Shows
The Pulse“You Said It!” Responses to Trump & Music Legend Shari Ulrich"Send us a text about this episode!"Hosts Dave Graham and Peter McCully explore two significant topics: Donald Trump's controversial suggestion about Canada becoming the 51st state and the possibility of having another Prime Minister from British Columbia. The episode features candid street interviews capturing diverse local opinions on these matters, in a segment entitled “You said It” and includes a passionate response from MP Elizabeth May. The highlight of the episode is an in-depth interview with accomplished musician Shari Ulrich, who shares her journey from the early days with Pied Pumkin to her current projec...
2025-01-1443 min
ReThreading MadnessArt and Peer Support at the Coast Mental Health Resource CentreArt and Peer Support at the Coast Mental Health Resource Centre. Bernadine heads down to Coast Mental Health Resource Centre on Seymour St in downtown Vancouver and speaks with folks about the Art Studio which is open to anyone with a mental health challenge. Betty Yan tells us about the Peer SupportTraining Program that Coast Mental Health has developed and runs. Shahal Bozorgzadeh was trained here as a Peer Support Worker and she describes why this job is so vital to her and those she works with. Shawna Butterwick is a volunteer at the Art Studio and fills us in...
2024-09-201h 00
ReThreading MadnessPathologizing TraumaPathologizing Trauma Trigger Warning: Description of sexual assaults.Andrea takes us on a journey through what her childhood, in the 60s and 70s, was like coping with sexual assaults from several males around her from a very young age both in and outside her family. Like other women growing up in this era, she was assaulted, blamed for it, and then punished for making men do this to her. Andrea fought back. Sexual assaults happened and her family along with the social constructs and institutions, of that time, enabled abusers and covered up t...
2024-09-041h 00ReThreading MadnessCoping with Mental Health Challenges with JaneA KelleyCoping with Mental Health Challenges with JaneA Kelley JaneA Kelley has throughout her life gathered mental health diagnoses. She has Bipolar 2, PTSD, and ADHD. JaneA candidly talks about these diagnoses; what they mean to her; how they complicate or add to her life; and how she copes with them. She talks about finding herself at rock bottom and the things (mostly her cats) who have brought her back forward. She talks of betrayals and of stigma that originate out of misunderstandings and the impact of her challenges. As a writer, it is no wonde...
2024-08-281h 00ReThreading MadnessCan't Eat Love with Leslie DavisCan't Eat Love with Leslie DavisLeslie Davis’ life moved through a haze that didn’t include her own feelings. After what she has deemed an Emotional Tsuunami, she developed a means of accessing her feelings, sorting through them, and then accepting them. For decades now, this process has proven to be a powerful healing tool. Join us as Leslie describes what this process is and how you can do it as well.music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
2024-08-131h 00ReThreading MadnessDoor knobber Diagnosis: Misdiagnosed Borderline PersonalityDoor knobber Diagnosis: Misdiagnosed Borderline PersonalityWhen a client drops a therapeutic bombshell as they are leaving a session, counselors call this a “door knobber”. Lynn came to talk with Bernadine about her experience with the Borderline Personality and the door knobber that her therapist laid on her at the tail end of a phone conversation to terminate therapy. Just before she hung up, Lynn was shocked to hear the therapist say she should consider getting a therapist who works with borderline personality. After working together for 2-years where this was never mentioned, it was a c...
2024-07-221h 00ReThreading MadnessMad Pride Cabaret Vancouver 2024Mad Pride Cabaret Vancouver 2024Have you ever stepped into a room and had a bunch of mad people celebrating the chance to freely be who they are? Well that is what Mad Pride is. In 2024, Vancouver celebrated Mad Pride through the Connection Salon at the Gathering Place downtown. And this program not only talks with three of the performers at Mad Pride it showcases their work. Kagan Goh, curator and artist, brings us his spoken work, Nothing is Forged without Fire. Sandra Yuen, artisit, and David Xhediku, musician, form the band Beautiful Lizards talk about what they s...
2024-07-111h 00ReThreading MadnessRandy Tait on Recovery and CeremonyRandy Tait on Recovery and Ceremony If you had gone to the 33rd Annual Women’s March it would have been hard for you to miss Randy Tait in his red jacket with matching red John Fluevog shoes. He circled the crowd bestowing eagle down on the heads of elders, guardians, and organizers. Randy is from the Nisga’a / Gitksan Nation. He has made Vancouver his home with few interruptions for many decades. He talks with us about his childhood, his addiction to alcohol, how his family and community stepped in and helped get him into recovery...
