Unmasking Mental Health: Real Support, Real Change with CMHA’s Liz Grummett

In this special Mental Health Week episode, Jenn sits down with Liz Grummett of CMHA Simcoe County to explore what it really means to unmask mental health. With over 20 years of experience in outreach, crisis response, and education, Liz shares how connection, compassion, and accessibility are transforming lives—from youth to seniors, farmers to families, and everyone in between.

Together, they talk about:

• How stigma creates invisible weight—and how to lighten the load
• The impact of peer support and lived experience
• Groundbreaking programs for families, caregivers, and rural communities
• Why “meeting people where they are” can be a lifeline
• Liz’s personal tools for creating calm mental health, including breathwork and sensory grounding

This episode also features a moving journal entry from Jenn’s mother—reminding us how the masks we wear to protect ourselves can also disconnect us.

Whether you're a caregiver, a person in recovery, or someone simply trying to feel a little less alone, this is a powerful listen about showing up, speaking out, and making mental health support more human.

Visit cmhastarttalking.ca to learn more about CMHA Simcoe’s programs and services.

Host & Producer: Jenn St John
Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
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In this moving and deeply honest conversation, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau joins Jenn to talk about what it means to heal—individually, in our relationships, and across generations. With wisdom, warmth, and vulnerability, Sophie reflects on her own mental health journey, from childhood trauma to eating disorders, motherhood, and having her voice through it all.

They explore the ripple effect of inherited trauma, the critical role of self-compassion, and how building emotional resilience begins with honest conversations. Sophie shares the tools she returns to—like morning body tapping, breathwork, and grounding practices in nature—and speaks candidly about the messiness of healing, the power of female connection, and the importance of being seen and heard.

This episode is a heartfelt reminder that growth can come through pain, that we’re never alone in our struggles, and that when we speak our truth, we give others permission to do the same.

To learn more about Sophie’s work, visit sophiegregoiretrudeau.com
Buy her book Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other here: linkin.bio/sophiegregoiretrudeau
Sign up for her newsletter and stay connected: sophiegregoiretrudeau.com/#stay_connected

Host & Producer: Jenn St John
Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
Instagram: @jenn_stjohn
TikTok: @jenn.st.john
LinkedIn: Jenn St John
BlueSky: @jennstjohn.bsky.social

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In this powerful and emotional episode, maternal mental health advocate Candice Thomas shares her raw journey through postpartum depression, suicidal ideation, and ultimately—hope. After nearly losing herself in the early days of motherhood, a simple act of kindness changed everything and set her on a path to create real, lasting change.

Candice opens up about the barriers mothers face when seeking mental health support, the life-saving importance of being seen, and how her experiences led her to found Barrie’s Flora’s Walk and expand Evergreen Wellness Studio to better serve women in her community.

We talk about the urgent need for systemic change in maternal mental health care, the ripple effects of trauma—and healing—and why advocacy, action, and community are the keys to moving the needle forward.

This conversation is a reminder that no one should have to navigate the darkness alone, and that one voice, one question, one act of compassion can save a life.

If this episode resonates with you or brings something difficult to the surface, please don’t sit with it alone. If you're in Canada, you can call or text 988 for free, confidential mental health support, 24/7.

Connect with Candice and support Flora’s Walk across Canada:

• Flora’s Walk National Info: Flora’s Story - Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative
• Evergreen Wellness Studio: evergreenwellnessstudio.com

Host & Producer: Jenn St John
Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
Instagram: @jenn_stjohn
TikTok: @jenn.st.john
LinkedIn: Jenn St John
BlueSky: @jennstjohn.bsky.social

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In the final chapter of this three-part sister series, we look back at the breaking point that changed everything.

Joined once again by my sisters Kate and Teresa, we reflect on our final years living under the same roof with our mom—years marked by addiction, instability, and the slow unraveling of the only structure we knew. From her escalating substance use to a devastating car accident that nearly took her life, we talk about the moment we thought things might finally change… and what happened when they didn’t.

