In this episode, I’m joined by Kerri Anne Schnoor from Earth Goddess Healing for a cosy, nourishing discussion about the mental health benefits of eating warm, wholesome foods during winter. Kerri Anne shares how seasonal shifts influence our mood, energy, and digestion, and why choosing comforting, nutrient‑rich meals can help us feel more grounded and emotionally supported through the colder months.

We explore simple, accessible ways to bring warmth into your daily routine — from slow‑cooked meals to grounding ingredients that help steady the nervous system. Kerri Anne also offers a free downloadable guide filled with winter‑friendly recipes and gentle tips to help you care for both body and mind this season.

This is a soft, heart‑centred conversation for anyone wanting to feel more nourished, balanced, and connected during winter.

Book a clarity call with Kerri Anne today or download her free book - Winter Wellness Guide

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental HealthMatters: Voices of Change, please complete the form on my website - https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/mental-health-matters-voices-of-change-podcasts/

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces wherecreativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information: ⁠⁠For more information check out my website - ⁠Mindful Arts Therapy - Mental Health Matters Voices of Change⁠

🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.

Welcome to Mental Health Matters: Voices of Change. Today we’re opening a conversation about connection — the kind we build slowly, moment by moment, simply by showing up for one another. Our guest, Aislinn Sharp, brings a rare honesty to both her music and her advocacy as an RUOK Ambassador. Her work reminds us that reaching out doesn’t have to be complicated; it begins with small acts of care that can make a profound difference.

As we begin this episode, I want to share the four simple steps from RUOK that guide so many of these meaningful conversations. First, Ask R U OK? Second, Listen — with presence, without rushing to fix.Third, Encourage Action — gently supporting someone to take a step toward help.And finally, Check In — returning to the conversation because ongoing care matters.

These steps are at the heart of Aislinn’s message and at the heart of this podcast: that connection is something we all have the power to create.

Discover more about Aislinn's amazing music - Aislinn Sharp

If you would like to know more about RU OK Day - Please visit - RUOK Australia

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental HealthMatters: Voices of Change, please complete the form on my website - https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/mental-health-matters-voices-of-change-podcasts/

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces wherecreativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information:

⁠ ⁠Mindful Arts Therapy - Mental Health Matters Voices of Change⁠

🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.

In this episode of Mental Health Matters: Voices of Change, singer–songwriter Steffii shares how songwriting has become a powerful anchor in her mental health journey. Through honest lyrics and heartfelt storytelling, music has helped her navigate difficult moments and transform them into something meaningful.

Steffii also reflects on experience on being on The Voice,Australia and on becoming a finalist in the Listen Up Music Mental Health Songwriting Prize, a recognition that celebrates artists using their voice to inspire connection, courage, and change.

Get your Steffii fix here, updates about her appearances andmore - https://steffii.com.au/

If you’d like to join Steffii you can book your tickets onSteffii’s website or here - The SongwritingPrize | Empower Music & Mental Health — Join Now — Listen Up Music

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental HealthMatters: Voices of Change, please complete the form on my website - https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/mental-health-matters-voices-of-change-podcasts/

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces wherecreativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information:⁠For more information check out my website - ⁠Mindful Arts Therapy - Mental Health Matters Voices of Change⁠

 🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.

Today on Mental Health Matters, we’re joined by Kim Franklin — the recording artist behind Blank Instrument — whose work is quietly reshaping the musical landscape. Kim’s journey as a singer‑songwriter is one of courage, curiosity, and deep emotional honesty, and in our conversation she opens up about the moments that shaped her path, including the profound gratitude she feels for a bequest that helped bring her long‑awaited album to life.

Kim is a rising star who moves effortlessly between genres, blending folk, country, indie and alternative textures into something uniquely her own. Her versatility isn’t just musical — it’s emotional. She writes from the places where change, grief, hope, and reinvention meet, and her ability to bridge those worlds is part of what makes her voice so compelling.

In this episode, we explore her creative evolution, the generosity that supported her dream, and the way she continues to carve out space for authenticity in an industry that often asks artists to fit neatly into one box. Kim doesn’t fit the box — she expands it.

Settle in for a conversation that is tender, thoughtful, and full of the kind of insight that reminds us why stories like hers matter.

Discover more about Blank Instrument - Blank Instrumentor follow her socials @blankinstrument

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental HealthMatters: Voices of Change, please complete the form on my website - https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/mental-health-matters-voices-of-change-podcasts/

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces wherecreativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information check out my website - ⁠Mindful Arts Therapy - Mental Health Matters Voices of Change⁠

🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.

Today on Mental Health Matters: Voices of Change, I’m speaking with the remarkable Nesha Mistry — the creative force behind Canvas Creations. Nesha’s work is deeply informed by her lived experience: years marked by bullying, heartbreak, and the kind of profound loneliness that can shape a person’s inner world. She has also lived through the experience of suicide, and her story includes themes of self‑harm and survival.

These topics will be part of our conversation, so I invite you to listen gently. If you need to pause, step away, or seek professional support, please honour what you need.

Nesha shares her story with honesty and courage, reflecting on the moments that almost broke her and the small, unexpected lifeline that helped her begin again — a simple box of paints. What started as a quiet act of self‑preservation slowly grew into a creative practice that now helps others feel seen, supported, and less alone.

