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On this episode of The Great Equalizer, we continue to unpack maternal mental health in South Africa, against the backdrop of the trial and sentencing of Lauren Dickason and, more specifically, the IVF journey.
Lauren Dickason is a mom of three and fellow South African who was convicted in the New Zealand courts for the murder of her three daughters, Liane (6) and Karla and Maya (2).
At the time of the tragedy, the South African mom had recently emigrated to New Zealand with her family. Her husband, Graham, an orthopaedic surgeon, received a job opportunity and so, like many emigrating South Africans, the family took the opportunity to seek out what they thought would be greener pastures. The tragedy occurred weeks after the Dickasons had settled into their new home, on the evening of the first day that the twins went to school.
Where we left off in the last episode is that Lauren pleaded guilty to infanticide, and not guilty to murder, but was found guilty for murder. And we unpacked the implications for this in the mothering communityā¦
In this second episode we delve further into the issue of IVF, which is something that our in-studio guest, Raylene de Villiers, unpacks for us in detail.
Raylene is a mom of four and a former friend and confidante of Lauren Dickason.
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#maternalmentalhealth #mentalhealth #pps #postpartum #postpartumpsychosis #infanticide #filicide #motherhoodunplugged #motherhood #laurendickason
** This episode of The Great Equalizer was recorded in September 2023.
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DISCLAIMER & CONTENT WARNING:
The Great Equalizer endeavours to maintain a degree of respect for all viewpoints, and to uphold our policy of #nojudgies. The point of this difficult discussion is to shed some light on a dark topic, so that those of you who feel the need to talk about it and make sense of it, or even those who might be at risk of falling prey to similar circumstances, have a space to listen, grow and grieve. As always, everyone has a seat at our table, and weāre looking here to make sense of an often sad and scary world.
If at any point during these two episodes you are worried about your or someone elseās mental health, please contact:
ā your GP or your local clinic
ā South African Depression and Anxiety Group on 011 234 4837. Sadag has a WhatsApp counselling line that operates from 09:00 to 16:00: 076 882 2775.
ā The Gauteng Mental Health Society: 011 984 4038
ā The SA Federation For Mental Health: 011 781 1852
If you are in danger or someone else is endangering others, call the police immediately on 08600 10111 or 112 from a mobile phone.
If you need to take a step back and protect your energy, please do so. But stay tuned if youāve wanted a space to think and talk about this conversation, and didnāt know where to go. This is why weāre here. Raylene's book: Infertility Success to Postpartum Mess · Raylene's book: MORE Infertility Success Stories of Help and Hope for Your Journey · Watch us on You Tube -
In this episode of The Great Equalizer, we focus on maternal mental health in the context of the Dickason tragedy.
Lauren Dickason has been in the news for the last two or so years, but more so in recent months when the mom of three and fellow South African was convicted in the New Zealand courts for the murder of her three daughters, Liane (6) and Karla and Maya (2).
At the time of the tragedy, the South African mom had recently emigrated to New Zealand with her family. Her husband, Graham, an orthopaedic surgeon, received a job opportunity and so, like many emigrating South Africans, the family took the opportunity to seek out what they thought would be greener pastures. The tragedy occurred weeks after the Dickasons had settled into their new home, on the evening of the first day that the twins went to school.
Due to the weight of the content, this episode takes place in two parts to open up conversation around maternal mental health, with a focus on IVF in Part II. The Great Equalizer's intention is not to provide a blow by blow of what happened, or place judgement either way.
In this episode we do our best to present the conversation in a way that stays true to the story and helps unpack the feelings of many of us who have stayed tuned to what has transpired ā and what information has come to light ā over the last two years.
What we think is most important here is to provide context for why this story resonated so deeply for many families in South Africa, and where we can go from here as a society.
Special thanks. to in-studio guest Raylene de Villiers, who once knew the murder accused intimately during a trying time during their lives.
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#maternalmentalhealth #mentalhealth #pps #postpartum #postpartumpsychosis #infanticide #filicide #motherhoodunplugged #motherhood #laurendickason
** This episode of The Great Equalizer was recorded in September 2023.
____
DISCLAIMER & CONTENT WARNING:
The Great Equalizer endeavours to maintain a degree of respect for all viewpoints, and to uphold our policy of #nojudgies. The point of this difficult discussion is to shed some light on a dark topic, so that those of you who feel the need to talk about it and make sense of it, or even those who might be at risk of falling prey to similar circumstances, have a space to listen, grow and grieve. As always, everyone has a seat at our table, and weāre looking here to make sense of an often sad and scary world.
