Heart On My Sleeve

After constantly yearning for his father’s love, acceptance and approval, which never came, Sean had a longing to be seen and heard. He fought his way through a devastating revelation in childhood, and challenging teenage years to build a life worth living. Toward the end of this chat, Mitch and Sean share a deep connection and vulnerable exchange which enables Sean to open up even further and let the love in and the light shine even further out of him.

Topics covered:

• We already matter. “Success” doesn’t validate our humanity and value.
• Allocating our self-worth is an inside job.
• The humiliation of being unwanted by a parent and alienated by your family.
• How being homeless during his final year of high school drove Sean to imagine that “success” would help him escape poverty.
• No matter how polarized our demographics, anyone can show you life-changing kindness.

Mitch Wallis speaks to Tofe Evans who talks about running ultramarathons to cope with his mental health.

This episode covers:

• Fighting through adversity fuelled by drugs & alcohol abuse, driven by shame, victimisation, and identity crises.
• How a lust for external validation infected every area of his life, and left Tofe on the brink of suicide.
• Being present to keep us feeling enough and worthy of love.
• The identity crisis after pulling out 280km into a 345km ultramarathon across Scotland.

Episode support notes:

Tofe’s book is called “Everyone Has a Plan Until Sh!t Hits the Fan” available on Amazon.

Mitch Wallis speaks to Josh Wiggins, Nutritionist, Mentor & Mental Performance Coach.

Topics covered:

• The damaging effect of presenting a façade of coping: how being strong for other people removes authentic connection and can exacerbate mental ill health.
• How teenagers searching for a sense of agency over their body can fall into unhealthy habits and belief systems.
• How receiving a diagnosis can bring a sense of clarity and freedom to move on.
• The value of a mentor – how letting just one person we respect and admire guide us can be a significant turning point in our wellbeing.

Mitch Wallis speaks to Darren, whose experiences in his career as an engineer, coupled with becoming a dad, led him to pursue a new passion – to meet the need for men’s wellbeing.

This episode covers:

• How far we can push our body and brain until it shuts down.
• How shame seeded in childhood can drive us to overcompensate, achieve and succeed, and at what point that energy source become toxic.
• How being an empath and a problem solving engineer is a perfect storm of chaos in relationships.
• Recognising the power of connected communities of men.

In this episode we cover:

• The internal and external pressure on teenagers to excel in school
• The impact of family breakdown upon young people
• How parents can be there to support their young people going through mental ill health
• Breaking the stigma about seeking inpatient treatment
• How shame and self-judgment could be keeping us sick, and how hitting the ego’s breaking point and leaving pride behind can be the first step to healing
• The impact of those who die by suicide

Mitch Wallis speaks to Matthew Mitcham, Olympic diving champion on battling addiction and channeling that into winning.

In this episode we cover:

• Getting stuck in the cycle of shame and addiction.
• What it takes to get clean and stay clean after dependence on narcotics.
• The unstable landscape of attaching your self-worth to achievement and external validation.
• What comes next after you've become the best? Navigating the blues after loss.

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Have feedback to share, questions you want answered or guests you want to see on the show? Get in touch: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Trigger Warnings: this episode references sexual violence, suicidal ideation, paedophilia, sexual assault, intrusive thoughts including sexual, violent and homicidal.

Mitch Wallis speaks to Dr Lena who's brave disclosure of navigating her intrusive OCD encourages him to share the parts of his mental health story that he has never told before.

This episode covers:

• How OCD when experienced as sexual and/or violent intrusive thoughts can confront your morality and attack your sense of self.
• Her terrifying intrusive thoughts that we're trying to convince her to harm herself and others.
• The nature of Mitch's intrusive thoughts including the catalytic childhood event, and how it shaped his life, even to the point where he thought he could never have kids.
• Coping with the loneliness caused by the perpetual war between how we present externally and what we’re experiencing internally.
• How OCD and compulsive behaviours can provide some relief to neutralise the destructive and intrusive thoughts.
• How exposure therapy and acceptance commitment therapy helped bring some relief to the pain of OCD.
• When the doctor becomes the patient. Breaking the stigma that those who help others, don't suffer.

Mitch Wallis speaks to Amrei Marden, a German-Australian yoga teacher, with an amazing story of resilience. 

This episode covers:

• Experiencing PTSD post war and the responses that haunted her.
• Losing material possessions & her safe space in the Australian Bush-fires.
• How to build resilience and disrupt the victim cycle by exploring, owning and releasing the pain.
• The death of ego - what happens when your identity is taken away and how do you rebuild?

In this episode we hear Jake's story of going from being broken to finding hope in a new life and new perspective. Jake Tyson was once the sweetheart of the US TV circuit as The Handsome Handyman. He played up to the media and played down his debilitating mental health issues and unhealthy coping mechanisms, like alcohol abuse. When the GFC hit, and his marketing business Redback Tools started to tank, he found himself at his lowest point. Standing at the edge of a cliff, ready to end it all, he cried out for help. What he received transformed him forever and he stepped back a different man. With an indescribable download of understanding about love, life and the energy of the universe, he changed his life and set out to help others.

Mitch Wallis speaks to Costa Zacharia, a well known Sydney barber with a huge heart, who shares a lesson for all of us on finding the courage to be who we really are.

In this episode we cover:

• Learning to love himself for who he is, as a proud gay man.
• The battle to express his true self in the face of religion and its views on sexuality.
• What it was like to experience the moment of acceptance from his father, and how he learned to dance with his demons.
• How to find courage to be who we really are, regardless of sexuality or lifestyle.