

333 - Facilitating with Fabric, Feeling, and Freedom with Paula Short
A Mary Poppins’ bag of glitter, a big beating drum, a lump of clay, and a shiny gold crown. Bringing her wonderful, precious collection of props to the show, is the brilliant Paula Short.
As a personal development psychotherapist, talented actress, and the founder of a 1997 youth centre, facilitation has been a guiding constant in Paula’s life and work. Now as a self-exploration retreat host, she facilitates deep transformation through the expressive arts, helping people to welcome unchartered emotions without shame.
We explore how donning the cloak of the villain in a fictional story can become an embodied breakthrough, why the collective support of the group can be liquid gold, and why Paula has such an issue with tissues.
A special, heartfelt conversation – join us!
Find out about:
- How roleplay, costumes and props can help us to access buried feelings and emotions
- The importance of letting emotions free-flow without interruption, or ‘tidying’ them away
- How Paula create safe containers for self-exploration through play
- Navigating our trauma responses, and why we must learn to trust our own vulnerabilities
- Normalising say ‘no’ – and why doing so gives us autonomy, helps us reconnect to our boundaries, and signals emotional safety to others
Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.
Links:
Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.
Connect to Paula Short:
Share your thoughts about our conversation!
✨✨✨
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:
https://workshops.work/podcast
✨✨✨
Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!