Conversations: Psychology & Relationships

Jelena Dokic overcame adversity, poverty and violence to rise to the top of the tennis world. Years later, her revelations about her father's abuse stunned the world. (CW: discussion of domestic violence and coercive control).

Jelena Dokic overcame adversity, poverty and violence to rise to the top of the tennis world. Years later, her revelations about her father's abuse stunned the world. (CW: discussion of domestic violence and coercive control).

After arriving in Australia with her family as a refugee, Jelena Dokic became a tennis champion while still a teenager.

But her father’s drunken outbursts at Jelena’s tournaments got even more headlines than her playing.

What the world didn’t know was that Jelena’s father was also violently assaulting her and had been since the day she first picked up a tennis racquet.

Jelena finally found the courage to tell the truth about what happened to her, but she discovered that was only the first step in escaping her father.

Further information

The documentary Unbreakable is out now

Help and support is always available

You can call 1800 Respect on 1800 737 732

Lifeline on 13 11 14

Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673

Content warning: this episode of Conversations contains discussion about domestic violence and coercive control.

This episode of Conversations also talks about sport, training, family, origin stories, parenting, relationships, childhood trauma, sports commentary, online trolls, refugees, security, control, family violence, therapy, mental health, identity, disordered eating, books, documentary film, reflection, culture, meaning, Australian, counselling, conversational story, and memoir.

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Dr Tracy Westerman grew up in the Pilbara, where suicide and mental health issues have deeply scarred Indigenous communities. So this Nyamal woman decided to do something about it.

Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman grew up in some of the most remote parts of Western Australia, moving from a station to a town called Useless Loop, eventually landing in the mining town of Tom Price.

Tracy, the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and a white father, became the first person who was educated entirely in Tom Price, from kindergarten to year 12, to go on to University.

When she arrived in Perth, she had never been on a bus or on an escalator, but she was fired up to study psychology.

Tracy wanted to use the skills she learned in the city to deliver practical mental health care to Aboriginal people, and to help entire communities reeling from the impact of suicide and other mental health issues.

Along the way to obtaining her doctorate, Tracy has become a businesswoman, the WA Australian of the year, and she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal.

Her next mission is to build an army of Indigenous psychologists to continue the work she's already started.

Further information

Jilya is published by University of Queensland Press.

You can learn more about Dr Westerman's work here.

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman grew up in some of the most remote parts of Western Australia, moving from a station to a town called Useless Loop, eventually landing in the mining town of Tom Price.

Tracy, the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and a white father, became the first person educated entirely in Tom Price, from kindergarten to year 12, to go on to University.

When she arrived in Perth, she had never been on a bus or on an escalator, but she was fired up to study psychology.

Tracy wanted to use the skills she learned in the city to deliver practical mental health care to Aboriginal people, and to help entire communities reeling from the impact of suicide and other mental health issues.

Along the way to obtaining her doctorate, Tracy has become a businesswoman, the WA Australian of the year, and she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal.

Her next mission is to build an army of Indigenous psychologists to continue the work she's already started.

This episode of Conversations discusses mental health care, mental health struggles, First Nations mental health, remote communities, interracial relationships, psychology, university, PhD study, tertiary education, the Pilbara, Nyamal, traditional owners, Indigenous psychologist.

Joh Jarvis was a high-flying boss when grief from a terrible loss began to overwhelm her. She tried therapy, exercise and healthy eating. Then she found Vedic meditation, and the experience was 'psychedelic'.

Joh Jarvis is a Vedic meditation teacher.

Every week, she travels into Rikers Island Prison — a notorious jail in New York City — to teach meditation to hardened criminals.

Joh grew up in Adelaide and had always wanted to live amidst the bright lights of New York.

After a stint as a bicycle courier, she worked her way up to management at the ABC.

As she approached 50, she had a well-paying job, a nice house, and strong connections with friends and family. 

But long-term grief had hollowed her out, and she asked herself, is this all there is?

Then she was introduced to Vedic meditation, and she says her first encounter was 'psychedelic'.

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversation podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

This episode touches on epic life stories, family dynamics, grief, loss, reflection, Vedic meditation, meditation, personal stories, origin stories, death, career, giving back, New York City, Rikers Island prison, incarceration, justice system, prison system, mindfulness and mantras.

While struggling with PTSD, social researcher Rebecca Huntley chose an unconventional and underground path to healing — MDMA therapy.

Rebecca Huntley is well known to many Australians for her formidable intellect and career as a broadcaster, an author and a social researcher.

But despite her impressive public-facing life, in private, Rebecca's trauma from a difficult upbringing refused to leave her.

At 50, she walked the Camino in Italy and realised that after 30 years of therapy, she was still living with a great deal of anger about what had happened to her as a child.

She decided to take a radical step to deal with her PTSD and her suffering. 

She had three sessions of MDMA therapy, delivered by an underground healer. 

The treatment changed Rebecca's life and her view of the world.

This conversation discusses therapy, trauma, psychedelics, drugs, parenting, grief, family, mothers, ancestry, fathers, family dynamics, domestic violence, going no contact, exploration and loss.