If at any point during these two episodes you are worried about your or someone elseās mental health, please contact:
ā your GP or your local clinic
ā South African Depression and Anxiety Group on 011 234 4837. Sadag has a WhatsApp counselling line that operates from 09:00 to 16:00: 076 882 2775.
ā The Gauteng Mental Health Society: 011 984 4038
ā The SA Federation For Mental Health: 011 781 1852
If you are in danger or someone else is endangering others, call the police immediately on 08600 10111 or 112 from a mobile phone.
If you need to take a step back and protect your energy, please do so. But stay tuned if youāve wanted a space to think and talk about this conversation, and didnāt know where to go. This is why weāre here. INFERTILITY SUCCESS STORIES · Opinion | Who is to blame for the Dickason tragedy? We are, South Africa · Watch us on You Tube -
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We have another all-new BONUS episode out today featuring the phenomenal Minna Dubin.
Minna is a US-based journalist and author whose essays and articles on motherhood and identity have been featured across all the best known outlets, including the New York Times, The Times, The Philadelphia Enquirer, LitHub, and so much more.
Minna is a leading feminist voice on mom rage and she talks to The Great Equalizer's Sam Herbst about her debut book, MOM RAGE: The Everyday Crisis of Modern Motherhood.
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#momrage #maternalrage #maternalmentalhealth #minnadubin #currentlyreading #booktube #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged Watch us on You Tube -
In this BONUS episode of The Great Equalizer / TGE's Current Read, your host Samantha Herbst sits down with award-winning animator Daniel Snaddon. Daniel has worked on several highly acclaimed (and well loved) animations, including Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, and a host of animations based on the beloved books of children's book author Julia Donaldson.
Daniel already has two BAFTAs under his belt, as well as two International Emmy Kids Awards, the most recent being an iEmmy for Best Kids Animation, in recognition of his work on The Smeds & The Smoos, which Daniel co-directed with fellow South African Samantha Cutler.
Daniel's work echoes through the TGE households and we were so pleased to have him in studio to chat more about his career and some of his upcoming work (including a new Julia Donaldson adaptation!).
Are you a fan of the Julia Donaldson adaptations? Let us know in the comments. They're all available to view (in South Africa) on Showmax.
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#kidslit #booktube #childrensliterature #juliadonaldson #showmax #triggerfish #iemmy #childrensanimation THE SMEDS AND THE SMOOS! Local directors take home Emmy for Julia Donaldson adaptation · Watch us on You Tube -
Itās been a hot damn minute, guys and dolls! And not because weāve been beaching. Nope, our fate has us suffering cold showers, walking in flats, considering the inescapable fate of death, drowning in a few existential crises, and pondering the fact that the patriarchy isnāt actually about horses.
In this episode of The Great Equalizer, weāre finally unpacking Barbie (the movie) and how it reflects the very messy contradictions of being a mother.
As author Eliane Glaser put it, motherhood is āfeminismās unfinished businessā and, to us, the Barbie movie captured this in a myriad ways, reflecting so much more than the cognitive dissonance of being a woman under patriarchy ā an important central message of the movie, nonetheless.
To us, Barbie holds a mirror up to the reality of trying to mother in this world, the often fraught mother/daughter relationship, and the hamster wheel of existing as we try meet impossible societal parameters.
Team TGE unpack our personal experiences watching the movie, discuss our own relationships with Barbie growing up, and go into detail about the many ways that the movie delighted and infuriated us, and how it hit us in all the feels in very many ways.
Come on, Barbie. Letās go party.
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āā
#thebarbiemovie #barbie #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged The Barbie Movie: Fun Facts (Insider) · The Conversations: Barbie is, at its core, a movie about the messy contradictions of motherhood · Mothers Stand Still (HuffPost) · Watch us on You Tube -
On this episode of The Great Equalizer, Samās lost faith in humanity, Charleneās gone VIRAL (for all the wrong reasons) and we chat with author Pamela Power about being sober curious and the memoir she wrote about her year of not getting sh*tfaced (aptly titled My Year of Not Getting Sh*tfaced).
