The Substitute Therapists

Join us today for our final episode! Here's to 17 Episodes of The Substitute Therapists! We really cannot thank everyone enough - whoever you are, wherever you are (if there is anyone out there at all!). 

Thank you so much to all those who have tuned in, interacted with our Instagram and supported us in this whirlwind of a year. 

Here's to normalising the conversations around EVERYONE's mental health, here's to generating conversations whenever possible and providing an open space in which to do so. 

We have so appreciated the space FuseFM have given us this past year and hope that we have used it well. Just because we are gone however, does not mean the conversations around mental health should stop! So please keep starting these discussions however difficult they may sometimes be and keep using your voices to spread awareness, empathy and kindness. 

Whilst this is goodbye for now, please do always feel free to send us over any questions or come for a chat and virtual cuppa via our Instagram: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm

This week in our penultimate episode we have (a rather self-indulgent!) reflection on this year as The Substitute Therapists. 

We chat about our favourite episodes, which episodes were hardest to record and what we hope we have contributed to the much wider conversation surrounding mental health and wellbeing. 

Join us next time for our final episode! Send us over any questions, suggestions or queries via our Instagram: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm

This week we are handing our show over to Darrius and Moni who run their own podcast, Make it Make Sense. From the beginning of The Substitute Therapists we have always tried to reiterate that we do not have all the experiences of mental health. We have both always wanted this show to be a platform for all voices and experiences, not just our own. With this comes acknowledging when you don't have the authority to speak on a topic and the importance of stepping aside to listen to, engage with and amplify other people's voices and experiences. 

TW: Conversation around racism including fetishisation, micro-aggressions and many other experiences. If you are feeling particularly vulnerable or are not in the right headspace for this discussion then please come back another time or skip to the next episode. 

A message from Darrius who co-hosts this week's episode: Hello to all the listeners of The Substitute Therapists. I am Darrius and this week my friend Moni and I have taken over the show to discuss our own experiences with race, identity and how we feel people can best support us. At the best of times, it's hard for me to explain the full extent of how racism and it's many branching categories affects me mentally. The physical effects and remedies I explain often, but this is the first proper time I've been given the space to talk and even fully think about the mental impact in such detail. Thank you so much to Poppy and Callum and I hope that everyone learns something from what Moni and I speak about so you can continue your allyship against racism. 

New episodes every week. Send us over any questions, suggestions or queries via our Instagram: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm

Today's episode centres around the perceptions, realities and narratives surrounding men's mental health. How the experience of men's mental health changes in varying environments and how it has been and continues to be presented on television and social media. We are very fortunately joined by Jonah this week who speaks very candidly about his own relationship with his mental health. 

Whilst Poppy is unable to speak with as much authority on this week's topic, we believe anyone and everyone should be involved in this very important conversation. There is much to be learnt and taken away from a conversation even if one cannot directly relate or contribute to what is being discussed. Callum and Jonah lead this week, talking about outside societal pressures, stereotypes and their own personal experiences. 

New episodes every week. Send us over any questions, suggestions or queries via our Instagram: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm

This week we will be discussing how to support those around you whether friends, family or strangers. We often speak about supporting ourselves but from our polls many listeners expressed the desire to have a conversation about how to support others. 

It can be difficult to navigate how to support loved ones; to know exactly what will help or if you're doing too much or too little. So join us this week for some useful tips and tricks and myself and Callum reflecting on our own experiences. We will also be reading out some of our followers' ideas of how to best support others and also what sort of support our followers have found most beneficial and healthy from their friends. 

New episodes every week. Send us over any questions, suggestions or queries via our Instagram: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm

TW: In our conversation today we will be touching on the topics of sexual harassment, assault, murder and suicide. So if you are feeling particularly sensitive to this sort of conversation or not in the right headspace to listen at the moment, then please skip this episode and join us again next week. 

This episode we hit pause and take a moment to reflect. It was probably one of the toughest episodes we have had to record. It's so important to take a step back sometimes, to just reflect, feel your feelings and check-in with how you're doing. 

We reflect on the damaging effect that negative discourse in the media can have on one's mental wellbeing, we talk about the Vote of No Confidence in the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester and reflect on recent news which has put a spotlight on women's safety, harassment and sexual assault. 

New episodes every week. Send us over any questions, suggestions or queries via our Instagram: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm

This week, we are so lucky to have @ciara_ewingx join us for a conversation surrounding women's sexual and menstrual health. We reflect on sex education lessons in school, what we wish we had been taught or known, our 'period/sex chats' with our mums and also our experiences with Endometriosis. 

Whilst Callum is unable to speak with as much authority on this week's topic, we believe anyone and everyone should be involved in what is a very important conversation. Poppy and Ciara however do lead this week, talking about the realities of sexual pleasure, sexual health, menstrual health, Endometriosis and the potential impact of all, on one's mental health.

March is also Endometriosis Awareness Month and so we wanted to use our show this week as a platform in which to raise awareness and promote Ciara and Poppy's own personal experiences, worries and opinions too. 

New episodes every week; send us over any questions, suggestions or queries via our Instagram: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm

Join us this week for a discussion surrounding our relationship to our bodies, body positivity, learning to love yourself and your inner beauty. We discuss not only in living in the age of social media and influencers but how the pandemic too has made us rethink or re-evaluate our relationship between body and mind. How do you strengthen and consolidate that relationship between mind and body? 

We open up about some personal experiences, supporting friends, what we wish we had been taught or known before being plunged into the world of social media and signpost some helpful Instagram accounts that we find useful in supporting our relationship between mind and body and some accounts which hold experiences we ourselves do not have the authority to speak about. 

New episodes every week; send us over any questions, suggestions or queries via our Instagram: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm

Join us in our first week back in Semester 2 where we reflect on the past two months, Christmas holidays and then talk about our current positions in university and life and what the upcoming semester has in store! 

This semester's shows are now live on FuseFM at a different and shorter period of time compared to last term, at 3-4pm every Saturday. But as always, all episodes will be available after in podcast form via Spotify or other music platforms. 

As always, we want to keep this a two-way and open conversation so please get in touch! New episodes every week; send us over any questions, suggestions or queries via our Instagram: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm

Join us in the final week of Semester 1 where we reflect back on the year and how every single person should be so proud of themselves for simply having gotten through it. We respond to polls and questions from our Instagram and look back at our first Semester as The Substitute Therapists. 

We are so grateful to everyone who has tuned into our weekly shows or caught up with them in podcast form. Bring on 2021 when we will be back in February with new topics and themes each week and as always, please continue sending us over questions, suggestions and queries via our Instagram page: @thesubstitutetherapists.fm