I’m joined in the studio by beatbox artist Dan aka Beat Cleaver in the middle of his festival tour season!

We talk about Dan’s journey into beatboxing and how his mental health has been affected by and also had an effect on shaping his creative outlet.

Dan shares some personal and deeply honest experiences that he’s had along his path and we get into a conversation about drugs, trauma, mental health and recovery.

We also chat about ADHD, neurodiversity and Dan’s experience of working in SEN schools as a teaching assistant.

Dan very kindly shows off his beatboxing skills with a live, improvised intro & outro!

You can find out more about Dan & links to his socials here:

https://linktr.ee/beat_cleaver

Human Being Mental website & socials links:

https://koji.to/Human_Being_Mental

**Trigger warning!** This episode contains references to subjects that some people may find disturbing. Please read the show notes before watching, thanks!

I’m joined by Liam Kennedy, mental health warrior. We talk about Liam’s struggle with physical and mental health and what led him to want to help other people who are struggling.

Liam tells us how he battled and won against stage 3 cancer and recalls the experience of going through several rounds of chemotherapy, including how that affected him afterwards.

We talk about how Liam experienced PTSD & depression after a traumatic experience where he was raped as a child. This led to suicide attempts in later life and after he had a moment of realisation, he went into therapy, began to heal his trauma and started his recovery.

We also talk about Liam’s poetry, his social media videos and how it’s helped both him and other people to find strength and hope. He very kindly reads out a few of his poems for us during the episode!

Liam’s message is “never give up” and honestly it’s so fitting for him; he’s so determined, so full of hope, positivity and the desire to better himself - despite his ongoing physical health issues. I really do think this guy is a superhero!

Links below for Liam’s socials and also the link to his published book of poetry on Amazon.

Instagram: @mental_health_warrior_87

Facebook: Liam Kennedy

TikTok: @mentalhealthwarrior87

Email: [email protected]

Liam’s Book - From Tears To Glory: https://amzn.eu/d/0hr3LsL

Human Being Mental website & socials links:

https://koji.to/Human_Being_Mental

Rich is joined by author and mental health advocate/public speaker James Lindsay.

James has experienced being sectioned twice and suffers with schizoaffective disorder.

James tells the amazing story of his journey, recovery and how it inspired him to write a book about his experience.

They also talk about mental health awareness, therapy, medications and ways of staying mentally healthy.

You can buy James’s book here:

https://amzn.eu/d/eSnvh0u

James‘s Instagram:

https://instagram.com/jameslindsay_23?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Human Being Mental website & socials links:

https://koji.to/Human_Being_Mental

Rich is joined by yoga teacher & therapist Kate Holly for a chat about Kate’s Journey into all things yoga, including yoga therapy, stand-up-paddle-board yoga and even goat yoga!

They also chat about the mind/body/spirit connection, finding ‘stillness’ and accessing higher self, the benefits of adding yoga into your life and how it can help you to exercise as well as finding a sense of peace. You can find out more about Kate’s yoga classes here:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/yogawithkitty/?ref=share

Human Being Mental website & socials links:

https://koji.to/Human_Being_Mental

Rich is joined by Gavin Thorpe. Gavin is the co-founder and co-CEO of the mental health charity Talk Club. He is also a counsellor, musician and songwriter. In this podcast they talk about Gavin’s life journey, creativity, men’s mental health, all about Talk Club, counselling/therapy and also “how are you out of 10?”.

You can find out more about Talk Club here:

www.talkclub.org

Human Being Mental website & socials links:

https://koji.to/Human_Being_Mental

Rich is joined by Counsellor & Embodiment Therapist Caroline Lee-Smith for a chat about what embodiment therapy is, how it works and what it’s useful for. Caroline even demonstrates some of the methods of working with Rich being in a “client” role.

They also discuss mental health in Society, the need for more services and support, the important difference between a practitioner and a counsellor/therapist, the similarities between creative therapy and embodiment therapy and also the psycho-educational side of counselling. You can find out more about Caroline and her private practice here:

https://www.carocounselling.co.uk

https://www.bacp.co.uk/therapists/392342/caroline-lee-smith/

Human Being Mental Socials and contact:

https://koji.to/Human_Being_Mental

Website:

www.humanbeingmental.co.uk

Artist & musician David Kemp returns for another fun conversation with Rich. This time they talk about how we understand and perceive fear, some of the issues causing disconnection in society, finding a sense of self-identity and what that means, how narratives define us and, of course, the mechanism of the archetypes! 😂.

We go out into Bristol again and interview members of the public about various mental health and well-being topics. As always we met some amazing people and got some very varied opinions!

For this episode Rich is joined by Sean Flynn. Sean is a creative therapist, clinical supervisor, counselling tutor, artist & neuroscientist; to name a few!

They discuss what effective therapy looks like and why sometimes even therapy itself is the problem! We talk about the importance of clients being the expert on themselves and having ownership of their therapeutic experience.

Internal family systems (IFS) therapy is a method of understanding and working with the self. They briefly talk about the origins of IFS, before discussing how it works, how it can be applied and some of the benefits of working this way. Rich also shares some personal experiences from his own journey of working with IFS.

Sean uses a brilliant analogy of digital photographs to illustrate how an ADHD brain works compared to a non-ADHD brain!

Find out more about Sean:

www.embodiedthoughts.com

Email: [email protected]

Human Being Mental website:

www.humanbeingmental.co.uk

Human Being Mental Social Links:

https://koji.to/Human_Being_Mental

I’m joined by Dan Rowe from the amazing charity Andy’s Man Club; an organisation dedicated to men’s mental health support and suicide prevention.

Dan explains the background and history of AMC as well as the incredibly popular spread of their free weekly meetings which started off with one club in 2016 and now covers over 130 separate venues across the country! We also talk about the future of AMC and the mission they have dedicated themselves to.

Dan tells us about some of the ways in which AMC can help men of all ages and backgrounds, from providing a safe space to talk openly and unburden yourself to meeting people with similar interests, making new friends and changing the path of your life.

We talk about some of the current issues in society that impact men’s mental health and some of the barriers guys face to accessing support when they need it most.

Oh and of course we couldn’t not mention the recent episode of Emmerdale Farm that showcased an Andy’s Man Club meeting as part of an ongoing storyline about mental health for one of their main male characters!

To find out more about Andy’s Man Club or to find your local meeting go to:

www.andysmanclub.co.uk

Human Being Mental Website:

www.humanbeingmental.co.uk

Social Media Links:

https://koji.to/Human_Being_Mental