For Pamela, Motherās Day 2021 was one for the books (literally), and not in the best way. The brownout she experienced that fateful day, which was in no way related to diarrhoea, prompted Pam to reconsider her drinking habits and relationship with alcohol. A fun knock-on effect of that was that āgiving up the grogā gave Pammy the headspace to think about some of her other relationships ā like family, work and self ā bringing to light some hard truths that sheād inadvertently been shushing for years.
This episode considers South Africaās relationship with alcohol as a whole, touching on addiction, moderation, and the culture of āMommy Wine Timeā. Together with Pam, Team TGE gets vulnerable about our own drinking habits, and we consider why moms like us are so desperate for 17h00 to roll round each day.
This you? Itās all of us, darling.
Got thoughts? Weād love to hear from you.
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āā
#bingedrinking #bingedrinker #alcoholfree #sobercurious #sobriety Pamela Power · My Year of Not Getting Sh*tfaced · Watch us on You Tube -
The Great Equalizer is back with another Whatās Your Binge? episode, mostly because we wish to give our most tender brains a break from the worldās ugly chaos. You in? Letās go.
Folks, we are GATVOL (tot HIERso) of all the things that have made parenting particularly brutal over the last few months. Things that, btw, have had nothing to do with our kids and everything to do with all that other kak. So we decided to ā quite literally ā talk about television (and Charleneās passion for cheesecake).
With so many streaming services at our disposal ā and first-hand knowledge of that ever-present time crunch between the load and the shed ā Team TGE is does a deep dive into what we think you guys should be binging in your down time.
Whether you subscribe to Netflix, Showmax, Disney Plus, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, or anything else (or all of the above), weāve got you guys covered with deep-dive reviews about the shows that weāve been enjoying.
We weigh in on the latest (and last) season of Working Moms, wax lyrical about Bridgerton, get a little inappropriate about Youās Penn Badgley, chastise ourselves for being behind on Taliās Joburg Diaries and full on lie to one another about subscribing to Disney Plus āfor our kidsā.
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(And please share with us what your latest binge is! We would love to hear from you).
#bingewatch #bingewatching #netflix #tv #binge #tvseries #netflixandchill #bingeworthy #tvshow #webseries #movies #series #television #primevideo #tvshows #love #amazonprime #streaming #whattowatch #trending #instagood #movie #movienight #cinema #film #amazonprimevideo #hulu #showmax #appletv Watch us on You Tube -
In this final instalment of our three-part Friends series (sponsored by LEGO South Africa), we chat about being good :) kind :) sweet :) pleasant :) amicable :) good natured :) a pleasure to work with :) and everything else that underscores the damaging āGood Girlā archetype thatās been bored into the minds of millennial moms everywhere.
At the heart of this episode, we re-evaluate kindness and how we teach it to our kids. Part of this is considering where we draw the line between being good to others and just being a plain olā doormat.
Former teacher and mother of two Clare Emms joins us in studio for the chat. Clare is founder and co-creator of Consciously Connected and has, over the past few years, been on a journey of self-discovery, which has included a lot of learning about how to parent, as well as unlearning certain core beliefs that could do with a software upgrade.
Together we unpack the āGood Girlā archetype and the messaging that we as millennial moms have taken into our motherhood journeys.
LISTEN. LIKE. SHARE. SUBSCRIBE.
For more on our expert guest, Clare Emms:
https://consciouslyconnected.co.za
https://clareemms.me
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This is the final instalment in a three-part series about friendship, sponsored by the LEGO Group, whose mission it is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play.
This year LEGO celebrates the relaunch of its reimagined Friends characters series, which is focused on being more representative of race, gender, culture, ethnicity, neurodivergance, mental health conditions, as well as physical traits and different abilities.
LEGO also hopes that, by establishing real-world scenarios in the Friends range, children will be able to play out a more representative world view of real-world relationships.
#parentingpodcast #nojudgies #reparenting #innerchild #selflove #healing #selfcare #innerchildhealing #consciousparenting #selfhealers #mentalhealth #traumahealing #innerchildwork #trauma #childhoodtrauma #traumarecovery #codependency #relationships #innerwork #mindfulness #attachmenttheory #healingtrauma #healingjourney #anxiety #gentleparenting #selfcompassion #attachment #parenting #toxicfamily #redflags Consciously Connected · Clare Emms · LEGO Friends: New Beginnings · Watch us on You Tube -
Our three-part series on friendship with LEGO South Africa continues as we tackle BULLYING! and SELF-ESTEEM! with Sandton-based educational psychologist Naledi Mokoena.
