Episodit

  • Welcome to episode 192 with Nathan Filer, who is a writer, university lecturer and broadcaster and a former mental health nurse.

    In this episode I chat to Nathan about his route in to nursing and how it formed some of things that he has written books about.

    I reached out to Nathan after reading his book ‘This Book will Change Your Mind about Mental Health’ and it was great to chat about some of the themes from his work.

    We chat about the stigma around mental health and mental illness, if it still exists and who exactly benefits from the constant conversation around removing it.

    We chat about both sides of the diagnosis debate, why language is everything and the why comparing physical health to mental is problematic.

    There is a lot of complexity to the themes throughout this conversation and it was wonderful to have the time and the space to explore the nuance from all sides.

    I really enjoyed this and I think it is this level of depth and compassion that is sorely needed in the mental health space. I hope it gives you lots to think about!

    Follow Nathan on twitter @nathan filer and learn more via his website www.nathanfiler.co.uk

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 191 with Dave Lock, who is more commonly known as the running telephone.

    For the last 25 consecutive years, Dave has ran the London Marathon to raise funds and awareness for the Samaritans charity and along the way he has become an iconic part of both the marathon and the mental health space. This year he ran as team captain for the charity’s fundraisers.

    In this episode I chat to Dave about the mental health challenges that he has faced and how they inspired him to start running in fancy dress.

    We also chat about his relationship with The Samaritans who he credits with saving his life when he was at his lowest and we chat about how he has also worked for them as a volunteer on the phones.

    We chat about running, the pressures of the corporate world, connecting with others and the emotional impact of this year’s marathon, his 25th in a row, but the first one without the support of his brother who took his own life last year.

    Dave is a truly lovely man and it was a joy to chat to him about his special relationship with The Samaritans charity and some of the changes he has seen in the mental health space over the years.

    You can call The Samaritans any time, day or night, on 116 123.

    Learn more at www.samaritans.org

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

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  • Welcome to episode 190 with Philippa Dawson, who is a writer, producer and performer who is also the creator of Character Flaw, a show about her experiences with ADHD and how it’s impacted her throughout her life.

    In this episode I chat to Pip about her show, about living with ADHD and how this has impacted her mental health over the years.

    We chat about the before and after of diagnosis, her experiences with medication and how different aspects of her identity are wrapped up in her ADHD.

    We also about Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, emotional dysregulation and hyper focus and we chat about dealing with depression, forgetting to eat and going to the Edinburgh Fringe.

    It was wonderful to chat to Pip about all of this stuff. Her life and experiences and ADHD all interact in both hilarious and challenging ways and I think a lot of people will relate to that.

    Follow Pip on social media for updates, show dates and tickets @characterflawtheplay and @probablypip

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 189 with Alex Staniforth, who is an adventurer, speaker and the founder of Mind Over Mountains, a charity that brings together walking in nature, mindfulness & professional coaching and counselling in support of good mental health & wellbeing.

    Alex was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of nine and this would be the catalyst for several years of bullying, anxiety, panic attacks and a lifelong stammer.

    He found that time in nature, and more specifically time on hills and mountains, helped his mental health and he was just 14 when he set his sights on climbing Mount Everest.

    His first attempt, aged 18, ended when an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall killed 16 climbing Sherpas.

    During his second attempt, base camp was hit by the Nepal earthquake which killed 3 Sherpas in Alex's team.

    This led Alex to a long period of survivor’s guilt, depression and Alex also fell in to bulimia, which he was still dealing with when he set out to climb all of the highest peaks in the UK, in 72 days, with only a bicycle for transport.

    We talk about all of that in this episode.

    We also talk about dealing with failure, why it’s important to take on challenges and what we can learn from both these things and we chat about identity and what it was like for Alex when he was forced to step away from endurance challenges by long Covid and how he had to learn to do things differently.

