“Remember, be kind to yourself!” We’ve heard this a zillion times but what does this look like? How do we actually do it?

Today we are diving into the world of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) with expert and Clinical Psychologist, Stan Steindl. Stan gives us the whistle-stop tour through CFT, showing us how human it is for life to have difficult bits in it, and how tricky our brains can be. Stan talks about how treating ourselves with more compassion can be a tool to limit our suffering, which would be mighty helpful for those tackling cancer as well as for those running alongside them.

For those wanting to do a deeper dive into CFT, click these links to access Stan’s YouTube channel and Podcast called, Compassion in a T-Shirt, where he talks to all manner of interesting people about all things Compassion.

Stan is also an author, with his book, The Gifts of Compassion, which can be found at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Compassion-understand-overcome-suffering/dp/1925644480

In this episode, Stan talks about the Compassionate Mind Foundation. This can be found at the link below:

https://www.compassionatemind.co.uk/

We would love to hear from you if this episode resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to let us know you’re listening. You can email us at hello@chemotionalrollercoaster.com

You can also follow us on Instagram

New episodes of Chemotional Rollercoaster are published weekly, on Thursdays, Australian Eastern Time.

Lastly, Chemotional Rollercoaster is not a substitute for seeking one’s own professional advice. The strategies and skills discussed in all Chemotional Rollercoaster episodes are either what has worked for Glynn or his guests, specifically, or are things discussed in a general way. Anyone who is dealing with their own health issues, mental or physical, should seek their own professional advice on what may help to support them, uniquely. Often, the best place to start is your family doctor or GP. If anyone is struggling, and needs to talk immediately, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Thanks go out to Rory Chambers, as always, for his music featured in this episode (info@rorychambers.com).

Chemotional Rollercoaster is presented by Glynn Chambers

Production, sound and editing by Rose Paton

Music by Rory Chambers ©2024 info@rorychambers.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine trying to help run the country and you get slapped with cancer. Lisa Chesters, elected as the federal member for Bendigo five times running, has faced this very scenario.

Lisa was very generous with her time in sharing her experience of having melanoma in her eye—a very rare form of the disease. This conversation offers insight into how she coped mentally and what she wishes she had done differently at the time. Lisa also reflects on federal politics: her gratitude for the Australian healthcare system, thoughts on how it could be improved, the realities of taking leave as a sitting politician, and the ways parliament has become more compassionate toward members facing personal health challenges. She also discusses a major life decision that cancer prompted her to make.

We are grateful to Lisa for sitting down to chat. We wish her well as she seeks to help Australia become a place that is fair for all, with quality healthcare accessible for everyone.

We would love to hear from you if this episode resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to let us know you’re listening. You can email us at hello@chemotionalrollercoaster.com

New episodes of Chemotional Rollercoaster are published weekly, on Thursdays, Australian Eastern Time.

Lastly, Chemotional Rollercoaster is not a substitute for seeking one’s own professional advice. The strategies and skills discussed in all Chemotional Rollercoaster episodes are either what has worked for Glynn or his guests, specifically, or are things discussed in a general way. Anyone who is dealing with their own health issues, mental or physical, should seek their own professional advice on what may help to support them, uniquely. Often, the best place to start is your family doctor or GP. If anyone is struggling, and needs to talk immediately, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Thanks go out to Rory Chambers, as always, for his music featured in this episode (info@rorychambers.com).

Chemotional Rollercoaster is presented by Glynn Chambers

Production, sound and editing by Rose Paton

Music by Rory Chambers ©2024 info@rorychambers.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nobody wants to be in the kids cancer ward. Yet, there are superstar nurses who choose to work there. Today we chat to one of those superstars, Michelle Edwards, who lifts the lid on what it’s like.

The role is so much bigger than it seems on the surface and Michelle gives us the ins and outs of it - how it looks (spoiler - they have a McDonalds!), why she does it, and why she can’t leave. Michelle also highlights how much cancer happens to families, not just individuals, and helps us appreciate the unique issues families face in this scenario. She passes on some things she sees families do as they cope in this tricky world of kids cancer.

We are grateful to Michelle, and all who work alongside her, for the work in caring for Australia’s kids. We dare you to high five a cancer nurse near you.

We would love to hear from you if this episode resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to let us know you’re listening. You can email us at hello@chemotionalrollercoaster.com

You can also follow us on Instagram

New episodes of Chemotional Rollercoaster are published weekly, on Thursdays, Australian Eastern Time.