In this episode we focus on bullies and victims, and we talk about the different nuances that bullying can take on, from the more overt, obvious abuse to subtle, insidious forms of bullying.
Naledi advises parents from a professional standpoint, and we chat about the role that the school can play in tackling peer abuse at school and online.
We also zone in on cyberbullying, which counts as one the highest contributors to teen suicide rates, as well as poor mental health and self-esteem among our young people.
What can we, as parents, do to counter the obvious ill-effects of online media in a world where the Internet is unavoidable? Join us as we find out the answer to this, and so much more, on Episode 93 of The Great Equalizer Podcast.
About our guest:
Naledi Mokoena is an educational psychologist specialising in developmental and all-round assessments for children, adolescents and young adults. Nalediās goal is to offer parents practical recommendations on how they can best support their child through developmental challenges.
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This is the second instalment in a three-part series about friendship, sponsored by the LEGO Group, whose mission it is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play.
This year LEGO celebrates the relaunch of its reimagined Friends characters series, which is focused on being more representative of race, gender, culture, ethnicity, neurodivergance, mental health conditions, as well as physical traits and different abilities.
LEGO also hopes that, by establishing real-world scenarios in the Friends range, children will be able to play out a more representative world view of real-world relationships.
#cyberbullying #bullying #stopbullying #bullyingawareness #antibullying #nobullying #cybersecurity #bullyinghurts #mentalhealth #bullyingprevention #stopcyberbullying #cybercrime #endbullying #bully #bullyingsucks #onlinesafety #parenting #stopbullyingnow #bekind #cyberbully #internetsafety #thebullyexposed #cyber #bullyexposed #antibully #cyberattack #mentalhealthawareness #LEGOFriends #parentingpodcast About Naledi Mokoena · Watch us on You Tube -
BUILDING MULTICULTURAL FRIENDSHIPS IN A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY
On this episode of The Great Equalizer weāre celebrating F R I E N D S H I P, with a focus on helping our children navigate new connections from foundation phase to the teenage years.
Joining us in studio is parent, author and social worker Joey Dlamini, a self-proclaimed āimperfect parentā, who is on a mission to equip parents and their families for a fast-changing world.
Joey is founder of teen empowerment nonprofit Be Accentuated, as well as author of The Teen Top 25: Foundational Life Lessons for a Thriving Journey to Adulthood. Joey chats with us about the multifaceted world of childhood friendships. Together we consider:
- When (and how) children need guidance in navigating their new friendships;
- Why itās important for us to help our children foster multicultural friendships;
- How we help our children become more inclusive and willing to diversify their friendship group; and
- Why it has been so tricky for some South African millennial parents to do just that.
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This episode is the first instalment in a three-part series about friendship, sponsored by the LEGO Group, whose mission it is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play.
This year LEGO celebrates the relaunch of its reimagined Friends characters series, which is focused on being more representative of race, gender, culture, ethnicity, neurodivergance, mental health conditions, as well as physical traits and different abilities.
LEGO also hopes that, by establishing real-world scenarios in the Friends range, children will be able to play out a more representative world view of real-world relationships.
#valentinesday2023 #LEGOFriends #nojudgies #parentingpodcast #podcastersofinstagram #friendship #friends #friendshipgoals #bestfriends #friendsforever #friend #photooftheday #bff #bestfriend #friendshipquotes #motherhoodunplugged #realmotherhood #makingfriends LEGO Friends on YouTube · Joey Dlamini · Be Accentuated (NPO) · Watch us on You Tube -
Itās a brand new year, folks! Replete with brand new anxieties (along with all the old ones) ššš¼
First off the block is back-to-school anxiety, which weāll be tackling on all fronts with the help of the loveliest parent-child expert around, the incredibly smart and sweet powerhouse, @drjennyrose.
Jenny is a clinical psychologist and a mom of three who is on a mission to make information accessible to parents by providing resources, tools and strategies for everyday living.
This includes answering our many questions about back-to-school anxiety, such as:
š¦ What are some things we can do to ease our children into a new transition?
