Mental Health Matters on Phoenix FM

The August 2019 Episode of Mental Health Matters on Phoenix FM. Featuring my conversation with Gwynneth Sunshine and Bob Simpson speaking with Dominic Fenton:

Gwynneth Sunshine has had an eventful life of many ups and downs. I learned about her when she was publicising her book which has documented her journey- Darkness to Destiny, published in 2017.

Through dabbling in the occult, overworking herself at a young age to breakdown, helping homeless people and addicts to becoming one herself, she has been through a lot. 

What has been a common thread through the journey has been her connection to God and Jesus Christ. Discovering Him at a young age, becoming distant during the tough times, to then reconnecting to help her through.

Some of it has mirrored what I have been thinking about and discussing on the show, such as the effect on addiction and homelessness on society. And on a broader prospective, how a disconnection from God can be creating a vacuum in society. As people are tending now to look to material pursuits and alternatives to fill the void.

You can purchase Darkness to Destiny here:

www.eden.co.uk/shop/darkness-to-destiny-4535161.html

The emotional wellbeing of children is just as important as their physical health. Good mental health allows children and young people to develop the resilience to cope with whatever life throws at them and grow into well-rounded, healthy adults.

Mental Health awareness week was in May so it was great to hear that there is now a new campaign to support young people who may be suffering.

Essex rugby coach, Dominic Fenton, and his team mates at Chelmsford RFC are joining Dame Kelly Holmes, TV doctor Zoe Williams and 200+ UK sporting organisations, in helping to launch #21by21 – a UK sport and mental health campaign. Bob Simpson spoke with him on his One2Three show.

#21by21 website    https://www.connectsport.co.uk/21by21

E-Mail Dominic here: dominic@dfsportsandevents.co.uk

Or via Twitter here  twitter.com/fentos1

Mental Health Matters:

https://www.phoenixfm.com/category/mental-health-matters/

Episode from May 2019, including interviews with Myra McHale and Rob Saggs:

Myra McHale returned to the Mental Health Matters podcast to talk to me about her continuing journey with learning ways of helping people. She now specialises in Rapid Transformational Therapy, a new blend of hypnosis, cognitive therapy and other techniques. 

In our interview she talked about how quick the results are and Myra explained the process and gave some examples of success stories.

She has also created a program which has a course including her Mindfulness training.

Find out more : 

http://www.myramchale.com

https://www.facebook.com/mchalemyra/

My conversation with Rob Saggs from homeless charity Chess Homeless. In our interview we discussed his journey with helping homeless people and how he got involved with Chess.

We also talked about some of the causes of homelessness, the effects on mental health, along with some shocking statistics. Rob also shared some good advice on how to help homeless people you come across, including using their service Street Link.

https://chesshomeless.org

https://www.streetlink.org.uk

Mental Health Matters:

https://www.phoenixfm.com/category/mental-health-matters/

Ken Hermes had to deal with grief and trauma from an early age when his father committed suicide when Ken was only 15. Ken talked to me about his process of eventually processing his grief. Ken now use his newly found job as a barber to help save lives and get more men to open up and talk about their personal issues. The latest figures show that suicide is still the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK.

Ken explains the heartbreak he went though: “Losing my dad to suicide at 15 left an empty place in my heart. If only my dad could have spoken to someone about how he felt. Maybe he would still be here? I want to help educate others to spot the signs of need, and start the conversations that change lives. Working for a large barbering group means that I can pass this education to 100+ barbers and really make a difference in our communities.”

British barber Tom Chapman set up the Lions Barber Collective mental health awareness and suicide prevention charity back in 2016.

Their aim is to turn barbershops into safe spaces for men using the opportunity of a regular haircut to start conversations about mental health. The group is having an enormous impact with men who traditional mental health services can struggle to reach.

Tom organises a professionally run training programme, which is teaching barbers to ‘recognise, talk, listen and advise’ clients and works with the Samaritans charity – signposting the services they offer to clients in need.

Previous research suggests that barbers are in a very unique position to help men in their battle with depression. A survey commissioned by the Lions Barber Collective and The Bluebeards Revenge male grooming brand revealed that more than half of the men in Britain now feel more comfortable discussing sensitive mental health issues such as depression with their barbers/hairdressers than their doctors.

Ken recently met Prince William at an opening of their latest salon in Paddington, London. William discussed Men’s mental health projects with Ken and acknowledged that suicide is the most acute form of grief.

Find the Lions Barber Collective here:

https://www.thelionsbarbercollective.com

https://www.facebook.com/TheLionsBarberCollective/

Also in this episode of Mental Health Matters I recorded an interview with Professional Organiser, Declutter and Life Coach Louise Simpson. We spoke about the issues people have with clutter, some of the extreme cases, how she asses and treats each client differently and steps we can all take to improve our relationship with our material goods. 

We talked about how Louise would wish two words were no longer used in the English language- Should and Perfection and why. And how she is often the only person that some clients speak to about the real problems they face- another theme that comes up in the podcast a lot.

APDO - Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers if people want to find out more about the industry - www.apdo.co.uk and people can use 'Find an organiser' to search for organisers in their area. https://www.apdo.co.uk/find-an-organiser/

You can find and get in touch with Louise here:

Her site is www.louisesimpsoncoaching.co.uk

Telephone - 01245 330636

Email - hello@louisesimpsoncoaching.co.uk

Instagram - lscoaching_essex

Facebook - LouiseSimpsonCoaching

Twitter - CoachingSimpson

As part of Spring Clearing Week, she is offering a 20% discount off the first session bringing a 3 hour session to £120.  She offers a free 15 minute phone/video call for all clients to discuss  their requirements so that you can see if she can help further.