Lastly, Chemotional Rollercoaster is not a substitute for seeking one’s own professional advice. The strategies and skills discussed in all Chemotional Rollercoaster episodes are either what has worked for Glynn or his guests, specifically, or are things discussed in a general way. Anyone who is dealing with their own health issues, mental or physical, should seek their own professional advice on what may help to support them, uniquely. Often, the best place to start is your family doctor or GP. If anyone is struggling, and needs to talk immediately, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Thanks go out to Rory Chambers, as always, for his music featured in this episode (info@rorychambers.com).

Chemotional Rollercoaster is presented by Glynn Chambers

Production, sound and editing by Rose Paton

Music by Rory Chambers ©2024 info@rorychambers.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cancer in your 30s really sucks. Having it come back again sucks even more. Today we chat to Phil Mellen, the bloke who nearly cancelled his colonoscopy. Lucky he didn’t.

Phil is a mega reflective, rational and pragmatic guy who still talks about his emotions. Glynn loves blokes like that! Phil has a great perspective on life, built over years of experiences, yet forged even further by cancer. He chats with us about the concepts of what is fair in life, the role of spirituality for him, what actually happens in the psychologist’s office, and how he learned he can cope with more than he thought he could at the start of the journey.

We use the term cancer legend a lot on this podcast. Phil definitely embodies this term - a bloke who has grown from the experience and is keen to pass on the wisdom to others. Phil, you’re a gun.

We would love to hear from you if this episode resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to let us know you’re listening. You can email us at hello@chemotionalrollercoaster.com

You can also follow us on Instagram

New episodes of Chemotional Rollercoaster are published weekly, on Thursdays, Australian Eastern Time.

Lastly, Chemotional Rollercoaster is not a substitute for seeking one’s own professional advice. The strategies and skills discussed in all Chemotional Rollercoaster episodes are either what has worked for Glynn or his guests, specifically, or are things discussed in a general way. Anyone who is dealing with their own health issues, mental or physical, should seek their own professional advice on what may help to support them, uniquely. Often, the best place to start is your family doctor or GP. If anyone is struggling, and needs to talk immediately, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Thanks go out to Rory Chambers, as always, for his music featured in this episode (info@rorychambers.com).

Chemotional Rollercoaster is presented by Glynn Chambers

Production, sound and editing by Rose Paton

Music by Rory Chambers ©2024 info@rorychambers.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“One issue at a time please!” If only this was possible in life. Here’s the rub: all people, everywhere, have issues they are managing…and then some people get cancer on top.

Nobody enters the cancer journey as a blank slate. We all bring our past, our traumas, our relationships, our mental health levels, our skills (or lack there of), our financial situations, our cancer knowledge or naivety...etc. This stuff has an influence on us as we step through the cancer journey and it’s worth taking stock of these factors and planning for them as soon as we can.

In this episode, Glynn gives us a bit of a cheat sheet on what some of these factors may be. He opens up about what some of his were. There are more factors than we list in this episode, no doubt. But thinking through all the issues to be considered is a good place to start. After that, ask your friendly hospital social worker for help in navigating some of these issues, to hopefully minimise suffering and hardship along the journey.

We would love to hear from you if this episode resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to let us know you’re listening. You can email us at hello@chemotionalrollercoaster.com

You can also follow us on Instagram

New episodes of Chemotional Rollercoaster are published weekly, on Thursdays, Australian Eastern Time.

Lastly, Chemotional Rollercoaster is not a substitute for seeking one’s own professional advice. The strategies and skills discussed in all Chemotional Rollercoaster episodes are either what has worked for Glynn or his guests, specifically, or are things discussed in a general way. Anyone who is dealing with their own health issues, mental or physical, should seek their own professional advice on what may help to support them, uniquely. Often, the best place to start is your family doctor or GP. If anyone is struggling, and needs to talk immediately, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Thanks go out to Rory Chambers, as always, for his music featured in this episode (info@rorychambers.com).

Chemotional Rollercoaster is presented by Glynn Chambers

Production, sound and editing by Rose Paton

Music by Rory Chambers ©2024 info@rorychambers.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We were all scared in COVID times. Fair enough. Well, now imagine living overseas in that time, with little kids, adding a cancer diagnosis on top, with a border to your home country and family support slammed shut.

Today’s story is brought to us by Steph, a cancer legend, who lived this very reality. What we loved about Steph was her willingness to talk beyond cancer and share with us other parts of her life; what challenges she brought to cancer, and what she feared was coming after it. Cryptic statement, I know, but we don’t want to give the story away.

Like Glynn says in this episode, he sat next to Steph many times not knowing what journey she had been on. A good lesson for us all to keep in mind in our lives.

