Be Well Collective

12/08/2026

Is the chemical@imbalance theory a myth? 🤔

This week on Live Well Be Well, Sarah Ann is joined by Dr Mark Horowitz, clinical research fellow at University College London and North East London NHS Foundation Trust. He co-authored the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines, which have begun to change clinical guidance on antidepressant withdrawal worldwide, and has personally experienced withdrawal himself, which led him to dedicate his career to helping others through the same process.

Together they explore the science behind antidepressants, what they actually do to the brain, and what nobody told you about coming off them.

In this episode, you will learn:

😔 Why 1 in 6 people in England are on antidepressants, and whether we are overprescribing

🧠 What antidepressants actually do to the brain, and why the chemical imbalance theory is misleading

📈 Why 85% of people recover from depression within 12 months with no intervention at all

📉 What withdrawal actually feels like, and why doctors so often get it wrong

☝️What the alternatives to antidepressants are, and why they are rarely offered first

🎙️ Tune in now, wherever you get your podcasts

06/08/2026

🌾 Are you actually allergic to gluten, or do you just think you are?

This week on Live Well Be Well, Sarah Ann is joined by Jordan Haworth, registered dietitian and gut health specialist, and someone who has dedicated his career to understanding one of the most overlooked systems in the human body.

Together they explore the gut microbiome, what we’re getting wrong about healthy eating, and the surprisingly simple changes that can transform your digestion, sleep and wellbeing.

Jordan Haworth is a registered dietitian specialising in gut health and the gut-brain axis, working extensively across clinical and research settings. He is one of the UK’s leading voices on the microbiome, IBS and evidence-based nutrition, known for cutting through the noise of wellness culture with clarity, humour and science.

In this episode, you will learn:

💨 Why farting is actually a sign your gut is working, and how many times a day is normal

💊 How trying too hard to fix your gut can actually make it worse

⛔️ Why most probiotics on the shelves are what Jordan calls fake probiotics

🧠 The nocebo effect, and why your brain can make you physically ill just from believing something

🎙️ Tune in now wherever you get your podcasts.

29/07/2026

This week on Live Well Be Well, Sarah Ann is joined by Marisa Peer, world-renowned therapist, bestselling author and founder of Rapid Transformational Therapy, and someone who has spent four decades helping people understand why they do what they do and how to change it permanently.

Together they explore the brain, belief and what it really means to rewire the way you think, feel and live.

Marisa Peer is one of the most sought-after therapists in the world, having worked with Olympic athletes, rock stars, royalty and CEOs. She is the founder of Rapid Transformational Therapy, a pioneering method combining hypnotherapy, NLP, CBT and neuroscience to create lasting change. She is the author of eight books including I Am Enough and You Can Be Thin, and has trained over 10,000 therapists across 170 countries.

In this episode, you will learn:

👉Why we keep going back to things we know are bad for us, and what the brain is actually doing

🧠Why 80% of people share one common belief that holds them back

🧬How the words you use are literally shaping your biology

⛔️Why your brain cannot hold conflicting beliefs, and what to do about it

🔮How visualisation during IVF can increase your chances of success by 50%

And so much more.

🎙️ Tune in now, wherever you get your podcasts.

22/07/2026

What level of threat are you experiencing?

This week on Live Well Be Well, Sarah Ann is joined by David Rock, neuroscientist, author and founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute, and someone who has spent 28 years answering one of the most fascinating questions in science: why do we do what we do?

Together they explore human behaviour, the neuroscience of threat and reward, and what it really means to work with your brain rather than against it.

Dr. David Rock coined the term neuroleadership and is the co-founder and CEO of the NeuroLeadership Institute, a 23-year-old cognitive science consultancy that has advised over 50% of the Fortune 100. He is the author of four books including the bestselling Your Brain at Work, and has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and more.

In this episode, you will learn:

🧠 Why the brain is always making a threat or reward decision

😰 Why being interrupted feels physically painful, and what your brain is actually doing

💡 How insights really work in the brain, and why your best ideas come when you stop trying

👎 Why one negative comment can override dozens of positive ones, and how to rewire that

And much more.

