Mental Health

Wendy Coombe is the founder of the Australian Peak Body and charitable organisation, Animal Therapies Ltd with the goal to advance the understanding, acceptance and accessibility of animal-assisted services for those suffering trauma, disability and adversity. In our conversation Wendy explores how animals from lamas to lizards and miniature ponies on airplanes can help people cope with different challenges. We discuss how we can now use dogs to detect seizures up to 45 mins before the event, help regulate insulin in patients suffering from diabetes (they can smell insulin levels in your blood) and detect ingredients in food that some may be dangerously allergic to. Wendy shares her story of her own mental breakdown from a long career in senior management after which she turned to her faithful dog, Jack, for support. This started her on the journey of establishing Animal Therapies Limited as a charity to help connect people interested in using and receiving animal assisted services. It’s an ancient partnership, modernized into today’s sophisticated world.   Find Wendy at: https://animaltherapies.org.au/   For emergency support contact: 000 for police, ambulance or fire services  13 11 14 for Lifeline, a crisis support and suicide prevention service for all Australians 1300 726 306 Perinatal Anxiety and Depression (PANDA) National Helpline 1800 642 066 Centre for Grief and Bereavement 1800 250 015 Alcohol and Drug Support Line 1800 858 858 National Gambling Help Line 1300 22 46 36 Beyond Blue

Dr Sam Vaknin, Professor of Psychology and Finance, discusses narcissism, including the distinction between narcissistic style and disorder, shared fantasy in narcissistic relationships, dissociation and memory gaps in narcissists, and the parallels between narcissism and ancient religions.

Professor Steve Ellen is an honorary Professor of Psychiatry and the Director of the Psychosocial Oncology Program at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. In this role, Steve and his team support and work with patients suffering from cancer as well as their families. Steve is the co-author of “Mental - Everything you Never Knew you Needed to Know about Mental Health". In this episode Steve shares his own personal mental health crisis and shares how he, as a Professor of Psychiatry, navigated this path forward. We touch on personality disorders and what people suffering from cancer most often reach out for in terms of mental health support.   For emergency support contact: 000 for police, ambulance or fire services  13 11 14 for Lifeline, a crisis support and suicide prevention service for all Australians 1300 726 306 Perinatal Anxiety and Depression (PANDA) National Helpline 1800 642 066 Centre for Grief and Bereavement 1800 250 015 Alcohol and Drug Support Line 1800 858 858 National Gambling Help Line 1300 22 46 36 Beyond Blue

Dr. Graham Wong is a consultant psychiatrist and the Medical Director of the Epworth Hospital Mental Health Unit and the Director of the Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT) Service in Melbourne. Dr. Wong explains how ECT (formerly referred to as “electroshock therapy”) is used in a modern context in the treatment of severe Major Depressive Disorder.   You can find Dr. Wong at: https://www.epworth.org.au/who-we-are/find-a-doctor/dr-graham-wong   The SBS Insight documentary that Dr. Wong referred to can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq0n8Hh9J8E   For emergency support contact: 000 for police, ambulance or fire services  13 11 14 for Lifeline, a crisis support and suicide prevention service for all Australians 1300 726 306 Perinatal Anxiety and Depression (PANDA) National Helpline 1800 642 066 Centre for Grief and Bereavement 1800 250 015 Alcohol and Drug Support Line 1800 858 858 National Gambling Help Line 1300 22 46 36 Beyond Blue

Bianca Lebenholc is a Clinical Psychologist and runs a private psychological practice in Melbourne called Brighter Skies Psychology. Bianca has worked across a range of settings with children, adolescents, and young adults. We take a deep dive into the world of eating disorders as Bianca reflects on some of her time working at an in-patient unit admitting some of the most severe cases of eating disorders.   You can find Bianca at: @brighterskiespsychology www.brighterskies.com.au   For emergency support contact: 000 for police, ambulance or fire services  13 11 14 for Lifeline, a crisis support and suicide prevention service for all Australians 1300 726 306 Perinatal Anxiety and Depression (PANDA) National Helpline 1800 642 066 Centre for Grief and Bereavement 1800 250 015 Alcohol and Drug Support Line 1800 858 858 National Gambling Help Line 1300 22 46 36 Beyond Blue  

Georgina Mitchell is a clinical hypnotherapist and counsellor with 10 years of experience helping her clients out of destructive or unhelpful habits and patterns. Georgina runs a private practice in Melbourne called Hypfocus Therapy and walks us through the process of hypnotising someone, what to expect and how it all works. You can find Georgina at: hypfocus.com.au   For emergency support contact: 000 for police, ambulance or fire services  13 11 14 for Lifeline, a crisis support and suicide prevention service for all Australians 1300 726 306 Perinatal Anxiety and Depression (PANDA) National Helpline 1800 642 066 Centre for Grief and Bereavement 1800 250 015 Alcohol and Drug Support Line 1800 858 858 National Gambling Help Line 1300 22 46 36 Beyond Blue