    Follow Alex on social media @alexstaniforth_ and @mindomountains

    Learn more at www.alexstaniforth.com and https://mindovermountains.org.uk

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 188 with Jaxon Feeley, who is a Life and Mindset Coach, motivational speaker and TV personality.

    Jax served in the military as an RAF Corporal for 4 years, which included a tour of Iraq, before joining MHP Hindley as a prison officer.

    Throughout his life, Jax had been through plenty of mental health struggles but had always managed to pull through and distract himself through his work. Eventually things got to a point where he had to face these struggles head on and face some things that he had been ignoring since childhood.

    Jax came out as transgender and made the decision to transition from female to male whilst still working at the prison. He served 3 years as a female officer, and 3 years as Jaxon.

    Since leaving the prison service, Jax has been on a mission to advocate for the trans community and demonstrate the sort of visibility that he needed to see all those years ago.

    In this episode I chat to Jax about his time in the military, some of the mental health struggles he faced through this time and how they ultimately led him to start questioning his gender identity.

    We chat about showing up and being vulnerable, asking yourself difficult questions, living authentically, learning how to be your true self and his recent appearance on Channel 4’s Hunted.

    Jax has an incredible story and it would have been really easy to make this a whole episode about gender but we had so much more to talk about than that alone!

    Follow Jax on social media @jaxryderfeeley

    Learn more here: Professional Mindset Coach | Motivational Speaker | Jaxon Feeley

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 187 with Chris Baker, who is a mentor, coach and public speaker.

    Chris got in to crime at a young age and spent a long time bouncing in and out of prison. He ended up losing an arm in a motorbike crash while being chased by police and this sent him in to a spiral of depression and self-loathing and he was also sentenced to longer stretch inside.

    Chris decided that he didn’t want to keep repeating this cycle and set out to make some changes. He started reading, working on himself and exploring Adverse Childhood Experiences studies and the links between childhood trauma and repeat offenders.

    Now Chris works with prisons, schools and business’ delivering talks about his own experiences to promote resilience and inspire hope.

    In this episode I chat to Chris about his early years growing up and how he started to get in to trouble.

    We chat about going to prison, why so many people can’t get out or stay out and what needs to change in the prison system, particularly with regards to mental health.

    And we chat about losing an arm, losing identity, building resilience, lessons from fitness and making big changes.

    You can learn more about Chris and his work at chrisbakerspeaker and follow him on social media @chris_baker_

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 186 with James McInerney, who is the creator of The Poetry Project.

    James started off experimenting with words by writing out his thoughts and feelings to instrumental film scores and he found that expressing himself through poetry helped him navigate his way through depression.

    After publishing several books, he launched The Poetry Project with the aim of spreading mental health awareness, throw people in at the deep end and inspire them to think, pause and reflect.

    Since his first piece was displayed on a train station platform, the project has grown and James’ words have been displayed by some of the world’s biggest brands and in iconic locations all over the globe.

    In this episode I chat to James about his experiences with depression and these experiences led him to poetry.

    We chat about the origins of The Poetry Project, how he got it started and how it spread all over the world.

    We chat about creativity, self-expression, healthy distraction and why, when it comes to mental health awareness, it can be useful to throw people in at the deep end.

    I stumbled across one of James’ poems in a Portland shopping mall last summer and it really was striking to see the word ‘depression’ in big letters on the wall in the middle of a huge shopping centre. I love anything that takes mental health outside of the usual clinical spaces and it was awesome to chat to James about his work and the impact that he’s having.

    You can follow James on social media @poetryproject08 and @millsmc07

    Learn more on PROJECTS | James McInerney Poetry

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 185 with Dr. Gladys McGarey, who is a 103-year-old still-consulting doctor who is internationally recognised as the ‘Mother of Holistic Medicine’.

    Dr Gladys was born in 1920 and grew up in India. She joined Women’s Medical College during the second world war and when she began practising, women couldn’t even have their own bank accounts.

    Gladys co-founded the American Holistic Medical Association and she was the first physician to utilise acupuncture in the U.S.