2024-07-051h 00ReThreading MadnessWhen it is a Therapist who Experiences Therapy Abuse and ExploitationWhen it is a Therapist who Experiences Therapy Abuse and ExploitationShe came on RTM to talk about her own experience of therapy abuse and exploitation at the hands of her psychologist. But she is unable yet to do so using her name. Why? Because she is also a psychologist who fears retribution for speaking out. She chats with Bernadine about her experience of therapy abuse, how her husband sought retribution for the 'affair', how she was treated by the tribunal that processed the complaint against her abuser, and how they put her and her child's safe...
2024-06-231h 00ReThreading MadnessDecolonizing mental health: What is it?Decolonizing mental health: What is it? Norman Leech, is currently the Executive Director for the Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, and was the Executive Director for Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre from 2016-2023. He still works to change the fact that Indigenous people are “over-represented in most negative social health indicators, whether homelessness, incarceration, crime victims, children-in-care, poverty, missing, murdered, income, suicide, life expectancy, and on and on.” (Conference Board of Canada) Norman is from the T’it’q’et community of the St’at’imc nation but was born and raised in East Vancouver. “He draws on his exp...
2024-06-121h 00
ReThreading MadnessRetiring Well with JakeRetirement with Jake Jake is 64 years old. He is retiring in one month. As he is reaching what is what some called the golden age, his life blows up. He is evicted from an affordable residences so that his landlord’s parents can move in. He is in the middle of moving from a disability pension to a regular pension and is not really sure what his income will be. He is drowning in paperwork and he learns that one of his daughters is about to get married and give birth to his first grandchild. Consequently, on top o...
2024-06-041h 00
ReThreading MadnessJason Fareas on Addiction and RecoveryJason Fareas on Addiction and RecoveryFrom his website, Jason describes himself as having an unstable childhood although he is very clear that he was a loved child by the adults in his life. He talks about the development of his addiction and then his involvement in the drug trade. On his podcast, he shares his "journey from addiction to recovery".Jason has his own podcast, My Madness METHod, where he provides a "weekly autobiography of a young man from Northern California’s Central Valley, and a look back on his participation and influence over the 1990s me...
2024-06-011h 00
A Chat with Heart - with Christina MartinShari Ulrich: Award-Winning Canadian Singer-Songwriter and Multi-InstrumentalistChristina chats with award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Shari Ulrich aboutliving on a commune, the role that solitude plays in creativity, life lessons from being in bands, gaining confidence as a front person, listening to your instincts, and a heck of a lot more!For over four decades, accomplished singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shari Ulrich has been winning hearts across North America with her voice, songs and on-stage charisma. A two-time JUNO-winner among other awards, she has recorded 25 albums as a solo artist and with the legendary Pied Pumpkin, The Hometown Band, UHF, BTU and The High Bar...
2024-02-271h 00ReThreading MadnessThe Correlation between Weight and Child Sexual Abuse with Patty CabotThe Correlation between Weight and Child Sexual Abuse with Patty CabotPatty Cabot joins us to talk about her experience of weight loss via coming to terms with the sexual abuse in her childhood. She is the author of "Not That Girl".Music by DG Adams, Robbie Robertson, Meaghan Trainer, and Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
2024-02-071h 00ReThreading MadnessCoping with Grief during the Holidays and AnniversariesCoping with Grief during the Holidays and AnniversariesJennifer O’Brien is grief-experienced. What does that mean? For starters, she has experienced several of her immediate family, including parents, siblings, and husband dying. In working through her grief she created a journal. That journal was published: The Hospice Drs Widow and won numerous prestigious awards. She speaks with Bernadine about grief. Especially grief around holidays and anniversary dates. And she shares what her tools for getting through those dates. Music by David Laronde, Edith Wallace, and Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: ht...