š¦Whatās the best way to handle drop off?
š¦What are the warning signs if your child is not coping?
š¦What do you do if your child starts refusing to go to school?
š¦How do we as parents handle our own anxiety before it filters down to our kids?
ā¦ and so much more!
If youāre on the back-to-school anxiety train right now ā CHOO-CHOO! Hop on, Mama. Also, youāre not alone š«¶š¼.
LISTEN. LIKE. SHARE. SUBSCRIBE.
ā
#consciousparenting #parentingpodcasts #podcastersofinstagram #backtoschool #education #teachersofinstagram #firstdayofschool #schoollife #parenting#momlife #parentingpodcast #parentingpodcasts #thisismotherhood #motherhoodunplugged #mothermusing #consciousparenting #consciousparent #podcastersofinstagram #nojudgies Website: Dr Jenny Rose · Watch us on You Tube -
Make no mistake, folks. The amount of device time our kids are going to have this festive season is bordering on criminal. But everyone knows we at TGE love ourselves some good picture books, so we thought we'd share a bit more about the books weāve been enjoying in our home lately.
TGE's got you covered, with a range of books now available such as David Walliam's adventure books, Slime and Spaceboy, and some more festive books like Ben Miller's Diary of a Christmas Elf.
And, while there's nothing wrong with letting your kids run amok, when cabin fever hits, it hits hard (for those on staycation especially). So we're also sharing about some of the activities weāll be doing with our kids these December holidays.
The Peoples Theatre is great for kids (and parents) looking for a sing along, and we recommend the National Children's Theatre, where kids are also encouraged to join in on the fun.
Theatre:
1) The Adventures in Pantoland: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/Client.aspx?clientcode=jhbtheatrejanice-honeymans-adventures-in-pantoland/
2) The Little Mermaid: http://www.peoplestheatre.co.za/HaremeetsMandela/index.html
3) Seussical the Musical & Balloonacy: https://nctheatresa.org/program/
4) Sinbad the Sailor at the Teatro: https://www.quicket.co.za/organisers/47806-sinbad-the-sailor/
Oliver Jefferson:
https://www.oliverjeffers.com
https://samanthacurcio.com/Hello-Every-Body-Childrens-Book
https://simon-philip.com/picture-books/i-really-want-to-share/
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za/book/my-first-african-adventure/9781776353729
https://nosycrow.com/product/were-going-on-a-present-hunt/
https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Diary-of-a-Christmas-Elf/Ben-Miller/9781398501836
PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO:
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And let us know if you have anything to add! Touch base with Team TGE at [email protected]
#picturebooks #childrensbooks #kidsbooks #kidlit #bookstagram #kidsbookstagram #picturebook #booksforkids #illustration #raisingreaders #books #childrensbook #reading #childrensbookillustration #readaloud #childrensbookstagram #storytime #kidlitart #kidsbookswelove #childrensliterature #bookworm #children #kidsbook #picturebookillustration #booklover #kids #kidslit #picturebooksofinstagram #booksforchildren #illustrator
#childrenstheatre #theatre #familytheatre #musicaltheatre #kidsfest #classic #reading #childrensbook #kidsbooks #performingarts #abaproductions #artseducation #kidstheatre #bedtimestory #youththeatre #theaterkids #acting #theatrelife #familyfun #theatrekids #dance #abahk #hk #theater #hkapa #kfhk #storytelling #hkig #kids #actor Adventures in Pantoland · The Little Mermaid · Balloonacy · Sinbad the Sailor · Watch us on You Tube -
āTwas the night before Christmas, and all mothers fair and foul, swore and sobbed and threatened to throw in the towel.
(Stay tuned till January to see if we survived this āDezembaā show down)
Folks, the division of labour issue is no more obvious than at Christmas time, when all of us work our tails off to make that festive season magic.
And so, on this monthās episode of The Great Equalizer, weāre taking that infamous mother load and adding some tinsel š We realise that weāre the ones wanting to make that Christmas magic happen. No oneās forcing anyone to do Elf on the Shelf. But, as Charlene says, there is no holly in South Africa. And our jolly? Well, itās flown the proverbial coup (to put it in more PC terms), and itās becoming increasingly difficult to get into the festive fun.
