Talk About It Mate

With Father's Day coming up this weekend, our guests for this episode were Kieran and Nick from Dad Matters. I was also joined by John and Ed from the Talk About It Mate community. Dad Matters is a Home-Start Project, based in Greater Manchester. They aim to help dads have successful relationships with their families, and to support dads with anxiety, stress and mental health issues. This was a really interesting and insightful episode. We learned so much from Kieran and Nick about what Dad Matters do and how lucky we are to have this in Greater Manchester. Let us know what you think! https://dadmatters.org.uk/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB94in41rWboL3ejwRHo6DQ https://www.instagram.com/dadmattersuk/ https://twitter.com/dadmattersuk https://www.facebook.com/DadMattersUK/

Just a quick solo recording while walking! An update on my thoughts and how things are progressing.

I was joined by the amazing Sonja from Your Space Therapy for this must listen podcast with Mark Williams! International Father's Mental Health Day founder Mark Williams is well-versed in all things mental health, through his experience of panic attacks, postnatal depression, ADHD, and a mental breakdown in 2011. Mark has also undertaken extensive training in the field in order to help others in the same position. He was awarded Inspirational Father of the Year, Regional Local Hero at the Pride of Britain Awards in 2012 and invited to meet the Royal Family in 2016. Mark is now a International keynote speaker, campaigner for all parents and has published many articles on father’s mental health.  Watch this on YouTube to find out more about Mark's journey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIUWWPIVyTM Or visit his website here https://www.reachingoutpmh.co.uk/

For this episode I was joined by Karl, one of our facilitators and most passionate Talk About It Mate supporters to chat to Chris Judge, Founder of Directions4Men who are a fantastic organisation providing much needed men's groups. Chris has been a great help to myself and is passionate about creating a movement around men's mental health involving all groups and helping to redefine how masculinity is seen in society. This conversation really inspired and re-vitalised me and I think Chris has exactly the right knowledge, skills and values to make a significance difference to the lives of many men. Would highly recommend listening to this, then checking out all Directions4Men have to offer using the links below. https://www.facebook.com/DirectionsForMen/ https://twitter.com/Directions4Men

In this Episode I had the pleasure of being joined by one of our excellent Talk About It Mate facilitators, John for a great chat with Gwen Richards, founder of Fighting Spirit. Gwen talked about the qualities involved in Resilience, which she demonstrated through her own personal journey and creation of Fighting Spirit as an organisation using Boxing as a way to promote Growth for individuals and organisations.  https://fightingspirit.org.uk/ https://twitter.com/fightingshq

For this podcast I was joined by Ed from the Talk About It Mate community to chat with Craig Henderson from Craig's Barber Shop in Bolton. Alongside being a lovely fella, Craig is a barber who is passionate about promoting positive Mental Health and signposting his clients should they need additional support. To help him do this he is a valued member of the Lion's Barber Collective who are training barbers with the skills to listen to and assist their clients to access support services if needed. Their aim is to reduce the suicide rates in men and you can find out more about them and their founder, Tom Chapman on their website. A fantastic listen! https://www.craigsbarbershop.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/craigsbarbershopbl2/ https://www.instagram.com/craigsbarbershopbl2/ https://twitter.com/CraigBarbersBL2 https://www.thelionsbarbercollective.com/

For this podcast I was joined by long-time friend of Talk About It Mate, Martin for this chat with Adam Whittaker who is a Social Media and Marketing Consultant. We talk about the key role Social Media plays in our lives and the role it has played during lock-down. We then touched on the importance of being authentic and genuine online and the connection this has to our Mental Health. Website - https://www.adamdwhittaker.co.uk/ Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/adscomms/ AdMia Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/2357425974470650/?ref=bookmarks

On the back of recently launching our Talk About It Mate women's sessions (still working on a name) myself and my wife Laura (who is facilitating the women's group) sat down for a chat with the lovely Victoria Carroll, founder of Supporting Factors - to get some tips and find out about the work that she does. We really enjoyed this chat and learned a lot from Victoria and were blown away by her knowledge, passion and dedication for what she does. We learned about how her groups work, how she has adapted her services during lock-down as well as what she does for her own self-care. This is a really good listen! You can find out more about Supporting Factors below: Twitter - @Support_Factor : https://twitter.com/Support_Factor Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/supportingfactorscic/

For this episode I chatted with the amazing Emily Edwins, who is a great friend to the Talk About It Mate community. She has recently set up Empower which is promoting holistic Health & Wellness. Her work with Self-Help services and as an Occupational Therapists have provided her with a wealth of knowledge and expertise on mental health which she combines with her lived experiences and personal journey, making her an inspirational advocate for mental health. Emily has also kindly provided Talk About It Mate with a Guided Body Scan which she has recorded for us. This could help us in the evenings to be mindful and hopefully achieve a better nights sleep. You can interact with Emily in our Facebook group 'The Talk Space' and you can follow her on instagram @empowerhwcic.