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversation podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

When psychologist Ariane Beeston started having delusions after the birth of her son, and hallucinating that he was a dragon, she had to learn how to become the patient.

Ariane Beeston thought that when her son was born, she would feel that immediate rush of love that everyone told her to expect, and that motherhood would come naturally to her.

But that's not what happened.

Instead, Ariane started having delusions about her own death, she became paranoid that social services would take her child away from her, and she hallucinated that her baby boy was actually a dragon.

For months, Ariane hid her symptoms, afraid and ashamed of what she was feeling and seeing.

When she gathered the courage to ask for help, Ariane, a trained psychologist, had to learn how to become the patient, as she navigated a diagnosis of postpartum psychosis.

Further information

Because I'm Not Myself You See is published by Black Inc. Books

Resources

Support lines and resources recommended by COPE

PANDA National Helpline 1300 726 306 — available Monday to Friday, 9am to 7.30pm, Saturday, 9am to 4pm AEST/AEDT.

PANDA: Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia post natal psychosis information

Pregnancy Birth Baby information on postpartum psychosis (Australian Government website)

Gidget Foundation Australia (focuses on emotional wellbeing of expectant parents)

Postpartum psychosis fact sheet from COPE

Postpartum psychosis information (Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne)

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

As a teenager Adele Dumont started pulling out her hair from the root.

Eventually she created a bald spot the size of a 20-cent piece at the crown of her head.

Adele would sometimes enter a trancelike state, covertly sitting on her bathroom floor, picking at her scalp for hours on end.

The urge to pull at her hair was uncontrollable, and secret.

When Adele finally put a name to her behaviour, she learnt that trichotillomania has a complex history and psychological understanding, much of which remains unknown.

Further information

The Pulling is published by Scribe

Some helpful resources on trichotillomania include Trich Stop and The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Professor Ian Hickie has spent decades trying to understand clinical depression. Where does it come from? What role do genes play? And most importantly – what works to release its chokehold?

Ian Hickie has spent his career trying to help people at their darkest times. He's a psychiatrist who is particularly passionate about taming the black dog of depression.

Depression is not a simple puzzle to solve. Ian has seen how the right medical treatment can lift someone out of even the worst depression; but he has also tried to answer some of the most important questions about clinical depression.

Is it genetic? Is it caused by trauma? What role do the seasons play? Why is long COVID a risk factor in developing depression? And most importantly – what works to release its hold on someone?

Further information

The Devil You Knew is published by Penguin Random House

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Penny grew up consumed by catastrophic thoughts and developed habits to try to ward off impending doom. It turned out she had been living with obsessive compulsive disorder for 30 years

Penny Moodie grew up consumed by catastrophic thoughts and ideas - that her parents would die in a car crash, that her mother was not really her mother, or that she had somehow contracted HIV aids.

It's not unusual for children to worry about their parents and their own safety, but for Penny these anxieties went much further.

She thought she could ward off catastrophes by doing specific things, by developing compulsive behaviours and routines.

It turns out, Penny had been living obsessive compulsive disorder for more than 30 years before she was diagnosed.

Only recently has Penny been able to understand what she's truly afraid of, to discard her constant state of anxiety and to finally take joy in the simple pleasures of life.

Further information

The Joy Thief: How OCD steals your happiness and how to get it back is published by Allen & Unwin

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Coalminer turned broadcaster Craig Hamilton was in his 30s when he had a psychotic episode on Broadmeadows train station. In the aftermath, his life was completely changed (CW: mentions suicide)

Craig Hamilton began his working life as a coal miner in Newcastle north of Sydney. He worked deep underground, knocking down walls and digging through tunnels through the inky blackness. One day after many years in the mines, Craig got a chance to be on the radio for 5 minutes talking about cricket. He found he was a natural - and it began an entirely new chapter in his life. 

He was talented scouted by the ABC, and after working part-time in various broadcasting jobs while he also worked underground, Craig won a full-time job. It was a huge moment in his life, as for many years he'd believed he didn't have a way out of the mining industry. 

His career as a sports broadcaster took off quickly, and he was chosen to be commentary team for the Sydney Olympics.

As he was travelling to the Olympic stadium one day, Craig was on Broadmeadows train station when he had a psychotic episode. He was handcuffed and taken by the police to a locked ward in Newcastle Hospital.

After he was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Craig knew he had to be part of the solution in mental health. He began to give public talks about his own story. 

Help and support is always available

You can call Lifeline 24 hours a day on 13 11 14

Phone and online counselling is available through Mensline

Further information

Watch the trailer for the documentary The Promise

Learn about Craig's work as a public speaker and mental health advocate

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Dr Robert Waldinger on what it takes to live a happy life. Robert Waldinger has spent most of his working life trying to understand the secret to human happiness. 

He’s Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. The project has been tracking what makes for a joyful life for more than eight decades and points to meaningful relationships as the key to human fulfilment. 

Bob tries to apply the insights from the study to his own life, where beyond his research, he’s also a Zen priest.

Further information

The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Study on Happiness is published by Penguin 

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.