Weighing in on the discussion, the one and only AfroDaddy joins us IN PERSON for the first time (though heās no stranger to the show). We always have plenty to chat about with Affy D, but this month weāre getting stuck into the mother load from a fatherās perspective.
As we often say on The Great Equalizer, we did not marry a-holes. Turns out that our partners are *not* trying to lump us with the load on purpose, or out of stupidity (as much as it doesnāt feel that way). So, what gives? Why is it that moms (typically) are more burnt out that dads, especially in the holidays? Or, to rephrase, why is it that the default parent carries the biggest burden. Why do default parents even exist at all?
More about our guest:
Terence Mentor (AKA AfroDaddy) is a father, a husband and a fellow content creator with a passion for parenting. He started out as the host of Ask AfroDaddy, and recently launched a brand spanking new pod with fellow father Sean Loots called Have You Asked Your Dad?
LISTEN. LIKE. SHARE. SUBSCRIBE.
And let us know if you have anything to add! Touch base with Team TGE at [email protected]
#motherload #mentalload #motherhoodunplugged #thisismotherhood #motherhood #momlife #consciousparenting #motherhoodjourney #maternalmentalhealth #momcommunity #mumlife #mumssupportingmums #workingmumlife #mindfulparenting #busymum #innerchildhealing #childhoodwounds #mentalloadofmotherhood #fuckthepatriarchy #parentingistough #mumsofinstagram #parentingpodcast #podcastersofinstagram Have You Asked Your Dad? · Watch us on You Tube -
On this episode of The Great Equalizer, Sam is jonesing for a demotion (and a breakdown on the side), Charlene is larger than life (and in a really great space), and we chat about how our childrenās mental health is on the knife-edge at the moment.
Thereās been a marked increase in teen suicides and, worryingly, children as young as 8, 9 and 10 are struggling with anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. As parents of small children, Team TGE realises that we have a lot to learn about teenagers, but weāre wondering what we could be doing now to support our children for the coming years.
We loop in a couple of expert guests, including counselling psychologist Dr Ursula Froschauer (who specialises in family counselling and teen mental health) and Sven Ruygrok. Sven is an actor, life coach and dad who, for the past ten years, has been running talks at schools and mentoring young people.
On the show we unpack several root causes that can impact on our childrenās mental health, including technology and social media, cyberbullying, disengaged parents, and the pressure to excel. We also chat about what we could be doing to support our own mental health to ensure that weāre in the best space to be there for our kids.
This episode of The Great Equalizer is jam-packed with amazing insight from passionate individuals, and we cannot wait to talk more with our viewers and listeners.
If youād like to share more about your experience, please comment below or email us at [email protected].
LISTEN/WATCH. LIKE.SUBSCRIBE.
Shout out to our producers over at Autumn Aperture and Argh! Studios, as well as our editor Tyler McKenna and sound engineer Stephen Kriel.
For more from The Great Equalizer, our website is always a good idea: www.thegreatequalizer.co.za, along with our social media platforms on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
#teenmentalhealth #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #depression #anxiety #parenting #selfcare #parentingteens #teentherapy #suicideprevention #teenanxiety #childmentalhealth #teendepression #mindfulness #youthmentalhealth #teenmentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthadvocate #mentalhealthrecovery #teensupport #mentalillness #teenhealth #teenselfcare #mentalhealthsupport #teenagers #raisingteens #consciousparenting #parentingpodcast Watch us on You Tube -
The gals from The Great Equalizer are BACK and finally together IN PERSON in our newly minted studio (whoop whoop).
On this episode, Sam and Charlene acknowledge how hard itās been to stick to our #nojudgies policy, especially when it comes to Other Peopleās Kids (blegh). Why does no-one tell you about this shit!? Parenting does NOT get easier (for anyone wondering), and we get proper stuck into why this is the case, in our limited experience.
This episode harks back to our origins. We revisit why our #nojudgies policy is so important to us, how not being a perfect parent can be a hard pill to swallow and why kids will always and forever be The Great Equalizer.
Also in the lineup: What weāve been working on this year, and whatās coming in future episodes of TGE. We have lots to say, folks, but if thereās something particular youād like us to chat about, let us know. We. Are. Here. For. It.