This one is choc-full of actionable tips backed by science. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts now

16/07/2026

This week on Live Well Be Well, Sarah Ann is joined by Arthur C. Brooks, Harvard professor, bestselling author, and one of the world’s leading experts on the science of human happiness.

Together they explore happiness, meaning, love, and what the science really says about building a life that feels worth living.

Arthur is a professor at Vanderbilt University and senior fellow at Harvard Business School, and the author of 16 books including three number one New York Times bestsellers. He has spent decades studying happiness not as a feeling but as a skill, and teaching people how to practise it.

In this episode, you will learn:

➡️ Why happiness isn’t a destination, and what the arrival fallacy is really costing you

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 The four idols your brain tells you will make you happy, and why they never do

❤️ What the neuroscience of love actually looks like, and the two things that keep couples bonded

📝 How the failure journal works, and why writing down your disappointments makes you happier

😁 Why meaning and happiness are not the same thing, and which one actually lasts

And so much more…

🎙️Tune in now wherever you get your podcasts

09/07/2026

This week on Live Well Be Well, Sarah Ann is joined by Ruby Wax, comedian, author, mental health advocate, and someone who has spent her life turning the most painful human experiences into something that makes us feel less alone.

Together they explore depression, mindfulness, and what it really means to understand your own mind and actually work with it.

Ruby Wax is an Emmy Award-winning writer and performer who studied neuroscience at Oxford, founded Frazzled Café, and wrote the bestselling Sane New World and A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled. She knows what depression looks like from the inside, and has the Oxford degree to explain why.

You’ll learn:

🥲 Why depression isn’t just sadness and what it actually feels like from the inside

🧘What mindfulness does to your brain, and why Ruby had to go to Oxford before she believed it

✋What happens when you stop fighting depression and let it pass instead

🫂Why self-compassion isn’t weak, it’s a biological necessity

And so much more…

Tune in now wherever you get your podcasts, Ruby is unlike any guest we’ve had before.

01/07/2026

24/06/2026

If rats can swim 60 hours, what can you do?

Here you go:

—

This week Sarah Ann sits down with Nir Eyal, behavioural designer, bestselling author, and one of the most fascinating voices on how our beliefs shape everything from habits and identity to health and happiness.

This isn’t about toxic positivity or vision boarding. It’s about understanding the beliefs running your life and actually changing them.

They get into:

🔮The difference between facts, faith and beliefs and why it matters

🚫 Why manifesting and positive visualisation can actually make you less likely to succeed

🤔Why your ADHD, perfectionism or Myers-Briggs label might be holding you back

🍀 The science of luck and why lucky people aren’t just born that way

And so much more…

If you’ve ever wondered why you keep thinking, feeling or behaving in ways you know aren’t serving you, even when you know better, this one is for you.

🎙️ Tune in wherever you get your podcasts

17/06/2026

Your safe place and happy place are not the same thing ☝️

This week on the Live Well Be Well podcast, Sarah Ann sits down with Dr Chloe Paidoussis-Mitchell, psychologist, grief specialist, and one of the most compassionate voices helping people understand loss in all its forms.

This conversation isn’t about moving on. It’s about what it actually means to find a way through.

We get into:

👉The losses no one talks about: divorce, estrangement, childlessness, leaving your home country, friendship breakups.

✋Why the five stages model was never designed for bereavement

🧠 How the brain maps the people we love, and why grief feels so physically disorienting

❤️ What it really takes to support someone who is grieving

If you or someone you love is carrying grief of any kind, this one is for you.

🎙️ Tune in now wherever you get your podcasts

10/06/2026

Is medical cannabis on the horizon for the U.K.? 🍃

This week on the Live Well Be Well podcast, Sarah Ann is joined by Dr. Simon, medical doctor, UCL researcher, and one of the UK’s leading voices in medical cannabis.

Simon cuts through the stigma and the noise and what shares how medical cannabis is about more than getting high. It’s about patients who’ve tried everything, suffered for years, and finally found relief.

You’ll learn:

🩺What medical cannabis actually is and why it’s nothing like what you think

💊 Why the UK is one of the highest opioid-prescribing countries in the world, and what that tells us about how we treat chronic pain

🧠 What’s actually happening in the brain with PTSD and how medical cannabis can help decouple the trauma from the memory itself

And so much more.

🎙️ Tune in now wherever you get your podcasts