    In this episode I chat to Dr Gladys about her childhood in India, her early interest in healing and what it was like to be a female doctor when being a female doctor wasn’t a thing.

    We chat about training during WW2, how that influenced the language used in medicine and how she moved towards a different approach and started to think holistically.

    We chat about finding purpose, learning to listen, claiming your voice and why grief is something that we do rather than something that happens to us. And we chat about the 5 L’s that underpin Dr Gladys’ approach to a long and fulfilling life.

    Dr Gladys is also a bestselling author and her latest book ‘The Well-lived Life’ is out now.

    You can follow Dr Gladys on social media @begladmd and learn more about her life and work on her website www.gladysmcgarey.com.

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 184 with Dr Louise Newson, who is a G.P, menopause specialist and member of the UK Government’s Menopause Taskforce who has been described as the ‘medic who kickstarted the menopause revolution.’

    She is also an award-winning educator and author and regularly appears in the media as an expert in women’s hormone health.

    In this episode I chat to Louise about menopause and perimenopause and how they can impact on mental health.

    We chat about what the menopause is, signs and symptoms of being menopausal, the hormones involved and what happens both physically and mentally during this process.

    And we chat about HRT, misdiagnosis and why it’s common for women to be incorrectly prescribed SSRI’s and the complicated discussion around mental health issues and hormones.

    I learned an incredible amount from both this conversation and from reading Louise’s book – The Definitive Guide to Perimenopause and Menopause – and the paper back is out now.

    You can follow Louise on social media @menopause_doctor and learn more via her website at www.drlouisenewson.co.uk or www.balance-menopause.com

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 183 with The Artist Taxi Driver, who is an artist, taxi driver, educator and speaker who is also known as Mark McGowan.

    Mark discovered art as part of his mental health recovery when he was an inpatient. He uses the media, activism and mental health to create daily artworks.

    Mark’s form of performance art over the years has included eating a swan in protest against royalty and the upper classes, he attempted to cartwheel 60 miles along Brighton beach in protest against diminishing coast lines and he has crawled for sixty miles, with a rose between his teeth, 18 boxes of chocolates tied to him and a sign on his back saying ‘Could You Love Me?’ this was to make people think about those who are alone at Christmas.

    In this episode I chat to Mark about performance art and how he got started. We chat about self-expression, addiction, social media, the power of performance and all sorts of other things.

    We also chat about the Live Lounge exhibition that Mark is curating at The Bethlem Gallery, what he’s got plans and some of the things happening there between now and July.

    You can read more about it here Exhibition: Bethlem Live Lounge - Bethlem Gallery

    You can follow Mark on social media @theartisttaxidriver and look at his art work here: TheArtistTaxiDriver - Etsy UK

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 182 with DJ Paulette, who is a renowned DJ, radio broadcaster and author who has spent more than three decades entertaining crowds all over world and breaking down racial and gender barriers along the way.

    She was the first female DJ to hold residency at The Hacienda, playing weekly at the ground-breaking LGBTQ+ club night ‘FLESH’ in the early nighties, and went on to have residencies at Heaven and Ministry of Sound, before serving successful stints in Paris and Ibiza.

    In 2022 she was the first woman to win the prestigious DJ Mag Lifetime Achievement Award.

    Her debut book ‘Welcome to The Club: The life and lessons of a black woman DJ’ was published earlier this year to huge acclaim.

    In this episode I chat to DJ Paulette about the mental health challenges she has faced throughout her life.

    We chat about dance music, hedonism and burnout and we chat about breaking down, breaking through, asking for help and just how vital music and community are to mental wellbeing.

    You can follow DJ Paulette on social media @dj_paulette1

    Her website can be found at https://djpaulette.co.uk/

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    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 181 with Amelia Wrighton, who is the co-founder and CEO of Suicide & Co, a charity that is on a mission to support bereaved individuals and open the conversation around suicide-related grief.

    Amelia set up Suicide & Co. with Emma Morrisroe after they met at work and realised that they shared the same experience of losing someone to suicide.