P.S. We finally made it to the year 2022 and you can officially find us on the Youest of Tubes :-)
If youāre tuning in for the first time (welcome!), this aināt our first rodeo. If you like what you see, we have four yearsā of audio podcasts on your preferred listening platform. So stick around, because thereās lots to catch up on, and plenty more where that came from.
Shout out to our producers over at Autumn Aperture, including our editor Tyler McKenna and sound engineer Stephen Kriel.
For more from The Great Equalizer, our website is always a good idea: www.thegreatequalizer.co.za, along with our social media platforms on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and now YouTube.
And, of course, if you want to chat with Sam or Charlene directly, email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you. FIND US ON YOUTUBE · The Cut | How TikTok has supercharged the age-old debate over sleep training · Watch us on You Tube -
This aināt your everyday āself-careā podcast episode. Nope. On this episode of The Great Equalizer, weāre deep diving into the realities of Fit Living, Fat Phobia and Fearless Family Feeding.
As always, your hosts, Sam Herbst and Charlene Armstrong are by no means experts on the topic, which is why we always like to bring in the big guns.
Meanwhile, Sam talks about forgetting everything she's ever learnt about parenting, Charlene chats about how she's navigating a new year, a new school and a new body.
Then, later on in the episode, we chat to award-winning food blogger and photographer @donnacrous about her new book, A Healthier Family for Life. Donna Crous · Watch us on You Tube -
Our 2021 Christmas episode is OUT and this year we are honouring the magic that moms bring to the festive season. It's a pretty nuanced discussion as we wonder if The Patriarchy (aargh) has lumped us with the job of Mother Christmas, or if we've taken on that load ourselves.
What do you think?
We also chat about Santa logistics, Elf on the Shelf and whether or not the naughty/nice list should still be a thing. The jury's also out on whether Santa takes credit for the magic of Christmas, or whether moms deserve a standing ovation at the end of the festive season.
You guys spoke and we listened. All your comments (and rants and raves) were included in the show. So pour yourself some mulled vino and spend a couple of hours with Team TGE.
#Christmas2021 #MomMagic #therealsantaclaus #elfontheshelf #fatherchristmas #naughtyornice #authenticmotherhood #momlife #motherhoodrising #motherhoodunplugged #realmomlife #motherhood #realmotherhood #motherhoodjourney #iammom #honestmommin #motherhoodintheraw #unfilteredmotherhood #motherhoodtruths #honestmotherhood #motherswhopodcast #parentswhopodcast Watch us on You Tube -
We catch up after a long hiatus (and a tough year, if we're honest). Amid Covid, money troubles, postpartum depression and losing ourselves in the shitshow that is 2021, Team TGE makes our way back to the microphone.
We've decided that it's better to talk about the shit ā the poo that no-one likes to talk about but everyone can relate to. It's not always pleasant, but it's in the talk-talk-talking that we find grace and healing.
This is why we came back and brought guest Shana Fife with. Shana is an old TGE pal and now author of Ougat, her memoir. This book tells the story of a Coloured girl growing up in South Africa's Cape Flats. It tells the story of a female groomed into subservience. It tells the story of a domestic abuse survivor who was shamed for having two children by two different fathers. It tells the story of how, one day, this woman found herself with nothing to lose, and so she told her story to hundreds of thousands of others who related on more than one level.
There are some things people don't like to hear, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't listen. Start listening. Tune in and let us know what you think. Ougat by Shana Fife · Watch us on You Tube -
In this bonus episode Sam talks to clinical psychologist Slindile Mbatha about Intergenerational Trauma and how it intersects with motherhood. Mbatha explains what generational trauma is, how it can be recognised and how we break the cycle of trauma.
The pair also deep-dive into postpartum depression, anxiety and intrusive thoughts. Mbatha outlines common symptoms and normalises some often overpathologised traits of a woman navigating new motherhood. About Slindile Mbatha · Watch us on You Tube -
In this bonus episode of The Great Equalizer, Sam chats to mom-of-two Natasha Kisten. With two teenage boys of her own, Natasha has discovered how letting go isn't a once-off process that happens when our kids are old enough to fly the coup. Rather, there are different levels of letting go throughout parenthood, each one harder than the next.
Natasha also chats about how to navigate when your child has traits you may not have expected from them (or even like about them), and reiterates how it's often Not. About. You. Natasha Kisten ā Blog · More from Natasha Kisten · Watch us on You Tube - Se mer
