, impatience, burnout, and how goals, habits, and mental distance shape real progress especially in January. In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila explores the intricacies of...
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Sustainable Goals in an Unsustainable World
Why do goals that feel exciting at first suddenly become exhausting even when we care deeply about them? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, I explore why goals often become unsustainable not because of a lack of motivation or discipline, but because they’re designed for ideal conditions...
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BONUS - Goal Derailment
Bonus Episode
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48. Lights, Camera… Courage: Dany’s Arctic Documentary Journey
In this deeply honest and energising episode of Psychologically Speaking, Dany Johnston — data & AI consultant, documentary filmmaker, and PhD researcher — shares her most ambitious and vulnerable goal yet: to create and release a new documentary filmed during a once-in-a-lifetime expedition to…
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47. The Cupboard Under the Stairs: Emma’s Year of Coherence
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Emma returns to share her 2026 goal — and it’s one that will resonate with anyone whose business has grown faster than their systems. Emma describes the year ahead as a “cupboard under the stairs” moment — the kind of messy-but-essential reorganisation...
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46. Creative Confidence: The Goal That Strengthens Self-Worth with Bhavini Lakhani
A conversation about creative confidence, goal setting, and how sharing your work builds self-worth. Designer Bhavini joins Leila to explore fear, visibility, and growth. In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila Ainge sits down with creative designer Bhavini (B81 Designs) to explore the...
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45. From Stretch Goals to Finish Lines: Goal Setting, Marketing Growth & Marathon Mindset with Hannah
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila talks with marketer, community-builder and marathon-in-training Hannah Isted, about her 2026 goals. Together, they explore how ambitious stretch goals like scaling a marketing membership and finishing the London Marathon in a faster time, require...
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44. The Ripple Effect: Women, Money, and Mission-Driven Growth with Lucy Green
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking: The Goal Experiments, Lucy shares her 2026 goal, not just for her business, but for the women who benefit when she succeeds. We talk about what it means to set a goal that has social impact. Lucy’s ambition is grounded in something practical: helping...
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43. Animation, Ambition, and the 2026 Plan with Duncan Caterall-Mason
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking: The Goal Experiments, animator and filmmaker Duncan Catterall-Mason talks to Leila Ainge on what it really takes to build a sustainable freelance career in the creative industries. They talk about ambition and burnout when you’re raising a family and...
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42. The Psychology of Goal Setting: Flexibility, Identity & Belonging
Why do some goals stick while others fade? In this episode, psychologist Leila Ainge explores the psychology behind effective goal-setting — blending insights from real conversations with three guests and research on motivation, social identity, and resilience. You’ll hear how Rebecca, Jen, and...
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41. Drawing Belonging: Darren Scotland on ambition and place, the goal experiments
Designer and illustrator Darren Scotland, founder of Ace of Place, joins psychologist Leila Ainge to talk about creative ambition, belonging, and the self-doubt that often comes with growth. Darren’s 2026 goal is to grow his business from a solo studio into a collaborative creative brand — one…
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40. From Procrastination to Publication — with Rebecca Slater
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge talks with Rebecca Slater, who’s setting a powerful goal for 2026: to write her first book. Together they explore what it really takes to move from wanting to doing — overcoming procrastination, creating time…
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39. Jen Vaughan on Balancing Nurture and Profit, The Goal Experiments
In this first conversation of The Goal Experiments, psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge speaks with yoga teacher Jen Vaughan about the tension between giving and receiving, authenticity and marketing, nurture and profit. Together, they unpack what happens when care is your craft: how to claim...
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Women, Ambition & the Profit Silence
In this episode, psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge explores the quiet tension many women experience in business — the space between ambition and the pressure to be “good.” Drawing on findings from Good Girl Economics, her research collaboration with Nicky Denson-Elliott, Leila examines why...
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Your secret weapon against burnout and stress
Welcome to my favourite field, yes.. you heard that right. In this episode I'm talking about the suprising benefits of noticing a tree, field or bit of nature near to you.
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How to Stop Over-Striving and Start Feeling Fulfilled
What’s the real difference between joy, fulfilment, and striving? In this episode, psychologist Leila Ainge explores the psychology behind our endless chase for more—and why true joy often hides in life’s quieter moments. Drawing on research into hedonic adaptation and flow, Leila unpacks how to...
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Unfiltered & Unapologetic: Women in Focus with Karen Staniland-Platt
What does it really mean to be seen? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, I sit down with Karen Staniland- Platt, a Manchester-based photographer and writer who’s passionate about capturing women as they truly are. We talk about what happens when women step in front of the camera: the...
