In this episode of the podcast Andy speaks with his close friend April Kane.

They have known each other some 20 years, she has the unique perspective  of  being  a wife, a mother, a Veteran herself, married to a Veteran and  current first responder.  April is also a specialist psychologist in the mental health area.   

Indecisive about her direction post high school, April  became interested in  Psychology.   As a child growing up  overseas and a chance comment by her Mum, April found herself walking into the recruiters office and leaving as a Navy Electronic Warfare Linguist.  Testing with a high score and being told it was a high security role,  sounded pretty exciting.  So off to basic training at HAMS Cerberus, Melbourne.   You learn quickly about team work, pushing yourself and challenges which is fine as it wasn’t intended as a long term career.   April explains her rationale at that time and under the guidance of an RAF Warrant Officer she found a facilitator.    Then she was enrolled in an  undergraduate Batchelor Of Science Psychology part time.  They touch on repurposing military skills post ADF.

On her first trip from Melbourne to Perth April discovered she was prone to acute seasickness.

Navy Postings after that were difficult with her being non functional at sea.   Eventually the Navy had to make a decision but not before April became extremely stressed prior to the beginning of each working week as her mental health suffered.  Literally dreading every week for 12 months and lots  of judgement in that  “it couldn’t possibly be THAT bad.”  One incident left her extremely exposed in front of her shipmates.   Psychologically it was a very difficult for April with diminished responsibilities in her team due to continued sea sickness.   Recriminating self talk, an inability to perform her job but craving  the life she trained for and unable to follow through.   There  was no control and certainly as she waited for an alternative direction  on “short postings.”   

Stay tuned for the concluding episode to Aprils journey in part 2 where they explore  inside a Veteran/First Responder relationships.

Contact -  April Kane
Website: https://greatmindstherapy.com.au/
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