2024-01-241h 00
Mulligan StewChristmas in The Round 2020 RevisitedThis Christmas Stew features the last Christmas in the Round recording we did. The year was 2020 – full Covid lockdown. Many good people lost to this virus. Far too many. We gathered online at Dan Mangan's Sidedoor Access. Shari Ulrich and Barney Bentall. Both on Bowen Island. Opposite Horseshoe Bay! Bill Henderson Not too far down the Georgia Strait on Salt Spring Island. TDM
2023-12-221h 57
Mulligan StewChristmas in the Round 2018 RevisitedThe Rounders are: Shari Ulrich – iconic singer, songwriter, and musician. Roy Forbes – Host of Roy's Record Room and much-admired artist. Barney Bentall – He's everywhere and always making great music. Bringing joy! Shaun Verreault – One half of Wide Mouth Mason. String Slinger. Sings like a bird Jim Byrnes – St Louis born…West Coast raised. Carries the blues with him. Fine actor. Craig Northey – co-founder of Odds. Touring with Steven Page Trio. Currently a member of Trans Canada Highwaymen. Solid Songwriter. Everyone brings a favorite Christmas song and personal story to exchange. Fun was had by all… Hope...
2023-12-1743 min
ReThreading MadnessRape Culture and the Long Road to Healing with Lenny GagnonRape Culture and the Long Road to HealingTrigger Warning: This hour includes descriptions of sexual assault, rape, and victim-blaming. Lenny Gagnon’s whole world turned up-side-down when her father died in a mill accident when she was 6 years old. At 7 she was groomed and then sexually assaulted by the neighborhood pedophile. And she was raped again at 15. When she reported the last one, the cop who interviewed her also assaulted her. At the hearing, she was grilled and shredded about her character (swearing and sexual history [ie rape]) and ba...
2023-12-131h 00ReThreading Madness988 Forced Committals and Suicide Assessment Toola988, Forced Committals, and Suicide assessments With the new 988 suicide hotline being launched, Rob Wipond cautions us on some of the pitfalls that can occur with traumatizing impacts on people. Barbara Phillips talks with us about her experience of being forceably committed and then Bernadine Fox walks us through the usual type of Suicide Assessment Questions that mental health professionals and crisis lines use to assess whether or not someone is suicidal and in need to being detained. Music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast...
2023-12-0653 min
ReThreading MadnessCharlene Hellson/Unpacking the Backpack, Stacy Ashton with Crisis & Suicide Prevention & Fraser McKenzie from Coast Mental HealthCharlene Hellson/Unpacking the Backpack, Stacy Ashton from Crisis Intervention, and Fraser McKenzie from Coast Mental Health. Bernadine brings you information on several opportunities for education and support. Grandmother, performer, writer, and Indigenous Mental Health Advocate, Charlene Hellson from the Siksika Nation (Blackfoot Confederacy) talks about her one-woman performance “Unpacking the Backpack” which is an educational and experiential monologue that comes from the heart talking about the intergenerational and historical impact of systemic racism on indigenous. Then Stacy Ashton comes to tell us about a new service available in Canada around Suicide Prev...
2023-11-151h 00
ReThreading MadnessTaking Care of Each Other: The Morin Family Living with Alzheimers (with Peter, Cathleen & Janell Morin)Peter, Cathleen, and Janell Morin, from the Tahltan nation, join Bernadine to chat about what happens when Alzheimers grabs hold of a family generation after generation, but mostly to describe their loving care of their mother as she makes this journey. So often we hear of older people with Alzheimers unable to care for themselves and/or plagued with a failing memory being left in care homes to wait out their lives. It is a tragic ending to a full life. But with Peter and Cathleen (their sister Nalaine and Dad who couldn’t join us), what is described is an...
2023-11-071h 00ReThreading MadnessOutsider Arts Festival and Haida Storytelling with Giihlgiigaa Todd DeVriesOutsider Arts Festival and Haida Storytelling with Giihlgiigaa Todd DeVries On ReThreading Madness we chat with the organizers and one of the performers of the Outsider Arts Festival here in Vancouver BC. Kristin Cheung, Executive Director, and Rocky Riobo of Rocky and the Gems give us the inside goods on the what, where, how, and who of this years annual VOAF from art, to performances and films and then workshops. Then Giihlgiigaa Todd DeVries, a Haida Cedar Weaver and storyteller who learned under Woody Morrison,c comes and tells us a story about the...
2023-10-101h 00
ReThreading MadnessMore Than One: Dr. Colin Ross on Dissociative IdentitiesTRIGGER WARNING: Explicit descriptions of child sexual abuseMore Than One: Dr. Colin Ross on Dissociative IdentitiesDr. Colin Ross, world renown expert of Dissociation, and Bernadine chat about Dissociative Identities: what is it, how to look at it, how the world copes with it, and how you can cope with it. In amongst there they compare DID to schizophrenia and chat about treatment options including medication and ECT.Dr Colin Ross’ biography is so extensive that to do it justice I would be talking for a long time. So let me give you so...