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You are not that important: finding Joy and doing weird stuff with Hannah Isted.
Leila and Hannah explore the themes of joy, productivity, and marketing strategies. They discuss the importance of celebrating small wins, the awkwardness of creating B-roll content, and the psychological aspects of anticipation and joy. Hannah shares her journey of developing a 10-minute…
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The Joy of being a Generalist (and specialist) with Katie Elliott
Wow, There's a big debate around being a generalist vs niching down, but this conversation with Katie proves that it takes specialist knowledge about specific industries and types of organisations to be a generalist in HR. I loved this chat so much. Katie Elliott is a CIPD qualified HR consultant...
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Run With Me: A Short Episode on Mindset and Doing Hard Things
In this short episode, I’m taking you with me, literally, on a run. 🏃♀️ I share some reflections on mindset, what it really takes to do hard things, and how I’ve been finding my way back to the joy of running after losing it for a while. If you’ve ever felt stuck, slowed down, or unsure how to...
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Is Imposter Phenomenon Blocking Your Joy?, Psychology-Backed Solutions
Ever feel like the imposter experiences are stealing your joy? In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila Ainge unpacks the link between imposter phenomenon (known as syndrome) and joy, and why feelings of being a fraud can leave us drained instead of delighted. Drawing on psychology...
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The weight of Joy: Choosing joy, autistic joy and art.
Hello, in this episode you are getting a joyful mixed bag including the latest research on autistic joy, what we can take from two pictures in the National Portrait gallery. Leila delves into the concept of joy, distinguishing it from happiness and exploring its complexities. She discusses…
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Does Your Environment Spark Joy?
In this conversation, Leila and Lisa explore the themes of joy, personal spaces, and the impact of nature on wellbeing. They discuss the importance of creating environments that spark joy, the connection between nature and mental health, and the significance of community and connection in both...
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How Joy Moves
In this opening episode of The Joy Experiments, Leila Ainge speaks with brand strategist Ange Friesen about the messy, beautiful process of chasing joy in the middle of change. From swapping city life in London for a countryside Airbnb (complete with cows and no coffee machine) to redefining…
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The Joy Experiments: A New Season of Psychologically Speaking
Welcome to Season 3 of Psychologically Speaking, hosted by psychologist and researcher Leila Ainge. This season, we explore joy not as a feeling to define, but as an experience that moves us, connects us, and shapes how we live and work. In this short teaser episode, Leila shares the story behind...
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The Pause Is Part of the Progress
In this Season 2 finale of Psychologically Speaking, Leila reflects on the space between intention and action the often messy, foggy middle that so many of us occupy quietly. She shares listener insights, one reader’s poetic take on language and liminality, and introduces the psychology of...
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Mind the Gap: Why Knowing Isn’t the Same as Doing
In this episode, I share a small but eye-opening story that begins with a single word: lacuna. What started as a moment of academic frustration turned into a reflection on the way we, as adults, often skim rather than fully engage — with words, ideas, and even our own decisions. I explore how our...
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Worn Thin: The Emotional Cost of Doing What You Love
In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila Ainge delves into the theme of tiredness, exploring its various forms and the impact it has on our lives. She discusses the emotional, social, creative, spiritual, physical, and mental aspects of tiredness, emphasizing the importance of...
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When Your To-Do List Becomes a ‘To-Prove’ List.
How our need for external validation fuels overwork summary In this episode of Psychologically Speaking, Leila explores the intricate relationship between human behavior and the use of lists. She delves into why we love lists, the psychological benefits they provide, and the potential pitfalls…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A psychologist's insight into the fascinating world of human behaviour without the jargon, with Psychologist & coach, Leila Ainge. Blending scientific research with real experiences, Leila is on a mission to reframe outdated notions of imposter syndrome. Psychologically Speaking delves into Leila's own ground-breaking research, exploring what drives those pesky fraudulent feelings in entrepreneurs, the unexpected advantages, and how you can actually leverage imposter moments to your benefit (yes, really). This podcast is for anyone who has ever felt like a fraud, just moments away from being 'found out'. This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative
HOSTED BY
Decibelle Creative
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge have?
Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge currently has 72 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge about?
A psychologist's insight into the fascinating world of human behaviour without the jargon, with Psychologist & coach, Leila Ainge. Blending scientific research with real experiences, Leila is on a mission to reframe outdated notions of imposter syndrome. Psychologically Speaking delves into Leila's...
How often does Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge release new episodes?
Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge has 72 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge?
You can listen to Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge?
Psychologically Speaking with Leila Ainge is created and hosted by Decibelle Creative.
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