    The charity provides one-on-one professional support through talking therapies and a Helpline that is staffed by bereavement counsellors as well as providing all sorts of resources and initiatives to spark conversations and encourage conversations around bereavement from suicide.

    In this episode I chat to Amelia about her own tragic loss, the impact it had and how that led to eventually setting up this incredible charity.

    We chat about some of the complexities around this very specific type of grief, about using the right words, the importance of knowing how to have conversations about suicide related grief.

    It was wonderful to chat to Amelia, to hear about the incredible work that her team are doing and learn more about how to have difficult but important conversations.

    Learn more about this incredible organisation and access support via their website www.suicideandco.org

    Follow on social media @suicideandco

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    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 180 with Andrew Jenkins, who is a mental health advocate, speaker and star of the hit BBC series The Traitors.

    At the age of 21, Andrew was in a car accident that left him pronounced dead at the side of the road.

    He spent 5 weeks in a coma and when he woke up, was told that he might not recognise his family or be able to walk.

    The impact that this had on his sense of self, his identity and his life in general would lead to more struggles with mental ill health for the next 20 odd years before Andrew was able to get some help and guidance with his mental state and begin to grieve for the life that he believed he had lost.

    In this episode I chat to Andrew about his life growing up in Wales before the crash and the immediate aftermath.

    We chat about the impact that this event had on his mental health and why he suffered in silence for so many years.

    And we chat about how he got help, got better and how this is driving him to do the work that he does now and the impact that this is all having.

    Of course, we chat all about The Traitors and about men’s mental health, grief, building self-awareness, how hard it can be to tell your family that you love them but why it’s so, so important.

    Andrew is a lovely guy who is determined to make a real difference in the mental health space and he’s been doing incredible work since being on the tele earlier this year. It was really lovely to chat to him all about it!

    Follow him on social media @andrewjenkinsofficial and @strengthinyou.co.uk

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 179 with Tim Owen, Mike Palmer and Andy Airey, who are collectively known as the 3 Dads Walking!

    Tim, Mike & Andy are 3 dads, bereaved by suicide who have been walking in memory of their daughters, Emily, Beth & Sophie.

    In 2021 they walked 300 miles between their 3 homes, to highlight the fact that suicide is the biggest killer of young people across the entire UK.

    In 2022 they set off again, this time walking 600 miles, between the parliaments of the 4 nations, petitioning the Government to make suicide prevention a compulsory part of the school curriculum. They collected over 100,000 signatures for this petition, which prompted a debate in the House of Commons and led to them sitting down with the Prime Minster.

    Along the way they have raised more than 1 million pounds for PAPYRUS, a UK charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people.

    This year, they will be undertaking the Walk of Hope, covering 500 miles and visiting newly opened offices of PAPYRUS all over the U.K, many of which have been setup thanks to the dads’ fundraising efforts.

    They also have a book out any minute now, it’s called Three Dads Walking: 300 Miles of Hope and it’s been written up from diary entries that the dads have been writing throughout their adventures.

    What The 3 Dads have achieved over the last few years is nothing short of incredible and this episode is both heart breaking and heart walking and everything in between.

    It was an honour to chat to Tim, Mike and Andy. They speak so openly and warmly and I found our chat incredibly moving but a lot of fun too!

    Follow them on social media @3dadswalking and keep update with this year’s campaign via their website www.3dadswalking.uk

    Learn more about the incredible work of PAPYRUS here www.papyrus-uk.org

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 178 with Hannah Phillips, who is a mother, a runner, a writer, speaker and trainee psychotherapist.

    Han is a returning guest and first appeared on Proper Mental back at episode 110.

    In that episode we covered her early experiences with OCD, her relationship with alcohol, getting sober and hitting crisis point shortly after.

    I reached out to Han to invite her back on for a specific conversation.