Through Canvas Creations, Nesha transforms pain into colour, connection, and hope. Her art isn’t just a creative outlet; it became a pathway back to herself. And today, she’s here to share that journey with us — a story of resilience, creativity, and the power of lived experience to spark change.

You can see Nesha’s work and learn more about what she does here - Nesha_Canvas Creations

And listen and follow her podcast - Vulnerable Voices

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental HealthMatters: Voices of Change, please complete the form on my website - https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/mental-health-matters-voices-of-change-podcasts/

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces wherecreativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information check out my website - Mindful Arts Therapy - Mental Health Matters Voices of Change

🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.

In this special episode, I’m delighted to share a recent conversation I had with Robyn Hunter on Alice’s Restaurant. We spoke about my new book, The Healing Power of Mindful Arts Therapy, and explored how gentle creative practices can help us reconnect with ourselves, soften old patterns, and find steadiness in difficult seasons of life.

Robyn asked such thoughtful questions, and together we touched on the heart of why mindful art-making matters — especially for women who have spent years caring for others before themselves. I’m so pleased to bring this interview to you here on the podcast, and I hope it offers a moment of calm inspiration in your day.Grab a copy of my book - The Healing Power of Mindful Arts Therapy

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental Health Matters: Voices of Change, please complete the form on my website - https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/mental-health-matters-voices-of-change-podcasts/

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces where creativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information: Mindful Arts Therapy

🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.

Today on Mental Health Matters: Voices of Change, I’m joined by artist and filmmaker Andy Ferguson, whose work is a quiet act of courage and connection. Andy approaches strangers—everyday people going about their lives—and invites them to pause, open up, and share a piece of their story on film.

Through these conversations, he captures something rare: the unpolished, authentic humanity that sits beneath the surface of us all. His portraits don’t just show a face; they reveal a moment of truth, vulnerability, and presence.

Find out more about Andy's amazing work:

http://fergusonfilms.org/

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental Health Matters: Voices of Change, please complete the form on my website - https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/mental-health-matters-voices-of-change-podcasts/

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces where creativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information:

⁠⁠https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/⁠⁠

🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.

Mental Health Matters: Voices of Change — with Kerri‑AnneSchnoor

In today’s episode, I’m joined by the insightful and deeply passionate Kerri‑Anne Schnoor for a conversation that so many of us need but rarely hear spoken with this much clarity and compassion. Together, we explore the powerful connection between gut health, everyday nourishment, and our mental wellbeing — not through trends or pressure, but through simple, supportive choices that help us feel morebalanced from the inside out.

Kerri‑Anne brings a refreshing blend of science, livedexperience, and kindness, reminding us that caring for our gut is really another way of caring for our whole self. It’s a gentle, eye‑opening conversation that invites you to rethink what “healthy eating” can feel like — calm, doable, and deeply grounding.

Discover more about Kerri-Anne’s amazing work here, on herwebsite:

https://earthgoddesshealing.com.au/

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental HealthMatters: Voices of Change, please complete the form on my website - https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/mental-health-matters-voices-of-change-podcasts/

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces where creativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information:

⁠⁠https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/⁠⁠

🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.

Today I’m joined by someone whose work feels like asteadying hand on the shoulder—Lilly Gonoratsky from Beyond Roots Counselling. Lilly is a trauma‑informed therapist with extensive experience in EMDR and Somatic Therapy, and she brings a beautifully gentle, deeply informed presence to the healing process.

Her approach is grounded, compassionate, and quietlypowerful. Lilly has a way of helping people reconnect with their bodies, their stories, and their inner resources without ever overwhelming them. Through EMDR, she supports clients in safely processing trauma and reshaping thepatterns that keep them stuck. And through somatic work, she helps them tune into the wisdom of the body—those subtle sensations and signals that often hold the key to real, lasting change.

What I love about Lilly’s style is how accessible she makescomplex therapeutic concepts. She explains things with clarity and warmth, creating a space where people feel both informed and deeply cared for.

I’m so excited to share this conversation with you.

Discover more about Lilly's work on her website:

https://beyondrootscounselling.com/

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental Health Matters: Voices of Change, please complete the form on my website - https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/podcasts/

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces wherecreativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information:

⁠⁠https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/⁠⁠

🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.

Some voices carry the weight of lived experience and thelight of hope. Craig Sotkovsky is one of those voices. His journey reflects resilience, self-discovery, and the power to turn adversity into meaningful change.

A 9/11 Ground Zero volunteer and lung cancer survivor, Craighas faced profound challenges and emerged with a renewed purpose. Beyond survival, he has built success as a real estate investor and transformational coach, guiding others to unlock their potential.

Through his work, Craig bridges the gap between mindset and mastery—helping people grow personally, spiritually, and professionally. His story is not only about overcoming hardship, but about inspiring transformation and empowering others to rise into their own strength.

Discover more about Craig here -

https://www.craigsotkovsky.com/

Be My Guest

If you’re interested in being a guest on Mental Health Matters: Voices of Change, please comment and Susan will be in touch.

About Mindful Arts Therapy

Mindful Arts Therapy creates safe, empowering spaces wherecreativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, reflection, and trauma‑informed practice, it supports mental health by helping people of all ages build resilience, express emotions, and reconnect with their inner strength.

For more information:

⁠⁠https://mindfulartstherapy.com.au/⁠⁠

🛑 Disclaimer: This episode does not replace professional mental or physical health care. Please consult a qualified therapist or medical practitioner for personalized support.