In this Episode I spoke to Rachael Barker, creator of Mindful Tao about Mindful Living and the positive effects mindfulness and meditation can have on our lives. You can find out more about Mindful Tao on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Mindful-Tao-107286037558018/

A Guided Body Scan recorded by Emily Edwins (Empower Health & Wellbeing)

In this podcast we grant you access to one of our men's peer support session discussions. I'll explain how our sessions are structured and the participants involved will share with you what they have gained from being involved with these sessions and Talk About It Mate in general. We really hope you enjoy this and hope to see you at one of our Talk About It Mate events soon.

Find out more about how Talk About It Mate is planning to grow and expand in this short 15 minute podcast. I'll be producing more quality content for our network over the next few weeks and months. Watch this space as these are exciting times for us! To make this interactive, please record your thoughts, ideas, feedback. That way, we can make this community a place which benefits us all! https://www.facebook.com/groups/491455068156518/

To kick off Season 2 - I went to Natwest in Spinningfields to chat with Dark Coffee founder and successful podcaster Alice Lyons.  I always love chatting to Alice and enjoy her straight-talking approach and authenticity. I feel her journey is inspiring and has led her to a point where she is having a positive impact on lots of people! Dark Coffee is all about championing unfiltered conversations around mental health, so this chat does touch on some potentially scary topics such as Suicidal Ideation which I believe Alice always navigates and explains well. I hope to learn from and collaborate more with Alice in the future. You can find out more about her on the Dark Coffee website and at one of her upcoming Mind Over Grind events! Hope you enjoy this one, Mike Alice's Instagram: @alice.lyons.wellbeing Dark Coffee website: https://www.darkcoffee.co.uk/ Dark Coffee on Instagram: @dark.coffee.wellbeing Dark Coffee on Twitter: @DarkCoffeePC Dark Coffee On Facebook: @DarkCoffeeWellbeing

For Episode 13 I spoke to Paul Wolstenholme of Pathlight Ltd to discuss his journey to becoming a Mental Health First Aid Instructor. We also chatted about the impact of peer-support through the men's groups we are involved in as well as Mental Health in schools for both pupils and teachers.

In this Episode we discussed the theme of Emotion. My guest Martin shared openly about his experiences of working as a call handler for the ambulance service. We considered how to self-regulate and use self-awareness to ensure self-control. An incredibly worthwhile discussion.

I met with James for Episode 11 to discuss men’s mental health and our own self-acceptance. Thanks to Boho Utopia for letting us use the room to record.

For our milestone 10th Episode I had a wonderful conversation with the fantastic Mary who runs MY City Yoga. We discuss our own experiences with self-awareness and the benefits of this as well as the impact yoga can have ahead of our event on Sat 12th October! http://meetu.ps/e/Hd929/vc2hP/a

A fantastic wide-ranging discussion with Neil Procter about the impact eating disorders have had on his life and his struggles with self-compassion. Other topics covered include his acting career, community, addiction and how he embraces Buddhism. So many interesting nuggets to take away from this wonderful conversation. Thanks to Adam at Plug & Taps in Preston for letting us record!

For Episode 8 I talked to Mike about how he manages his long term condition of Multiple Sclerosis and how he is helping others who also suffer from it.

For Episode 7, I sat down with Nathan, a confidence and motivational coach to talk about a range of topics including resilience, soft-skills and Efficacy.

Welcome to the first Talk About It Mate podcast! We discuss what our community is about and some of our own Mental Health experiences. 

Episode 2 of the Talk About It Mate Podcasts celebrates the wonderful bromance I share with our guest Chris and we talk about his Mental Health journey, covering depression and his M.E. diagnosis. Producer Paul talks openly about Derealisation in 'Paul's Corner'.

For Episode 3 of the Talk About It Mate podcast, we talk to one of our loveliest group members, Lindsay about her experiences over the past few years and the changes and coping mechanisms she uses in life. Hearing others show authenticity about their personal journeys is so inspiring, Remember we all have mental health and those who have the courage to open up and show honesty and vulnerability about their experiences may be stronger than you imagine! 

For Episode 4 of the Talk About It Mate podcast, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the brilliant Sonja to talk about her role as a Counsellor for adults and children. We discussed what to expect when you are starting counselling as well as my own counselling journey. Sonja provides an insight into what therapy can offer. We also talk about the role of peer-support and what Talk About It Mate can offer from our new Wellbeing Workshops. Spread the word and remember to Talk About It Mate! 

For Episode 5 I sat down with the inspirational MJ to talk about his mental health journey and how he has coped with the pressure and exposure he has received since appearing on TV as well as his steps into the world of comedy. A really good discussion into Vulnerability and how we can deal with some of the stress we all face in our daily lives. 

For Episode 6 of the Talk About It Mate Podcast I welcomed Neil to discuss the concept of Growth and share some of our own experiences and our thoughts on 'Can't Hurt Me' by David Goggins.