The Being Guide Charlotte Horn

Today we’re exploring tragic optimism with Suzanne Degges-White, (PhD, LCPC, LPC, LMHC, NCC) professor and chair of the Counselling and Higher Education department at Northern Illinois University.  
In addition to her work at Northern Illinois University, Suzanne is a licensed counsellor and an academic researcher, with a strong focus on women’s relationships, developmental transitions, and the topic we dive into today – Tragic Optimism. 
Wellness culture is forever telling us to ‘think positively', that ‘we are what we think’, to adopt a ‘good vibes only’ mindset (you know the drill), but in times when clearly all is not well, this incessant pressure to look on the bright side can often cause more harm than good. 
You might have heard the term ‘toxic positivity.’ Well today, we’re going to be looking at the flipside – Tragic Optimism.  
Suzanne has spent her career researching these topics and this conversation shines a light on some of the key insights she’s uncovered along the way. Expect to learn: 
The difference between toxic positivity and tragic optimism  How we can lean into discomfort rather than denying its existence  How we can harness tragic optimism to live happier, healthier lives  https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/contributors/suzanne-degges-white-phd#:~:text=Suzanne%20Degges%2DWhite%2C%20PhD%2C,individuals%20and%20families%20facing%20transitions. 

After a comically long hiatus... we're back!
My guest on today’s show is Olga Rhodes, a food relationship coach specialising in eating disorder recovery, with a particular focus on Binge Eating Disorder (BED), a mental illness that despite its prevalence, continues to be relatively misunderstood.
Binge Eating Disorder affects around 2% of the population and accounts for nearly half of all eating disorders, making it the most common food-related disorder - it was officially recognised by the DSM5 in 2013.
After a 10 year struggle with her own food addiction, which involved a repetitive cycle of restrictive dieting followed by binging episodes, Olga finally broke the cycle and left her career in finance to share her learnings about BED and support other sufferers in their recovery from BED. Her mission is "to help you heal from within yourself, that is to overcome your struggles through the power of holistic healing".
Olga holds a Masters in Biomedical Science from the University of Aberdeen and has trained with the Kresser Institute; as well as with the Dr Dorie training academy in Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy. 
Today, we’ll be demystifying, and (hopefully), destigmatising binge eating disorder, looking at how to recognise the warning signs and be able to differentiate between the occasional Sunday blowout and a diagnosable eating disorder.
Olga will also be giving us a peek into her food freedom mastery program, which provides a useful framework in building a healthy relationship with food.
Check her out: 
IG: olgas_wellness
www.olgaswellness.com
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heal-from-within/id1618921517

My guest on today’s show is founder, creative director and social media sensation Jeff van de Zandt.
Jeff is the Co-owner and Director of Workshop Creative, a marketing agency specialising in musical theatre, with a portfolio featuring School of Rock, Hamilton and Moulin Rouge to name a few. 
You might also recognise him as the guy behind the hilarious Tik Tok videos, with a niche for turning routine pandemic press conferences into content gold. 
Jeff shot to fame in 2020 after his infamous Scott Morrison video went viral, racking up hundreds of thousands of views. He continued to create content throughout Melbourne's countless lockdowns, sharing hundreds of videos and providing the much needed reprieve sought by many at that time. 
As his popularity continues to rise, Jeff is a man in demand – being sought after for brand collaborations by the likes of Amazon, Google, Instagram, Opera Australia and Pepsi. 
In this episode, I’ll be finding out how Jeff manages to balance all of this and what boundaries he has in place as the lines blur between his professional and personal life. 
We’ll also be getting to know the human behind the screen, finding out how he navigates the peaks and troughs of life as an influencer, unpacking what he really thinks about social media and seeking to understand how, if at all, he manages to maintain a healthy relationship with it.  
Jeff is a real delight of a human who offers candid insight into a domain that so many of us struggle with - social media. I know you'll enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 
Tik Tok: @jzandt
Instagram: @jjzandt / @itisntwork

Today we’re talking high performance with AFL academy high performance coach, Paul Sealey.  Paul has been working with the AFL for 7 years, and is responsible for the development and delivery of the AFL and AFLW National Talent High Performance Program. Prior to working in the AFL, Paul was the strength and conditioning coach at Texas A&M University where he held the role for 14 years across a range of different sports, he’s also worked at Eastern Ranges FC & was a lecturer at Australian Catholic University.  Today, Paul and I will be talking about his role as a high-performance manager, and how we can apply some of these high performance habits in the context of our daily lives. We’ll also touch on the evolution of mental health in sport, and the additional impact that Covid has had on this.  

