The Trauma & Mental Health Report Podcast

In today’s episode, Contributing Writer Kiana Chanté Gillings McArthur speaks with Ifrah Ahmed, survivor and global advocate against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). They explore the psychological and emotional impact of FGM on survivors, the systemic barrier to mental health support, and the resilience required to transform personal trauma into global advocacy. The conversation also sheds light on how FGM continues to violate the rights of women and girls worldwide, exploring the cultural, ethical, and psychological complexities of the practice while highlighting pathways to healing and change.

In this episode, Contributing Writer Dante Lewis-Chan sits down with Dr. Anita Tucker, a Professor of Social Work at the University of New Hampshire, where her work focuses on outdoor and adventure therapy. She is also the co-coordinator of the Outdoor Research Collaborative. Together, we explore how outdoor and adventure therapy works and its effectiveness in treating clients, as well as issues surrounding accessibility, research, and inclusion.

In today’s episode, we will be talking with Dr. Amori Mikami, who is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia, a Canada Research Chair in Clinical Child Psychology, and a registered clinical psychologist. Among her research includes the Promoting Relationships in Social Media (or PRISM) project, which has been interested in promoting positive usage of social media to mitigate the negative effects that can stem from excessive usage. Today we will be discussing the impact of social media, and how while the pervasive social media use in today’s culture presents adverse effects, including self-presentation pressures, social comparison, envy, and FOMO, new research indicates using social media mindfully and with intention reduces these effects, while promoting positive outcomes.

In today’s episode, The Trauma and Mental Health Report's contributing writer, Sophie Wagner, speaks with Dr. Lucy Vorobej, a historian and post-doctoral fellow at the Wilson Centre for Education Research, University Health Network and University of Toronto, about the influence of white settler colonialism on healthcare and mental health care system disparities for Indigenous populations. By taking a systems approach to questions about how these disparities came to exist, they address the importance of truth before meaningful reconciliation and listening to Indigenous voices.

In this episode, Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria and Researcher Dr. Alyssa Maryn joins the Trauma and Mental Health Report’s podcast to discuss the experiences of men who once identified as incels. We discuss what draws individuals to incel communities, the struggles and circumstances that sustain this identity, and the factors that help former incels leave.

As social media grows, our connections to the people we see on screens continue to deepen. The term “parasocial relationship” has been spreading through online discourse, but are these relationships inherently negative? In this episode, writer Natalie Joly speaks with Dr. Gayle Stever, an expert in parasocial relationships and author of Parasocial Experiences and The Psychology of Celebrity. They discuss common misconceptions surrounding these nuanced relationships and how the term is often misunderstood and misrepresented.

As AI tools like ChatGPT become part of everyday life, more people are turning to them for advice, comfort, and even therapy. But can artificial intelligence truly take on the role of a mental health provider? In this episode, writer Niemat Yusuf speaks with Dr. William Agnew, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, whose work examines the ethics of AI and its impact on marginalized communities. Together, they explore what current research reveals about AI’s potential and its limits in emotional support.

In this episode of the Trauma and Mental Health Report’s podcast, contributing writer Amanda Fernandes interviews Dr. Stephen Lewis, Associate Professor in psychology and Research Leadership Chair at the University of Guelph. His research has focused extensively on lived experiences in mental health, as well as non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among youth and young adults. Together we delve into his co-authored paper exploring diagnosed and undiagnosed mental health difficulties among school, clinical, and counselling psychologists, and graduate students. Dr. Lewis draws on his own lived experiences and academic expertise to advocate against the stigmas that have prevented applied psychologists from disclosing and addressing their mental health struggles. He provides meaningful insights into the topic of clinician effectiveness given mental health struggles, and poses several avenues of future research and change.

In this episode, Trauma and Mental Health Report writer Adrian Parham interviews Dr.

In this episode, Trauma and Mental Health Report writer Sierrah Hamilton interviews