Midlife vitality for High-Achieving Women: Functional Medicine, Emotions Coaching and Sustainable Change

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Owlicity director Christopher Cloke Browne speaks with Sonia Jenkins, author, former NHS nurse practitioner of 45 years, and midlife wellness expert, about helping high-achieving women over 50 restore energy, sleep, and emotional resilience through The Sonia Jenkins Method.

Sonia shares how her own experience of developing type 1 diabetes in her 40s led her to retrain in functional medicine and essential emotions coaching, combining them alongside medicine to support sustainable, personalised change.

They discuss reframing midlife as a powerful turning point, the importance of lifestyle, nervous system regulation and emotional wellbeing, and the challenge of “noise” from conflicting health advice.

Sonia emphasises moving from information to integration, listening beyond a 10-minute snapshot, and helping women reconnect with body signals rather than relying on willpower or quick fixes.

Episode time stamps

• 00:53 Meet Sonia Jenkins
• 05:44 Explaining Sonia's midlife mission
• 08:52 The importance of listening and intuition
• 12:07 Cutting through noise
• 17:50 From information to integration
• 20:08 The biggest opportunity is already here

Follow Sonia Jenkins on the links below

Website - soniajenkins.co.uk

Book - The Invisible Midlife Woman https://www.soniajenkins.co.uk/the-book

The Sonia Jenkins Method - https://www.soniajenkinsmethod.com

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions. Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive.

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk

Call us on 0203 988 8090

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Functional medicine and GMC registration: legal and regulatory risks for doctors

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Owlicity director Christopher Cloke Browne speaks with Andrea James, a Keystone Law partner specialising in professional discipline and healthcare regulatory law, about whether functional medicine practitioners should keep GMC registration.

Andrea explains that “medical practice” is not defined in the Medical Act and the GMC will not give role-specific advice, but warns that giving up registration can be high risk for doctors who still rely on their medical background in clinic work or marketing.

She highlights reserved activities (such as prescribing, Mental Health Act assessments and signing death certificates) and the broad criminal offence of implying you are registered when you are not, meaning the GMC could pursue criminal prosecution rather than fitness to practise proceedings.

They discuss that most complaints they see originate from other doctors and are often defensible when patients are given clear, upfront information, and Andrea flags separate, more prescriptive CQC registration risks under regulated activities.

Episode time stamps:

00:53 Meet Andrea James

02:28 Do you need GMC registration

04:34 Criminal risk explained

07:44 Why complaints happen

09:35 Defending functional medicine

12:34 Working with mainstream care

14:51 What counts as medicine?

17:22 CQC registration basics

19:37 Practical legal advice

Connect with Andrea James and Keystone Law

https://keystonelaw.com/lawyers/andrea-james

https://keystonelaw.com/

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions. Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive.

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk

Call us on 0203 988 8090

Follow us on social media

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Nutrition, Neurodegeneration and Functional Medicine: Raising Standards and Building Multidisciplinary Care

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Owlicity director Christopher Cloke Browne speaks with Dr Kirstie Lawton PhD, CNHC-registered nutritional therapy practitioner and founder and director of You Nutrition, a clinic, research hub and educational platform specialising in neurological and neurodegenerative conditions including motor neuron disease/ALS, Parkinson’s, dementia/Alzheimer’s, brain injury, neuroimmune conditions, and complex paediatric cases.

Dr Lawton shares her path from public health nutrition and international work to functional nutrition and argues for evidence-based functional approaches alongside conventional medicine.

They discuss challenging “nothing can be done” narratives, improving quality of life, concerns about ultra-processed PEG feeds, and the need for multidisciplinary teams, higher practitioner standards, new training courses, and research using clinic data.

Episode time stamps:

• 01:03 Introducing Dr Kirstie Lawton
• 01:27 You Nutrition Clinic and team overview
• 02:21 Early influences and career path
• 05:26 The switch to focus on neurodegeneration
• 06:43 Doctors and functional medicine
• 12:33 Mission and education Plans
• 16:22 Nutrition basics and mitochondria
• 17:58 Challenging the use of ultra processed food
• 20:28 Regulation and professional divide
• 24:37 Advocating a multidisciplinary care model
• 31:39 Opportunities for research

Follow Dr Lawton's work via the links below:

Insta:

@younutritionkids

@nutritionandthebrain

@drkirstielawton

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-kirstie-lawton-phd/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/drkirstielawtonphd

Blog: www.nutritionandthebrain.com/blog

Clinic website: www.younutritionclinic.com

Educational platform: www.nutritionandthebrain.com

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions. Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive.

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk

Call us on 0203 988 8090

Follow us on social media

LinkedIn

Instagram

YouTube