*Trigger warning* this episode contains conversations about medical trauma and medical gaslighting which may be triggering to some listeners. 
Joining me today from Washington DC is writer and musician, Sarah Ramey.
Ramey is the author behind The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness, her darkly funny 2020 memoir about her decades-long battle with an invisible illness.
She also goes by the name of Wolf Larsen, her musical alias.
At the age of 21, Sarah started experiencing mysterious symptoms following a botched medical procedure. Debilitating pain, incapacitating exhaustion and brain fog were just a few of the symptoms that dominated her existence from that point on.
Her pursuit of a diagnosis led her to seek the help of over 150 doctors and specialists, the majority of whom could not find a cause and dismissed her condition as psychological, suggesting that it was all in her head and prescribing a cocktail of antibiotics and anti-depressants.
“It became clear that mine was not a psychological condition." Said Ramey, "It was a problem in the psyche of the doctors—the programmed assumptions, unconscious bias, prejudice against this type of patient, particularly against women.”
After years of mistreatment and prolonged suffering, made worse by the incessant gas lighting that accompanied her search for a diagnosis, Sarah had a breakthrough in 2012 when a female physician took her case seriously. Soon after, Ramey discovered functional medicine and found a doctor who gave her a long-awaited diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome, complex regional pain syndrome and POTS.
Although shocking, Sarah learnt that her experience was not unique as she uncovered a whole community of people who had experienced the same mistreatment at the hands of those who they placed most trust in. This was a both tragic and unifying revelation, and one which galvanised her into creating a community of women with mysterious illnesses, or WOMIs as she calls them.
Sarah went on to speak to hundreds of WOMIs, and began to piece together stories, research and conversations, all of which have contributed to the masterpiece that is, 'The Lady’s Handbook for her Mysterious Illness".
Released in 2020, The lady’s handbook is Sarah’s refreshingly honest account of these events. Her humour, sincerity and tenacity translate into a read that had me laughing, crying and cringing simultaneously. It delivers hope, without sugar coating and has done the world a service by bringing illnesses that are often accompanied by air quotations into the spotlight.  
Sarah is also a song writer and musician who goes by the name of Wolf Larsen, her 2011 album ‘quiet at the kitchen door’ features a series of haunting, poetic vocals accompanied by soulful strings.
Today we’ll be discussing the world of mysterious illnesses, unpacking why this realm is still so elusive and highlighting the importance of patient self-advocacy when seeking a diagnosis for lesser understood conditions.
https://www.sarahmarieramey.com/
https://www.wolflarsenmusic.com/
The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness: A Memoir: Ramey, Sarah: 9780307741943: Amazon.com: Books
@sarahmarieramey

Today's guest is Nick Miller, an artist and teacher living in Melbourne.
In 2010 at the age of 19, Nick was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia, a rare disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce enough blood cells, causing a deficiency of all blood cell types.
The condition left Nick unable to fight infection, resulting in an ongoing course of treatment including a lower grade dose of chemotherapy and the ongoing administration of immunosuppressant drugs. After 4 years on this course of treatment, Nick’s condition began to decline again, severely impacting his quality of life and forcing him to decide whether to take the risk of having a bone marrow transplant.
“It's a strange thing having to choose and essentially gamble on your life.” 
Nick made the call to proceed with the transplant, which thankfully was successful. 
In 2019, Nick set out to create something to acknowledge his journey, curating an entire exhibition around his battle with aplastic anaemia. He used thousands of old medication wrappers to create a work of art which has been displayed in galleries across Melbourne.
Fast-forward a few years and Nick has continued to flourish, with few lasting physical effects from the condition, and even running a marathon in the last year.
In this conversation, Nick and I chat about the evolution of his outlook on health and Being throughout his journey, how he remained optimistic in the face of adversity and the importance of goal-setting (and the occasional party!) for healing.
@nmillerart