Human Givens with Síle Uí Chiaráin: Anxiety, Emotional Needs & Making Sense of Modern Life

Síle Uí Chiaráin has spent almost thirty years working in education, supporting children, teenagers, and adults across mainstream teaching, learning support, and senior leadership roles. Over time, she became acutely aware of the growing emotional pressures shaping modern life and how often people are expected to cope without the right tools, language, or support.
Through decades in schools and leadership, Síle witnessed first-hand the realities many people quietly carry: exam and performance anxiety, fractured relationships, bullying and loss of dignity in the workplace, identity and gender confusion, domestic dysfunction, and the overwhelming feeling of trying to keep everything together while life keeps demanding more.

In search of a deeper, more effective way to help the people she worked with every day, Síle trained as a Human Givens Practitioner. This training fundamentally reshaped her understanding of wellbeing, offering a clear, structured, and compassionate framework for making sense of emotional distress and human behaviour.

Human Givens psychotherapy is a bio-psycho-social model that recognises our innate emotional needs and the importance of meeting them in balance. Its integrative approach offers practical, measurable ways to restore wellbeing by working with how humans are naturally wired to thrive.

In this conversation, Síle discusses:
‣ Why loneliness is rising (situationships, “friend famines,” and struggling to sustain relationships)
‣ The #1 habit she recommends for mental health: a daily walk + daylight to support circadian rhythm and stress regulation
‣ How to handle intrusive thoughts and anxiety with her simple method: Notice it, acknowledge it, tell it to tip on
‣ Why sitting with pain matters, but not getting “comfortable with the discomfort”
‣ How rules and agreements reduce conflict (shared living and relationships) by cutting “choice fatigue” and making values-based decisions

If you care about emotional wellbeing, meaningful connection, and understanding what people are really struggling with beneath the surface, this conversation will stay with you.

Síle Uí Chiaráin
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