We would love to hear from you if this episode resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to let us know you’re listening. You can email us at hello@chemotionalrollercoaster.com

You can also follow us on Instagram

New episodes of Chemotional Rollercoaster are published weekly, on Thursdays, morning-ish Australian Eastern Time.

Lastly, Chemotional Rollercoaster is not a substitute for seeking one’s own professional advice. The strategies and skills discussed in all Chemotional Rollercoaster episodes are either what has worked for Glynn or his guests, specifically, or are things discussed in a general way. Anyone who is dealing with their own health issues, mental or physical, should seek their own professional advice on what may help to support them, uniquely. Often, the best place to start is your family doctor or GP. If anyone is struggling, and needs to talk immediately, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Thanks go out to Rory Chambers, as always, for his music featured in this episode (info@rorychambers.com).

Chemotional Rollercoaster is presented by Glynn Chambers

Production, sound and editing by Rose Paton

Music by Rory Chambers ©2024 info@rorychambers.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Make room in life for uncomfortable thoughts and feelings?! Has Glynn lost his mind?!

Cancer treatment brings with it all sorts of challenging thoughts, feelings, urges and body sensation…and he reckons you can just let them be?

This is part two of a mini-series looking at the different mental approaches to treatment that we might take…and what Glynn did at different times to get through. On the docket this episode is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). From this approach, we learn to dance with thoughts and feelings differently; mostly by making room for them, so we can get on with chasing our values-driven life. Extra suffering can be created, sometimes, when we don’t do this.

In this episode, Glynn shares with us the ACT concepts, as well as some of the times he used this approach to be who he wanted to be in some really hard times in his own treatment journey.

Again, this isn’t about pretending treatment is easy or fun if you just follow some simple steps. This is about stepping into behaviours that help us be who we want to be in the midst of hard times.

In this episode we refer to some great books that discuss ACT, which can be found at the links below.

The Happiness Trap by Dr. Russ Harris - https://amzn.asia/d/41KODhw

Unstuck: A guide to finding your way forward to the life you want to live - Dr. Emily Musgrove - https://amzn.asia/d/g08b5Ew

We would love to hear from you if this episode resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to let us know you’re listening. You can email us at hello@chemotionalrollercoaster.com

You can also follow us on Instagram

New episodes of Chemotional Rollercoaster are published weekly, on Wednesdays, Australian Eastern Time.

Lastly, Chemotional Rollercoaster is not a substitute for seeking one’s own professional advice. The strategies and skills discussed in all Chemotional Rollercoaster episodes are either what has worked for Glynn or his guests, specifically, or are things discussed in a general way. Anyone who is dealing with their own health issues, mental or physical, should seek their own professional advice on what may help to support them, uniquely. Often, the best place to start is your family doctor or GP. If anyone is struggling, and needs to talk immediately, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Thanks go out to Rory Chambers, as always, for his music featured in this episode (info@rorychambers.com).

Chemotional Rollercoaster is presented by Glynn Chambers

Production, sound and editing by Rose Paton

Music by Rory Chambers ©2024 info@rorychambers.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week on the show, Tannis McDonald — two-time cancer legend — shared a powerful piece of advice: try to embrace chemo, radiation, and other treatments not as something awful, but as something life-saving.

Glynn had a similar experience with radiation. At first, he hated the mask that bolted him to the treatment table. But then he reframed it — the mask wasn’t the enemy. It was part of his team, helping him fight cancer.

This isn’t about pretending treatment is easy or fun. We’re not here to push toxic positivity. But the way we think about tough experiences can make a huge difference. So, this episode is the first in a two-part series on facing treatment — and how strategies from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can help you show up, cope, and get through it.

Glynn mentions the Centre for Clinical Interventions

And also, the best TGIF video ever

We would love to hear from you if this episode resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to let us know you’re listening. You can email us at hello@chemotionalrollercoaster.com

You can also follow us on Instagram

New episodes of Chemotional Rollercoaster are published weekly, on Wednesdays, Australian Eastern Time.

Lastly, Chemotional Rollercoaster is not a substitute for seeking one’s own professional advice. The strategies and skills discussed in all Chemotional Rollercoaster episodes are either what has worked for Glynn or his guests, specifically, or are things discussed in a general way. Anyone who is dealing with their own health issues, mental or physical, should seek their own professional advice on what may help to support them, uniquely. Often, the best place to start is your family doctor or GP. If anyone is struggling, and needs to talk immediately, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Thanks go out to Rory Chambers, as always, for his music featured in this episode (info@rorychambers.com).

Chemotional Rollercoaster is presented by Glynn Chambers

Production, sound and editing by Rose Paton

Music by Rory Chambers ©2024 info@rorychambers.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.