Chris and Rowan discuss the role of meaning and purpose in mental health and modern psychology. We talk about how positive psychology has reintegrated the importance of meaning and purpose into the field of psychology and how some of the latest research has backed up the importance of meaning for our mental well-being. We look at why meaning and purpose were de-emphasised by some of the earlier psychologists like Sigmund Freud and why they later re-emerged through the work of people like Martin Seligman and Michael Steger ..read more

Chris and Rowan speak with Dr Ken Harris. Ken is an author, educator, keynote speaker, lecturer and chiropractor, as well as the lead author of the book Second Chances - From Surviving to Thriving, which included a chapter written by Chris. Ken has spent decades dedicated to the exploration, understanding and promotion of the mind, body, spirit connection. We speak with Ken about what he's learned as the lead author of Second Chances - From Surviving to Thriving, as well as tap into Ken's extensive knowledge and enthusiasm that he's gained from many years working in the field ..read more

Chris and Rowan discuss the contribution of Victor Frankl to psychology. Frankl is the founder of logotherapy, a therapy approach that focuses on meaning. We discuss Frankl's life and the experiences that he had that led to his ideas, including spending time in 4 different concentration camps during the Second World War, and why Frankl's ideas are becoming more relevant today ..read more

Chris and Rowan finish off the series on ancient Greek philosophy with a look at how stoicism developed out of Socrates' practices in ancient Athens. We look at the cynics and their influence on the stoics and their ideas ideas including the fundamental principle in modern psychology that we are not disturbed by things, but by our view of them ..read more

Chris and Rowan look back at some of the philosophers from Ancient Greece and how their ideas relate to modern psychology. In this episode, the first part of a two-part series, we look at the ideas of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Epicurus and relate their ideas to modern psychology, which has translated many of these ancient ideas into a modern context ..read more

Chris and Rowan discuss how stoic philosophy is related to modern psychology principles and how we can benefit from drawing upon stoic philosophy as we face different challenges in our lives. This is the first of several episodes on stoic philosophy and how it relates to modern psychology ..read more

For many of us, Christmas is a joyful time of the year when we catch up with family and friends, but for some people who've experienced childhood abuse or neglect, Christmas doesn't represent the merry, joyful time of the year that it does for many others. In this special Christmas podcast, Chris and Rowan discuss how people can navigate some of the difficulties associated with Christmas if they've experienced childhood trauma or abuse and may be seeing their family members or avoiding their families altogether ..read more

This week, after Chris spoke to a number of his friends who are also psychologists, we discuss three things that can bolster well-being if they're included in a recipe for mental health. Those three things are: play, belonging and volunteering ..read more

Chris and Rowan discuss the idea of learning how to sting. Stinging is when we go through a negative experience, and we let ourselves experience some of the negative emotions to motivate ourselves to ensure that it doesn't happen again. We discuss how we can leverage a negative experience and turn it into a more positive outcome in the future ..read more

Chris and Rowan discuss the three different types of change and how we can bring about meaningful, long-lasting change in our lives. The three types of change are incremental change, where we might eliminate or introduce a behaviour bit by bit, pendulum change, where we may act differently for a period of time and later revert back to our original way of doing things, such as undertaking a fad diet, or paradigm change, which represents a more meaningful change in our underlying beliefs and cognition ..read more