    For episode 177 I spoke to Joe Griffin who is a psychologist and co-founder of the Human Givens approach to psychotherapy. I was a wonderful conversation and I was very taken both with Joe and the approach to therapy that he co-created.

    I wanted to chat to someone who has worked with Human Givens as a therapist and someone who has experienced the other side and received this type of therapy.

    Hannah Phillips is both. After coming within hours of taking her own life, Han was referred to a Human Givens therapist and she credits these sessions with both saving, then changing her life. After getting back on her feet, she began training to be a Human Given therapist.

    In this episode Hannah and I chat about the therapy that she received and how it helped. We chat about the courses she has been doing and how she is implementing everything that she’s been learning.

    We also chat about the work she is doing around men’s mental health in her local community and her upcoming ultramarathon.

    Hannah is one of my favourite people and a constant source of inspiration for me. It was wonderful to have her back on the podcast!

    Connect with Han on social media @hantherunner and @wonder_ful_women or @tydtalks

    Her website is https://hantherunner.co.uk

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 177 with Joe Griffin, who is a psychologist and co-founder of the Human Givens approach to psychotherapy.

    Human Givens is a practical, holistic and scientific approach to therapy that focuses on what individuals need to live mentally healthy and fulfilling lives.

    It draws on the latest insights from neuroscience and psychological research, and combines this knowledge with proven therapeutic techniques from a wide range of approaches to provide highly effective interventions.

    Joe has many years of experience in both psychotherapeutic practice and in training psychotherapists and in this episode, I chat to him about how he started working in this field and how this work led to the creation of Human Givens.

    At the core of the Human Givens framework is the idea that all humans have a set of 9 emotional needs and when these needs aren’t met, it can lead to mental ill health.

    Joe and I chat about the 9 emotional needs, what they are and what gets in the way of these needs being met.

    We chat about the cycle of depression, the role of metaphor and storytelling in the healing process and about how sleep ties all this together.

    If you are interested in exploring the Human Givens further, Joe’s team have provided some resources below:

    Emotional needs poster

    Emotional resources poster

    Information sheet about our approach and training.

    Free mental health resources

    Identifying what needs are not being met - The Emotional Needs Audit form.

    About ENA.

    You can learn more via the website www.hgi.org.uk and connect on social media @thehumangivens or @joegriffin_hq

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 176 with Vince Freeman, a singer and songwriter who is about to release a debut album that has been a decade in the making.

    Vince started out by running and playing club shows and regularly racking up 300 gigs a year. He appeared on The Voice in 2012, written multi-million streamer dance tracks, had 5 European Top 10 hits and played at the FA Cup Final and The Royal Albert Hall. He even has a thank you on Ed Sheeran’s debut album.

    He’s also experienced mental health issues and spent six years living in chronic pain with a debilitating back issue that required multiple surgeries and threatened his ability to walk and play music.

    In this episode, Vince and I chat about his introduction to music and how he started writing songs and we chat about chasing fame, going on the voice, losing several years to a couple of compressed discs and 3 spinal surgeries and the impact these things have had on his mental health along the way.

    And we chat about the pandemic forced a temporary career change and how making a coffee and a chance encounter led to his return to music and his debut album which is due out in June.

    This is an incredible story of bad luck, resilience, hard work and good karma and it was wonderful to hear all about it. Vince is the loveliest man it is impossible not to root for him!

    Connect with him on social media @vincefreemanofficial and keep up to date with the album and the tour via his website https://vincefreeman.com

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 175 with Allie Bailey, who is an ultrarunner, coach and author.

    She was the first woman to run 100 miles across a frozen Lake in Mongolia, has ran the full length of the Panama Canal, crossed the inhospitable Namib Desert three times, and completed a 1,000-mile off-road version of the classic Land’s End to John O’Groats route in just thirty days.

    Allie has finished over 200 marathons and ultramarathons in some of the most extreme places in the world and she ran most of them while battling depression and alcoholism.

