Jacoby Ballard is a social justice educator and yoga teacher who leads workshops and trainings around the country on diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a yoga teacher with 20 years of experience, he leads workshops, retreats, teacher trainings, teaches at conferences, and runs the Resonance mentorship program for certified yoga teachers to find their niche and calling.  In 2008, Jacoby co-founded Third Root Community Health Centre in Brooklyn, to work at the nexus of healing and social justice. Since 2006, Jacoby has taught Queer and Trans Yoga, a space for queer folks to unfurl and cultivate resilience and received Yoga Journal's Game Changer Award in 2014 and Good Karma Award in 2016. Jacoby has taught in schools, hospitals, non profit and business offices, a maximum security prison, a recovery centre, a cancer centre, LGBT centres, gyms, a veteran’s centre, and yoga studios. He lives with his partner, child, and innumerable plant friends on unceded Goshute, Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone land, now known as Salt Lake City, Utah. More at jacobyballard.net.

Jacoby's book, A Queer Dharma, is released 23rd November 2021. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Jacoby got into yoga and meditation
• Why did Jacoby write A Queer Dharma
• Forgiveness - this can be so hard in the LGBTQ+ community. 
• How we deal with anger
• Integration of self-love
• The queer and Buddhism link
• Equanimity
• Beyond the physical yoga

Mary Burke is the director of clinical services and senior nurse prescriber at The London Transgender Clinic.

Mary works alongside a varied multidisciplinary team that includes gender specialist psychiatrists, psychologists and endocrinologists to provide a comprehensive, compassionate and supportive care package for all our transgender and non-binary patients from the first consult, through to hormone therapy and surgery. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Hormone therapy and who it is suitable for
• Patient vulnerabilities
• First steps in hormone therapy
• Side-effects with treatment
• Considerations for transgender health

The London Transgender Clinic provides transgender and non-binary individuals with guidance and support for safe and effective care, maximising their health, psycho-social well-being, and self-fulfilment, achieving lasting personal contentment with their gendered selves. This support may include primary care, reproductive options, voice and communication therapy, mental health services (assessment, counselling, psychotherapy), and hormonal and surgical treatments. 

For more information on The London Transgender Clinic, please visit:

https://www.thelondontransgenderclinic.uk/

 

Dr. Evan Goldstein is a nationally renowned anal surgeon and the Founder and CEO of Bespoke Surgical, the leading private practice specialising in an elite standard of sexual health and wellness care in New York City. His practice caters to a wide range of clientele; however, the majority of his patients are LGBTQ+.

Dr. Goldstein is also the Co-Founder of Future Method, an innovative sex care brand that is the result of Dr. Goldstein’s years of experience working with his clients and understanding their sexual needs which has been embraced by people from a wide spectrum of sexualities.

In this episode we discuss:

• Anal care and what gets in the way of enjoying sex
• How to relax and enjoy sex
• Douching 101
• Diet and lifestyle tips for anal sex

For more information on Dr. Goldstein, please visit 

https://bespokesurgical.com/

https://futuremethod.com/

https://www.instagram.com/drevangoldstein/

Dr. Dilan Fernando is a hair transplant surgeon and medical director at The Treatment Rooms London.

Dr Fernando is also an Executive Committee member of the British Association of Hair Restoration Surgery upholding and driving its stringent professional code of conduct when it comes to performing hair transplant surgery.

Dr Fernando speaks about the hair transplant surgery, processes, transgender options and the pros and cons of medical tourism.

For more information about The Treatment Rooms London, please visit their website: www.treatmentroomslondon.com

Blog suggestion mentioned on the podcast:
https://www.bahrs.co.uk/blog/medical-tourism/

 

In this episode, we speak to David Weale about Body Dysmorphia in the gay community. We discuss the root cause, how to identify it as an issue and steps you can take to overcome it.

David Weale is a psychotherapist and psychotherapeutic counsellor. He is a member of UKCP and BACP. Coming from a successful career in education, David retrained as a psychotherapist, firstly as an educational therapist and more latterly as psychotherapist in transactional analysis. He has worked for several years as an honorary psychotherapist at The Terrence Higgins Trust, and London Friend. He specialises in working with gay men and couples.

Gay Men’s Therapy is a specialist psychotherapy and counselling service for gay men and men attracted to men. For more information, please visit: https://www.gaymenstherapy.org.uk/

We talk to Dr Luke Pratsides, who discusses the causes of hair loss. Dr Pratsides discusses the treatment options for those wanting to prevent further hair loss.   Dr Luke Pratsides is Lead GP at Numan and also works for the NHS in East London. He’s dedicated to digital healthcare and committed to opening up difficult conversations about men’s health.    Numan is a new kind of healthcare company that gives men simple and accessible solutions for their health and wellbeing problems such as hair loss and erectile dysfunction. Please visit numan.com for more information.

Tom Sobel is a psychotherapist in private practice in London. He is experienced in treating depression, anxiety, low self esteem, trauma/ PTSD, grief and loss, life changes, sexuality, LGBTQ+ issues, stress, panic disorder and improving confidence. 

In this episode, we go into depth about the topic of perfectionism. It may not be something on the front of your mind but it's very prominent in the LGBTQ+ community. Tom discusses how to identify this and then what to do about it.

Tom is a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (MBACP). For more information about Tom Sobel, please visit https://www.tjscounselling.com/

Robyn is a Clinical Nutritional Therapist with a specialised interest in the Functional Medicine approach to health. Her passion for the healing power of food, has led her to work with complex cases, involving multiple diagnoses, and chronic health issues such as ME, auto-immune diseases and fibromyalgia. Robyn works with patients to nutritionally support their bodies, so that they can heal. She has successfully helped many people around the world improve their health and increase their quality of life.

In this episode we discuss the impact of childhood trauma and stress on chronic health conditions. We discuss fear, neglect and the daily micro-aggressions of past and present that LGBTQ+ people experience and how they impact your health. Robyn explains how to assess your current stress hormone status as well as nutriton and lifestyle modifications which can support your overall health and well-being.

For more information about Robyn then please visit her website: https://www.robynpuglia.com/

Damon Holzum is a sex positive clinical therapist based in L.A. where he sees clients in person and online. He is passionate about working on de-stigmatisation of all things sex and sexual with a focus on the LGBTQ+ community; polyamory, open alternative sexual practices, sex worker, kinked affirmatives, general couples counselling and thoughts and feelings and families.

 

In this episode we discuss: shame and sexuality, Covid-19 and impact on gay men, heteronormative ideals, sexual roles and stigma, shaming within the community and rejection.

 

Chris O'Hanlon is a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Gay Men's Project Coordinator for Positively UK, a peer led HIV charity based in London. He has been involved in HIV campaigning and activism for many years through various different charitable organisations. Before joining Positively UK, Chris worked as a clinical hypnotherapist and sports injury therapist where he has worked with anxiety, depression and a range of phobias, as well as coaching and development.

We talk about

• the importance of supporting people with HIV and addressing the stigma that still exists.
• Chris's journey and diagnosis
• Covid-19 impact
• Medication
• Nutrition
• U=U
• Side-effects
• Where to get advice