2023-10-031h 00
ReThreading MadnessA Glimmer of Hope around Recovery with Susi MilneA Glimmer of Hope around Recovery wieth Susi MilneTRIGGER warning Talk about alcoholism and substance abuse along with sexual trauma as a young child. Some profanity during spoken word recital. Bernadine chats with the effervescent Susi Milne about their recovery from alcoholism and substance abuse (Oxycodone and Ativan). There is literally no one who tells a story like Susi can and while taking you through her journey to rock bottom she is able to keep us laughing and entranced as she brings us to her their recovery.
2023-09-261h 00ReThreading MadnessAre We Old Yet? Women talking about AgingAre We Old Yet? Women talking about Aging. Today on RTM, I talk with three different women all of whom are over 60 years of age and all of whom would agree that our mental health as we age has nothing to do with fashion, interior design, beauty, cooking, or the health and wellbeing of our spouses or children. So, what does it have to do with? It is about their political actions, entrepreneurship, adventures and a future that is as exciting as what they have done so far. Ellen Woodsworth, 75,...
2023-09-181h 00ReThreading MadnessAlex Sangha from Sher Vancouver and Isabella Mori on her book Believe Me about mental health and addictionAlex Sangha from Sher Vancouver and Isabella Mori on her book Believe Me about mental health and addictionBernadine chats with Alex Sangha about Sher Vancouver Gala, Emergence, and IMigrant. Alex Sangha's birth name is Amar Singh Sangha. He was born in Gravesend, Kent, England and raised in Surrey and North Delta, British Columbia, Canada. His mother, Jaspal Kaur Sangha, and his father, Dalbir Singh Sangha, are of the Sikh faith originally from Punjab, India. Alex has an older and younger brother and a half-brother from his Dad's second marriage. Alex is an...
2023-09-1353 min
ReThreading MadnessCertified with JD DerbyshireThe incredible JD Derbyshire who is a writer, comedian, mad activist, performer, playwright, theatre maker, director, inclusive educator and innovator joins Bernadine in RTM. We talk about being mad and the need for individuals who live with mental health challenges to have agency in their lives and to consider coming out. And we laughed… we laughed a lot.(music used "It's Alright by Shari Ulrich)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
2023-08-1550 min
ReThreading MadnessInterview with Linda Pevac author of A Fire Is Coming a memoir about Therapy AbuseIncludes a Trigger WarningBernadine speaks with Linda Peavac (also known as Emma Stevens) who spoke with us recently about the experience of being an adopted child. Today we are talking about her experience of being exploited by her therapist and her memoir which describes this experience A Fire Is Coming. Therapy Abuse is an under-acknowledged traumatic issue in our society. There may be folks listening to this program who are not aware that they themselves are in an exploitive relationship with their therapist. And while that may sound extreme and wholly impossible – it is unfortunately no...
2023-08-0856 min
ReThreading MadnessWhat is Mad Pride? Connection Salon’s Mad Pride Cabaret with Pierre Leichner, The Human Girl, and 88WayyMad Pride/Connection Salon July 2023Mad Pride is a global movement of those with lived experiences of the mental health system. It is an opportunity for folks to demonstrate their pride in their mad identity and a reclamation of the terms that have been used to hurt them: mad, nutter, psycho. Mad Pride is celebrated across the globe including Canada, the USA, UK and Ireland. Mad Pride cabarets often include music, poetry, film and theatre created and performed by mad people. The hope has been that this will raise awareness of the poor treatment of those with lived...
2023-07-2550 minReThreading MadnessMadness Canada/Jamie Smallboy/Peer ConnectionsPeer Connections/Jamie Smallboy/Madness Canada In this program, Bernadine interviews Adam Milne from Peer Connections in Winnipeg and Cindy Jiang from Madness Canada in Toronto about their programming and resources that are made available to people who live with mental health challenges. Madness Canada has also become a hub of archival material regarding the history of the Mad Movement. Jamie Smallboy joins us reading her poem about missing and murdered indigenous women. music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
2023-07-1146 min
ReThreading MadnessElder Keith Chiefmoon and The Sacred Sundance: Preserving the Traditional CeremonyIn 1895, the Canadian government banned the Sundance. Intent on destroying the first nation’s way of life and spiritual practices, the colonizers banned various ceremonies and certain practices (like piercing) along withholding sacred objects required for those ceremonies. While this was legally reversed in 1951, it took many years before all First Nation Communities were aware of this change, many more for the fear of retribution and arrest to lift, and even more to feel empowered to engage again in activities such as piercing. Overall, as Keith Chiefmoon describes, the damage to this important ceremony, based on oral traditions, has had lo...