    For many years Allie had a dream career in the music industry, working with major record labels and meeting some of the world’s biggest bands. Throughout this time, she was also struggling with mental illness and alcohol addiction and originally started running to help her mental state.

    Running didn’t save Allie but it started to become a big part of her life. After reaching another crisis point in 2021, she was forced to admit the depth of her problems and start to work on getting better.

    In this episode I chat to Allie about her relationship with alcohol, how it started, how it helped and how it started to wrong.

    We chat about her journey to finding running and how it didn’t save but her did give her the time and space to start making sense of her mental health.

    And we chat about recovery and what it looks like for her, the ultrarunning community, the music industry, some of her incredible running challenges and what it was like to revisit some incredibly dark moments to write her book ‘There is No Wall’.

    It was awesome to chat to Allie! She has spent so much time working on herself and has an incredible amount of self-awareness, I really took a lot from this episode.

    You can find out more about all aspects of Allie’s work on her website here: alliebailey.co.uk and you can connect with her on social media @ab_runs.

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 174 with Paul Danan, who is an actor and the founder and creator of Morning After Drama (MAD), a theatre company that provides specifically tailored workshops to support people who have experienced trauma, been involved with the criminal justice system, suffered from addiction or experience poor mental health.

    Paul shot to fame when he landed a part on Hollyoaks straight out of drama school. He has worked on stage and film productions, featured on several high-profile reality TV shows, hosted a chart-topping podcast and at various times in his life been a tabloid regular.

    Over the course of his career, Paul has suffered with mental issues, problems with addiction and had multiple stays in rehab.

    In this episode I chat to Paul about setting up MAD, where the idea came from and how they are using acting, improv and community to improve mental health.

    We chat about his time on Hollyoaks, his move to LA and the impact that had on his mental state, his love of acting and some of the mental health issues behind his addictions.

    And we chat about Paul’s acting career, becoming famous and dealing with rejection and we chat about addiction, going to rehab, self-worth and self-esteem.

    You can learn more about MAD at Home | Morning After Drama and follow then on social media @morningafterdrama

    You can connect with Paul on social media @pauldanan and @paul_danan_official

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!

  • Welcome to episode 173 with Gulwali Passarlay, who is a speaker and campaigner for refugee rights.

    Gulwali was sent away from Afghanistan at the age of twelve, after his father was killed in a gun battle with the US Army.

    He was smuggled into Iran and spent the next 12 months traveling through Europe. He crossed 10 countries, was put in prison 6 times, endured a desolate month in the camp at Calais and almost drowned at sea before making it to Britain.

    When he arrived, the authorities did not believe he was a child of 13 due to his appearance.

    Eventually he was fostered, sent to a good school, won a place at a top university, and was chosen to carry the Olympic torch in 2012 and he has told his story of life as a refugee in his autobiography: “The Lightless Sky” which is an incredible read.

    In this episode I chat to Gulwali about his childhood in Afghanistan before being forced to leave.

    We chat about the impact that fleeing a war zone had on his mental health and how the struggles with bureaucracy, isolation and racism added to his mental struggles.

    We also chat about how his story is just one of thousands of similar stories and we talk about compassion and understanding and breakdown some of the myths and misunderstandings around refugees and asylum seekers.

    In the general conversation around the refugee crisis, people tend to talk in numbers or about boats and barges and benefits but behind every figure and statist is a person, who just like Gulwali, has probably lived through some horrific experiences and I wanted to do an episode about the mental health side of that.

    This is an episode that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s a little different but it’s important and I can’t thank Gulwali enough for his insight and his time.

    You can follow Gulwali on social media here: @gulwali_passarlay

    Watch his Tedx Talk here: How I got to Manchester from Afghanistan: Gulwali Passarlay at TEDxManchester (youtube.com)

    And his website is Gulwali Passarlay | The official website of an influential Afghan refugee who is a published author, TEDx speaker, and a Politics major at the University of Manchester. (wordpress.com)

    If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast. For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests! You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free.

    You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

    Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

    If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

    Thanks for listening!