Not So Linear

Welcome back listeners! In today's episode I speak with Steve Bland, who lost his wife Rachael to Breast Cancer in September 2018. Rachael was a BBC newsreader and during her cancer diagnosis she set up her BBC Radio 5 Live podcast 'You Me and the Big C', to help support others in their journey.
Steve talks openly about how they dealt with anticipatory grief and he tells us about the book Rachael wrote for their son Freddie, so he has memories to keep forever. We also discuss how he's navigated life as a young widow, his experience with grief and how it's so important to give yourself time to heal.

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In today's episode I talk to Beth French, founder of the UK charity 'Let's Talk about Loss'. Beth's mum passed away when she was 20 and found her grief to be both isolating and confusing. She didn't want other young people to go through the same experience, so she set up her own grief support network. We talk about what helps her to cope in the days where she still finds her grief difficult, the weird things people have said to her since her mums death and how horrendously bad bereavement cards are!
You can find Beth on Instagram at @talkaboutloss or follow their website for more details www.letstalkaboutloss.org
You can find me on instagram @tamsinmillard_
Please remember to rate and review, thank you!

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In this week's episode I talk with my friend Sandra, who I met through my Sydney support network 'our grief'. Sandra received a call to say she'd suddenly lost her mum to suicide and had the exhausting task of returning back to the US to be with her family. We talk about how she brilliantly navigated the return to work, how opening up to peers and a therapist helped her to process the grief and how she is now training to be a mental heath first aid officer. A big thank you to Sandra for coming on to the podcast. She was my first ever guest and we were both very nervous, so please excuse the quality of my interviewing skills etc!

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In this episode I speak with Joshua Fletcher (@anxietyjosh on IG), who is a psychotherapist specialising in anxiety disorders. I wanted to understand why grief can often be a catalyst for anxiety and how we can learn to retrain our brain to manage it more effectively.

Josh opens up about the experience of losing his brother to cancer as a teenager and how the unprocessed grief led him to a mental breakdown. However, he now commits his career to providing psychoeducation and spreading awareness about the topic. He is a best-selling author of two anxiety self-help books, as well as hosting The Panic Pod podcast.

We also discuss:

• Ruminating thoughts
• Why we shouldn't search for 'coping mechanisms' as we CAN cope
• How we need to retrain our brain to break our anxious habits
• Alcohol & anxiety
• Making peace with your anxiety and letting it be with you, rather than fighting it
• Complicated grief
• Gambling and addiction
• When to seek help

We hope that this episode helps you to feel less alone in your journey.

Don't forget to follow me at @tamsinmillard

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/not-so-linear.

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Mary Hoang is a psychologist who thinks creatively about what makes humans lead more meaningful lives. She is founder of the mental health organisation 'The Indigo Project' and is tearing down the walls of traditional psychology.

After her fathers death in 2017, Mary turned to art and writing to explore how the darker aspects of life hold the keys to insight and purpose. Losing him was her life changing moment, which she so beautifully documents in her book ‘Darkness is Golden’ and explores alongside us how we can deal with life’s messiness.

We talk about:

• Mary's background and why she set up a progressive therapy practice
• Why we have to give uncomfortable feelings space, rather than supressing them
• Losing her Father and how it shifted her lens on life
• Grief & funerals in Asian culture
• Death mediation
• The concept of the 'Inner child' and how we must learn to meet our needs
• How all types of grief are valid, such as loss of career, relationship or health etc
• The monsters in our haunted house
• Mary's experience of breaking down whilst writing the book
• Managing anxiety

If you are interested in reading more about her work, you can find her organisation here: www.theindigoproject.com.au and her instagram @maryhoangindigo

You can order her book 'Darkness is Golden via Amazon or Booktopia.

Thanks and don't forget to subscribe to Not So Linear to get the latest episodes!

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/not-so-linear.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.