This episode dives into the emotional cost of a childhood shaped by instability, addiction, and undiagnosed mental illness. We reflect on the toll it took on our sense of identity, our relationships, and our ability to feel safe in the world. While the journey into early adulthood is explored more fully in the next series, this conversation begins to unpack the long shadow of survival mode—and what it took to make it out.

Host & Producer: Jenn St John
Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
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TikTok: @jenn.st.john
LinkedIn: Jenn St John
BlueSky: @jennstjohn.bsky.social

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Survival: Sisterhood, Poverty, and the Moments That Shaped Us

In this second episode of The Shadows We Cast, I sit down again with my sisters, Kate and Teresa, to pick up where we left off—navigating the turbulence of growing up with a mother struggling with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness.

This chapter explores what survival really looked like for us: wearing the same pair of pants to school, learning to stretch a dollar, and facing down emotional chaos masked behind closed doors. We talk about poverty—not just as a lack of money, but as a feeling that seeps into your self-worth—and how those early years shaped our work ethic, independence, and empathy in ways we couldn’t understand at the time.

We reflect on the adults who tried to help, the ones who looked away, and the small kindnesses that made a difference. Through journal entries, raw memories, and hard truths, we revisit the instability of our Arizona and Missouri years—moments marked by addiction, unsafe environments, and emotional whiplash.

This isn’t just a story of pain. It’s a story of resilience, of love between sisters, and of the moments that cracked something open in us—and, ultimately, helped us find our way home.

If you’ve ever wondered how people survive chaos—or how they begin to rebuild—this conversation invites you in.

Host & Producer: Jenn St John
Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
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TikTok: @jenn.st.john
LinkedIn: Jenn St John
BlueSky: @jennstjohn.bsky.social

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A Sister Conversation About Childhood, Coping, and Connection

In this deeply personal second episode of The Shadows We Cast, I sit down with my two sisters, Kate and Teresa, for a raw, revealing conversation about our early years—growing up with a mother whose mental illness shaped every corner of our childhood. We talk about what poverty looked and felt like, how instability became our norm, and the adults who tried—sometimes successfully, sometimes not—to keep us safe.

This isn’t just a story of hardship. It’s a story of sisterhood: how we held each other up, how we made it out, and how we’re still making sense of it all. From small-town Canada to the deserts of Arizona, from hiding emotions at our school desks to navigating unsafe home environments, this episode travels the geography of our early lives with honesty, humour, and a lot of heart.

We speak openly about the things that were hard to name back then—parentification, addiction, emotional neglect—and the fierce love and resilience that got us through. Whether you’ve lived something similar or are just trying to better understand the shadows that follow us from childhood, this conversation invites you in.

Host & Producer: Jenn St John
Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
Instagram: @jenn_stjohn
TikTok: @jenn.st.john
LinkedIn: Jenn St John
BlueSky: @jennstjohn.bsky.social

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Podcast Trailer: The Shadows We Cast

Welcome to The Shadows We Cast—a podcast about the legacies we inherit, the stories we carry, and the light we create in the process.

Hosted by mental health advocate, writer, and speaker Jenn St. John, this series opens the door to raw and real conversations about living through, loving through, and learning from mental health challenges.

In this short preview, Jenn shares what listeners can expect each week: deeply personal stories, journal readings, candid interviews with guests ranging from family members to public figures, and a commitment to unmasking mental health—one brave conversation at a time.

If you've ever felt like you were navigating the dark without a map, this podcast is here to say: you're not alone. Let’s talk about the shadows—and the adaptability that rises from them.

New episodes drop every Tuesday.

Host & Producer: Jenn St John
Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
Instagram: @jenn_stjohn
TikTok: @jenn.st.john
LinkedIn: Jenn St John
BlueSky: @jennstjohn.bsky.social

If this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who might need to hear it too.

Subscribe, leave a review, or just send a little love—your support helps these conversations reach the people who need them most.