Show Notes
Jen Healy’s story is not an easy one to hear, but it is an important one. In this episode of IMAGE The Motherload, Jen shares her journey from a childhood shaped by violence, through addiction, abusive relationships and homelessness, to the life she has built today as a mother, business owner and advocate for women’s mental health. This is a conversation about survival, but more importantly, it’s about what comes after survival. About healing, about the nervous system, about learning what safety feels like in your own body. Jen speaks with honesty and clarity about the realities of addiction, the complexity of abusive relationships, and the long road back to self-worth. She also shares the tools she now uses to support other women who feel overwhelmed, dysregulated or disconnected. It’s a story of resilience, yes. But it’s also a story of hope, of change, and of the quiet, powerful work it takes to rebuild a life.
***Trigger warning: this episode includes discussion of domestic abuse and addiction.
Listen now to IMAGE The Motherload, powered by Peugeot and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare.
More from IMAGE The Motherload
How do we raise children who can handle hard things, without leaving them to handle those things alone?
Hazel Chu has spent much of her public life breaking barriers. As the first Irish-born person of Chinese heritage to serve as Lord Mayor of Dublin and now deputy leader of the Green Party, she has faced racism, abuse and scrutiny while fighting for a more equal Ireland. But in this deeply personal episode of IMAGE The Motherload, Hazel joins Dominique to talk about the experiences that have shaped her away from politics. She speaks with extraordinary openness about her recent breast cancer diagnosis, the moment her then seven-year-old daughter Alex asked, “Mama, are you going to die?”, and the loneliness that can come with being seriously ill. Hazel also looks back at a difficult pregnancy and her experience of postnatal depression, including the period when she struggled to feel love for herself or her new baby. And in one of the most emotional moments of the conversation, Hazel talks about racism, how becoming a mother changed her relationship with it, and the pain of watching her daughter experience racism herself.
In this week’s episode of IMAGE The Motherload, Mary Kennedy joins Dominique for a beautiful conversation about motherhood, ambition, loss, marriage and separation, ageing, grandmotherhood and the many times in life we get to begin again.
Louise Cooney has shared her life online for more than a decade, but in this episode of IMAGE The Motherload, you will hear a side of her you may not have heard before.
Broadcaster, documentary maker, podcaster and mum of two Síle Seoige joins Dominique for a beautifully open conversation about the experiences that have shaped her. From pregnancy loss and thyroid cancer to anxiety, motherhood, marriage and a career spent in the public eye, Síle reflects on the highs and lows of her life with extraordinary perspective. They talk about becoming a mum later in life, raising children in an increasingly anxious world, learning when to push yourself and when to protect yourself, why gratitude has become such an important part of how she moves through the world, and what hundreds of intimate conversations on her own podcast have taught her about being human.