I'm honoured to be joined by Rev Rob Lee today. Rob is a pastor and author who has bipolar disorder, who is known for his mental health and anti-racism work in the US. 

Today he shares about life of a pastor during a pandemic, the experience of living with bipolar disorder as a pastor in a pandemic, and finding the divine in the midst of times of struggle and trauma. 

He talks about how we need to sit with trauma, how we can find comfort in the midst of difficult times. He also discusses the power of healthy community, including church, to support those facing mental health challenges, and his own experiences of this. 

We end with some thoughts and reflections on what life, church and faith will look like post pandemic, the scars we will carry - and whether will acknowledge them like Jesus did, or hide from them. 

Today author and podcaster Megan K Westra joins me to discuss her new book 'Being Born Again & Again', and the idea that salvation isn't a product, or something we acquire - but an invitation to radical transformation. 

Megan discusses how she learned how the message of the Bible has been twisted and distorted, in particular to serve political / capitalist, purposes and support oppressive, systemically racist systems. She tells me how God is forming a new family, where we all belong, and we're all connected.

Megan shares how she discovered how we can dig back to the roots of the Jesus story, and then allow ourselves to be truly challenged. She tells me the idea that the call of Jesus is a call to acquire, but a message to surrender and be radically transformed - and what this might mean for us.

*****

Get Megan's book wherever books are sold, and find info on her work at meganwestra.com

**Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse**

Today author and domestic abuse survivor Shirley Fessell joins me to share her powerful story of living with and surviving domestic abuse, how she got free - and how she took her story and used it to help others. 

Shirley shares the seven levels of confusion victims of domestic abuse can get drawn into, and several practical steps to get out from under these confusions and find freedom from abuse & the abuser.

She also talks about how evangelical Christianity and church have played a role in enabling abuse and reminds us it is possible to get free, and begin again.

Find her work at: https://shirleyfessel.com/ 

Today my friend Holly Stallcup, Executive Director of Now She Rises, joins me to talk about the challenges of singleness - both coming from an evangelical Christian background and how the global pandemic and lockdown, have created new challenges and issues for single people.

Holly and I are both single so we were able to cover a lot of ground and share some of our own unique experiences as single people and challenges we are facing during lockdown, including loneliness and social disconnection, and its impact on mental health. We also talk about how things might look for singletons going forward in a post pandemic world, as well as acknowledging the gifts and freedoms singleness allows. 

This is an important episode both for singletons and those in couples who know singletons - singleness is an issue we need to discuss and become more aware of collectively, in a culture tilted in favour of coupling, and Holly has some amazing insight into this. 

Today researcher and podcast host Holly Oxhandler Phd, LMSW joins me to talk about how the church can deal better with mental health - in particular during and post pandemic in the new realities it presents.

Holly shares the challenges the church faces dealing with people with mental illness and shares her thoughts on how churches, social workers, therapists and other professionals can work together in a healthier way to provide positive support to those struggling with their mental health. She also shares practical steps churches can take to deal with the issue of mental heath in a much healthier way without stigma. 

Holly also discusses how managing mental health, including in the church, post pandemic, will change and what we need to do to adapt - and how church and mental health professionals need to work together much more and better if we're to deal with the grief and trauma the pandemic had brought us. 

Today author and speaker Marlena Graves returns to the podcast to talk about her new book 'The Way Up Is Down'. We explore how we can grow deeper in our spirituality, and come closer to the divine through emptying ourselves, through the act of surrender and letting go of materiality, ego, and pride - in contrast to how a lot of Western culture and even parts of the church have taught us.

Marlena tells her own story, of her recovery from the grief of leaving a church community which had hurt her, the challenges she faced with her relationship with God and how she came to a place of raw honesty in her interactions with the divine. 

Marlena shares the raw truth about Jesus's example of how when we humble ourselves, surrender, pour ourselves out, it's there we find true intimacy with the divine, and freedom to grow and become more like the Jesus we follow. 

Today I'm joined by Professor of Communication, interdenominational speaker and feature writer Heather Thompson Day. In this episode we discuss communication, and the power of words and stories to shape our lives, our circumstances and our relationships. 

Heather shares how stories are what shape us, how we frame conversations can have an impact on how we work, and our spiritual journey. And she demonstrates how we can influences people's perspectives and opinions much more effectively, and communicate better, when we frame it in the context of story. 

We also talk about how stories can shape our faith journey and our theology way more effectively than any academic, theological argument, because we can all connect over story. She reminds us that the best communicators are the best listeners, and how education allied your own story can make you a very communicator on a topic - but it begins with story. And we end by talking about why the Jesus story is so compelling. 

In this episode Elle Rose returns to talk about being gray ace, demisexual and panromantic. Elle talks about what these are, what they mean and her own experience of self-discovery as she explored and named these core parts of her identity. 

Elle talks about the challenges of acceptance of grays/demisexuals/panromantics both corporately and individually, sharing the challenges she faced accepting herself, as well as being accepted by others, and even by parts of the LGBTQ community, and the impact this can have on emotional and mental health.

Elle's is a story of discovering her true identity and finding peace with herself, and is one which will give hope to other grays. And for non-grays it will help understanding what living gray, demisexual and panromantic means, and allow us to be better allies. 

**Trigger Warning: Domestic abuse, child abuse.**

Today I'm joined by author and mental health activist Joe Potosi. Joe courageously shares his story of childhood trauma and abuse, growing up in a broken home - and how this impacted him and his emotional & mental health. 

Joe shares how he learned surviving does not mean forgetting; instead it means living and not allowing those who have abused us to live rent free in our heads.

Joe's is a story of tenacity, resilience, introspection, redemption and forgiveness, and ultimately triumph over these hardships. In spite of all that Joe endured, after the dust settled he was still standing and was able to rebuild his life again - and use his experiences to help others.

Today I'm joined by activist, artist and creator Elle Rose. In this episode Elle tells her story of living with ADHD, (DPRD Depersonalisation Derealisation Disorder) and depression. We explore in more depth what DPRD is, and what it's like to live with this rarely-discussed condition.

Elle also courageously shares the challenges she had in understanding this for herself, accepting herself and trying to convince both her own family and even medical professionals of this condition - and how this impacted her own emotional health. We discuss the challenges of finding a diagnosis for mental health conditions and how important and helpful it can be.

We also explore just how much ignorance and stigma still exists around mental health, and Ellen shares her own experiences of how even the medical profession and medical system in the US has been so unhelpful - and explains how those with mental health conditions need to push for becoming advocates for ourselves, do our own research, and be partners in our own treatment. 

We also explore Elle's creative journey and making her art has been helpful and therapeutic, finding ways to express feelings she had no words for, and how unconscious things can be unlocked in the creative process. Before ending with a reflection on where we see mental illness in comic book movies & their characters, and how this can be helpful for us.

Elle's is a voice of honesty, courage, solidarity and hope - this is well worth a listen.