Jo Baker is one of the Bereavement Counsellors responsible for intake calls and support groups at the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement. Through her extensive experience and deep empathy Jo shares what she has learnt about grief and how people can deal differently with it. The Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement is an organization providing a service for people who have experienced death related loss.   Find out more at https://www.grief.org.au/   For emergency support contact: 000 for police, ambulance or fire services  13 11 14 for Lifeline, a crisis support and suicide prevention service for all Australians 1300 726 306 Perinatal Anxiety and Depression (PANDA) National Helpline 1800 642 066 Centre for Grief and Bereavement 1800 250 015 Alcohol and Drug Support Line 1800 858 858 National Gambling Help Line 1300 22 46 36 Beyond Blue

Our biggest sex organ is our mind. We speak with sexologist and sex therapist, Dr. Linda Kirkman about sex and the psychology of pleasure. Dr. Kirman is also the current Victorian President of the Society of Australian Sexologists. You can find Dr. Linda Kirkman at: www.lindakirkman.org Dr. Kirkman’s Sexuality resources for young people: Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski https://www.emilynagoski.com/ Young women, sexual expression, and pleasure: https://www.ted.com/talks/peggy_orenstein_what_young_women_believe_about_their_own_sexual_pleasure A Teen Girl’s Guide to Getting Off https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/a-teen-girls-guide-to-getting-off_eva-sless/18608210/#isbn=0992351421&idiq=26773801 https://megjohnandjustin.com/ Read their book, listen to the podcast, check out the zines under the publications tab. These people are awesome. See also https://www.rewriting-the-rules.com/ https://www.scarleteen.com/ has many fabulous resources, information, and access to chat. Victorian Women’s Trust resources for teenage women—click through to the blogs: https://www.vwt.org.au/projects/rosie/ Victorian school education resource on love, sex and relationships with excellent animated videos www.lovesexrelationships.edu.au/ Norwegian sex education videos that tell and show it like it is, on YouTube, with English captions http://bit.ly/NWsEd Booklet (44 pages) for teens about choices http://www.rfsu.se/en/Engelska/Sexuality-Education/Sex-your-own-way/ This Australian ABC program (only free on iView till 3 October 2020, although it comes and goes) is just delightful and shows the diverse qualities of young women https://iview.abc.net.au/show/field-guide-to-being-a-12-year-old-girl Justin Hancock is a youth worker and his site http://bishuk.com/ has some fabulous resources, with an excellent e-book (for you and your 14+ teenager) http://bishuk.com/book/   e-Safety iParent resources https://esafety.gov.au/education-resources/iparent e-Safety Education resources https://esafety.gov.au/education-resources https://esafety.gov.au/about-the-office/resource-centre   For emergency support contact: 000 for police, ambulance or fire services  13 11 14 for Lifeline, a crisis support and suicide prevention service for all Australians 1300 726 306 Perinatal Anxiety and Depression (PANDA) National Helpline 1800 642 066 Centre for Grief and Bereavement 1800 250 015 Alcohol and Drug Support Line 1800 858 858 National Gambling Help Line 1300 22 46 36 Beyond Blue

As a GP with over 25 years of experience and the lead clinical advisor for the not for profit organisation Beyond Blue, Prof. Grant knows a thing or two about depression, anxiety and the human experience. Prof. Grant is an Associate Professor at the Nossal Institute and the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne. He is an Honorary Professor at Luohu Hospital Group in Shenzhen, China and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Prof. Grant’s research has three themes: General Practice/Primary Care, Sustainability and Mental Health. He has co-authored 125+ publications in peer reviewed journals, six books and more than 20 government/policy reports. He has co-convened conferences about GP Psychiatry in Australia, Italy and Israel and leads the Master of Public Health subject, Environmental Challenges and Global Health. In our conversation we discuss depression, anxiety, social media and much more. With Prof. Grant’s experience as a GP and his extensive exposure to the voices of those struggling through a mental health battles Prof. Grant offers many insights and reflections and pointers to the amazing resources available. Some links from our chat: http://www.blashki.com (links to all of Prof. Grant's books, publications and other podcasts can be found here) https://www.futureleaders.com.au/book_chapters/Climate-Health-and-Courage/Susie-Burke-and-Grant-Blashki.php (we talked about this a little offline, not enough to include in the podcast but climate change mental health impacts is a trending area and a big issue for many people, in this chapter Prof Grant shares some great insights into this topic). For emergency support contact: 000 for police, ambulance or fire services  13 11 14 for Lifeline, a crisis support and suicide prevention service for all Australians 1300 726 306 Perinatal Anxiety and Depression (PANDA) National Helpline 03 9935 7400 GriefLine National Helpline 1800 250 015 Alcohol and Drug Support Line 1800 858 858 National Gambling Help Line 1300 22 46 36 Beyond Blue

A guided mindfulness meditation episode with mindfulness expert and Psychologist Anna Davies.