Welcome to summer! In today’s episode, I’m sharing tips for good health, plus some reviews on my book (thank you!) and the need to raise awareness; all in an effort to help people and communities be as healthy as they can be.

Today's episode is highlighting an upcoming FASD Conference scheduled for the Fall which focuses on breaking stigma and supporting success in a complex world. 

Angela is honoured to be a part of this amazing event to help share information from the frontline and family perspective in our effort to build more inclusive service delivery systems and communities.

Check out the website for more details on the conference and please pay attention to the call for art to celebrate the beauty and creativity that comes from people with complicated and beautiful brains.

So many times our past continues to interfere with our day to day existence in disruptive ways. Often we allow our distressing past experiences to continue to alter our world view and our view of our self.

Have a listen to this episode to hear about some of the ways that we can make peace with our past and move towards our values with more wisdom and resilience.  

Check out the website for more details and tips that we all can benefit from.

In this episode, I will share my experience from the Newfoundland FASD Conference that I was honoured to speak at this past week. We had an amazing time meeting so many people who are so committed to making a difference: reducing stigma and raising awareness for people with complicated and beautiful brains.

We met so many resilient people with some traumatic yet hopeful and inspiring stories to tell. 

Visit my website to read and share the CBC article mentioned in this episode, because it’s a story that needs to be told!

In this episode, as Angela heads to Newfoundland to speak at a conference on FASD, we recognize the impact proper education and awareness can have on prevention when it comes to prenatal alcohol expose. Increasing awareness can dramatically change the landscape of FASD in a relatively short period of time.

It’s so important to have these conversations and to bring them home to your own kitchen table.

Today's episode is focused on how many people struggle with life's challenges and mental illness alone, and so often their method involves self medicating with substances. 

Addictions often result from untreated trauma or mental illness. In fact, I've been in this helping profession for a very long time, and I've never seen addiction without an underlying mental health issue that has been left unattended.

Let's keep the conversation going around what can be very helpful and do what we can to prevent our loved ones from 'going it alone' and taking longer to recover than maybe they would have if help was sought after sooner. 

We're including a powerful song in here by Katy Topham who speaks to this issue in a beautiful and compassionate way. I believe that this song will play a role in bringing these conversations back to our kitchen tables. 

Head to the website to listen to the full song and to access additional resources.

Can finding joy in other peoples successes be the secret to our own happiness?

I learned a new word! Freudenfreude - the opposite of Schadenfreude. Let's talk about the mental health benefit of being genuinely happy for others when they experience joy or success.  

“Acts of service, being happy for others, all some of the little things to help bring us joy and peace in this busy hectic and unbalanced life!” ~ Toronto Star April 20, 2023 - By Christine Sismondo

May is mental health awareness month. Let's take some time to learn a few facts and stats, and to further understand the ongoing impact of poverty and stigma on overall wellbeing. We will also explore opportunities to promote mental wellness while doing what we can to prevent both the impact and the instances of mental illness and other hidden complex neurodevelopmental disorders.

Check out the website for additional resources to learn more.

How much is too much when it comes to screen time? Yet another pressure we put on parents that is so hard to define and sometimes manage. Let's talk about quality and not quantity. Four things to consider; mitigate, mindful usage, modelling healthy usage, and minimizing.

This episode focuses on the results of an article published by Futurity.org which shares the findings of mice studies indicating direct impact from male alcohol consumption on the pregnancy including "a profound shift in the organization of the face."

Let's bring this topic home to our Kitchen Table Conversations because it's up to all of us to support healthy pregnancies, and there is no wiser investment in the world.

Visit the website to read the article.