How are you doing?

It's a question I have asked my friends, my family, my colleagues and plenty of strangers during the last year. It's been a hard year for many in our community due to the pandemic. I think it's fair to say we've all had to deal with various mental health challenges. 

As we approach one year of the Covid-19 pandemic here in Saskatoon, it seemed like the right time to see how we are all doing in terms of our mental health. I am grateful that Samantha Horswill and Colleen McBride agreed with the timing and to appear on the podcast.

Dr. Samantha Horswill is a Registered Psychologist at Chartier Arnold Shimp and Associates here in Saskatoon. Colleen McBride is a registered social worker and counsellor who has a private practice called The Practice. You might remember Colleen from a Season One episode looking at cancer care in Saskatoon. 

Samantha and Colleen share not only their experiences throughout the pandemic, but so much wisdom and insight when it comes to mental health. You will hear me say several times in this episode, "I am learning so much from you" because, well, it's true! They both explain complex emotions in clear and articulate ways, and I really think you will learn lots from them. 

This episode is a bit longer than most YXE Underground episodes but I really encourage you to listen all the way to end as there are pearls of wisdom sprinkled throughout. I ended up taking two pages of notes when I listened back to our conversation because Samantha and Colleen share much knowledge!

Thank you to Rob Rongve and his team at Rongve Wealth Management Group of RBC Dominion Securities in North Battleford for supporting this episode. 

Please feel free to leave a 5-star review of the podcast on your favourite podcast app and don't forget to subscribe for free to the podcast wherever you find your podcasts. You can also stream episodes on Spotify or at www.yxeunderground.com

Thank you for continuing to support a local, independent podcast! I really do appreciate it. 

I hope you are all doing well. 

Cheers...Eric

• Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
• Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
• Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
• Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis