Two Sackville therapists are launching a new podcast this week they hope will help people take a more proactive approach to mental health.
Take Back Today, hosted by licensed counselling therapists Krista Royama and Marie Reinsborough-Wadden, focuses on practical strategies that listeners can use in their everyday lives before stress and other challenges become overwhelming.
“I think the podcast really is a way for us to use our skills that we’ve built over the years and our knowledge to really help people get access to good mental health strategies, but not reactive mental health strategies based on maybe something like a pre-existing crisis,” said Royama.
Royama and Reinsborough-Wadden said they’ve been talking about the idea for several years. Eventually, those conversations turned into a podcast.
“It’s called Take Back Today. So it’s really about empowerment,” said Reinsborough-Wadden. “We’ve picked up little tidbits of knowledge that have been professionally helpful, but personally very life changing.”
For Reinsborough-Wadden, part of the appeal is making those conversations available outside of a counselling office.
“There’s this element of accessibility to mental health that we’d like to kind of break down those barriers and just share some of those tidbits with others so that they can in turn kind of take back their day,” she said.
Producer Sam Royama said the project resonated with him because many of the conversations and skills around mental health are not necessarily things everyone grows up learning.
“I don’t know if the average person out there really has all of that knowledge and skill,” he said.
Some episodes will tackle anxiety and stress. Others will focus on simple strategies listeners can try themselves.
“One thing that we would like to focus on in the podcast is having something literally that a person can take away with them,” said Royama. “We’ll have common strategies like grounding techniques, breathing techniques and what have you, but also thinking outside the box.”
Much of the material comes directly from conversations the pair have in their counselling work.
Royama said anxiety, uncertainty and worries about the future are among the concerns that come up most often in conversations with clients and in the community.
“Anxiety is prevalent for sure,” said Royema. “Whether it’s social anxiety, generalized anxiety, even fears of the future, the what-if kind of stuff.”
Reinsborough-Wadden said many people are still navigating uncertainty and change, something she believes has made conversations around mental health more important.
“I think life is really difficult sometimes for all of us, which is why mental health is such a key conversation piece,” she said.
Royama said one lesson she hopes listeners take away is that people don’t have to expect the same level of energy from themselves every day.
“Sometimes people need to hear or be given permission that we get up in the morning and we try to have 100 per cent energy for the day, but that’s not reality,” she said.
The first episode of Take Back Today is scheduled to be released on June 30.
https://www.facebook.com/TakeBackTodayPodcast