2023-07-0450 min
ReThreading MadnessLack of Services makes Rose Finlay’s Liveable Disability Life-Threatening.Lack of services makes Rose Finlay’s liveable disability life-threatening. Rose Finlay has been a quadriplegic since a swimming accident at 17 yrs broke her neck. She has been a powerhouse working for change as a published author, keynote speaker, model, disability advocate, accessibility consultant, certified holistic health coach and reiki master. Up until recently, she has been able to cobble together the services she needs to maintain her daily needs. However, that has changed, and she is now in a life-threatening situation that could easily be solved with support services attending her home twice a day. Bu...
2023-06-271h 00
ReThreading MadnessI am a TransWoman with Jodi Gray“I am a Transwoman” Jodi Gray, winner of the 2023 Courage To Come Back award in Mental Health, speaks with Bernadine about being a transwoman. Jodi came from a childhood filled with severe abuse and poverty. This led to anxiety and depression that plagued her for decades and cost her jobs and relationships. The hardest relationship for her to lose was the one with her son, James. Jodi transitioned 8 years ago and now advocates for others. She has been a peer support worker and is the head of a housing project for transgender, two-spirited, and gender-diverse people. The primary mess...
2023-06-2056 min
ReThreading MadnessWhat is it Like to be Adopted? with Emma StevensWhat is it Like to be an Adopted Child?Emma Stevens, author (The Gathering Place and A Fire is Coming) and US domestic adoptee from birth during the Baby Scoop Era, has survived layers of trauma throughout her life. She visits ReThreading Madness and delves into the reality that adoptees face struggling between being the good, adopted child in fear of being sent back and finding their own true selves whether it is around identity, biological family and background, or medical history. Whether you are an Adoptee, a Late-Discovery Adoptee, a Donor-Conceived child, or someone who has discovered...
2023-06-1357 min
ReThreading MadnessLong COVID and Mental Health with Services at Coast Mental HealthBernadine chats with two women, Jane Bouey and Isabella Mori, who live with Long COVID after a relatively short and mild form of COVID itself. They describe how COVID impacted on their brains and what they experience because of it: brain fog, exhaustion, strange emotional reactions, etc. They discuss whether this is a mental health issue from the impact of the debilitating aspect of the physical disability or an injury to one’s brain from COVID. Then Fraser MacKenzie from Coast Mental Health here in Vancouver talks with us about the services available for those who live with mental health ch...
2023-06-061h 01
ReThreading MadnessInsanity: What Happened to Bruce Hill-ToutInsanity explores the disappearance of Bruce Hill-Tout disappeared during an episode of paranoia generated from schizophrenia in 1998. “Through interviews with her father and siblings, family photos and dramatizations, Hill-Tout tells her brother’s story. But it’s not a mystery. The family doesn’t spend much time in the film unravelling clues. Instead, they share their feelings of guilt, loss and confusion, which leads to a broader story about the gaps that allow people such as Bruce to fall through the cracks. “ Wendy Hill-Tout documents the human side of mental health challenges and uses the film to tell the story of her bro...
2023-05-3058 min
ReThreading MadnessWho is Rodney DeCroo: Trauma, Recovery, Healing, and Creativity.Rodney DeCroo’s newly released book “Fishing for Leviathan” (Anvil Press) takes us into his journey through his childhood. “At theatre school they tried to correct my posture and make my diction soft. But I was a razor wrapped in black velvet soaked in possum’s blood.” Anvil writes “these poems are from a writer who has crawled through a mile of broken glass and come out the other side more or less intact.” Rodney and Bernadine talk about childhood trauma, recovery, obstacles, and challenges.But mostly we talk about surviving sh*t and having a good life.music...
2023-05-2354 min
ReThreading MadnessWhat is Structural Violence with Heather Tunold: How it impacts on the residents the DTESWhat is Structural Violence with Heather Tunold: How it impacts on the residents the DTES The question of Structural Violence came up for me as I listened to Heather Anita Tunold talk about it on a recent panel. She sat down with me to chat about how structural violence impacts on the residents of the DTES here in Vancouver BC. What she described is a unworkable situation where those who need the help are not getting the help they need. music by Shari Ulrich & Edith WallaceBecome a supporter of...
2023-05-1659 min