Mind Full: The Canadian Psychological Association podcast

Psychologists play an important role in the care of all kinds of medical conditions. Sheila Garland joins the Mind Full podcast to talk about her role in helping people going through cancer treatment. She highlights the importance of having trained mental health professionals in as many healthcare settings as possible.

We often think of gender-based violence as something rather cut-and-dried, a view which often leads to a lot of stigma, and the expression of sentiments like “why doesn’t she just leave”. In reality, the situation is a lot more complex and nuanced, especially in rural settings where just leaving may not be an option. Keely Horan and Andrea Chantree from the Family Transition Place women's shelter...

Our language is constantly shifting and evolving. Turns of phrase that would have been foreign to our parents are commonplace for us, and our kids have a language all their own that will one day be the way everyone speaks. The same is true for the ways we communicate. Internet shorthand is now familiar to most of us, and most of us use emojis in our texts and correspondence. It’s the emojis we’re...

Marlee Kostiner put her passions for writing, digital media, and mental health to use publishing children's books. She has one of her own - Namoosté - but her main focus is on helping mental health professionals write evidence-based books for kids. She joins Mind Full to discuss the publishing process and the importance of knowledge translation in today's world. Garden Wolf Publishing: https://www...

We're all a little familiar with the concept of workplace burnout - when the workload exceeds our capacity, or when the office culture becomes untenable. Dr. Melanie Badali joins Mind Full to explain in greater detail the nuances as well as the signs, symptoms, and approaches to dealing with burnout on the job. Dr. Badali's bio: https://www.nssac.ca/professionals_Badali.html CPA "Psychology Works"...

Gemma Hickey was the recipient of the 2025 CPA Humanitarian Award, which is presented to outstanding individuals who are not psychologists whose commitment and persistent endeavors have significantly enhanced the psychological health and well-being of the people of Canada. Gemma is a longtime advocate for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, and for the visibility and inclusion of members of our 2SLG...

Mood disorders are complex, which means that both the diagnosis and the treatment can be complex. Such is the case with bipolar disorder, a mood disorder characterized by manic highs and depressive lows. Getting accurate, evidence-based information about the condition is essential, which is what led The Royal, a specialized mental health centre in Ottawa, to create a virtual health information too...

Every year at the CPA’s convention, we sell orange T-shirts designed by Indigenous artist Betty Gilbert to raise money for a local charity. This year, if you attend our convention and purchase an orange T-shirt, that money will go to the Native Friendship Centre of Montreal. Drayton Gilbert has gone from being a youth who accessed the services they provided to being the centre’s manager of operati...

Dr. Rehman Abdulrehman came back to the Mind Full podcast to talk about his new book - this time a work of fiction! Jinn in the Family tells the story of a family, originally from Zanzibar, and the Jinn that follows them throughout their lives as they move around the world - including to places like Winnipeg. The novel brings a psychological lens to the concepts of cultural resilience and family d...

It’s psychology month! Throughout February, we’ve highlighted the ways psychology shapes our everyday lives, and helps us in ways we don’t always notice. Today we’re going to focus on one way psychology interacts with the healthcare system, specifically in the field of HIV and AIDS. Our guest, Dr. Sean Rourke, just won a major award for his life’s work, the inaugural Eric Jackman award from the Ro...

Psychology Month continues with a look at psychology's role in cancer care. A diagnosis of cancer will affect each person who receives one a little differently. But it will affect everyone. Not just the person with the diagnosis, but the people around them. Family, friends, and co-workers need help as well. Psychologists can play a central role at every stage, from diagnosis to treatment to end-of...

Our Psychology Month series continues with a look at how the effects of COVID are still being felt by children in schools, particularly in rural settings where incidents of family violence remain elevated. Remember the COVID-19 pandemic? It wasn’t that long ago, but many of us have kind of memory-holed the entire traumatic experience. That said, just because we don’t think about it any more doesn’...

Psychology Month is recognized throughout February. This episode kicks off our special Psychology Month series, highlighting the ways psychology contributes to our lives in ways we might not realize. Just about every little kid has accidents from time to time. But more than one poop accident in a month (encopresis) or more than two pee accidents per week (enuresis) might be cause for concern. Dr....

The Canadian federal budget has been released, and some changes to Canada's mental health landscape will happen as a result. Our resident economist, CPA Director of Policy and Public Affairs Glenn Brimacombe, joins Mind Full to look forward to what Canadians can expect over the next year.

As the College of Psychologists and Behavioural Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO) has proposed a number of changes to their entry-to-practice standards for psychologists, the CPA and other psychology organizations around Canada are raising concerns about those changes. Dr. Lisa Votta-Bleeker, CPA CEO, joins Mind Full to lay out those concerns, and what she sees as the dangers inherent in reducing entry-...

In the wake of the NBA gambling scandal, and with Canadians watching televised sports more often, now is the time to curtail the ads that normalize gambling - especially for children. Bruce Kidd and Dr. Steve Joordens from the University of Toronto return to the podcast to reiterate their warnings about the harms inherent in advertising gambling. Bruce is a Canadian Olympian and a recipient of the...

The world is paying attention to the current war between Russia and Ukraine. While it is devastating and horrific for the Ukrainian people, it is just the latest in more than a century of war, occupation, oppression, and resilience. What makes a person resilient? What makes a people resilient? And how does that come through in a country where violence and threats from all sides have been ongoing f...

Forensic psychologist Jeffrey Smalldon spent decades corresponding, conversing, and probing the minds of some of America's most notorious killers, from John Wayne Gacy to the Manson family. Why are we, as a society, so fascinated with history's most violent and depraved acts and events? Are Canadians different from Americans in our fascination with such horror? Jeffrey Smalldon's book, 'That Beast...

The 2025 federal budget will be delivered November 4th. Glenn Brimacombe, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the Canadian Psychological Association, joins Mind Full to discuss the advocacy approach to the budget process. We know many things that Canadians and mental health professionals want - parity between healthcare and mental health care, for example. How are we doing in advancing those...

Every year at the CPA convention, we sell orange T-shirts designed by Betty Albert to raise money for an Indigenous-led charity. In 2025 the convention was held in St. John's, Newfoundland, and the recipient of the T-shirt proceeds is First Light, an organization that works with urban Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the city. Stacey Howse is the Executive Director of First Light, and she j...

Criminal profiling, in the sense that we see it on TV, has less than a 50% success rate. As a tool of law enforcement, it is the equivalent of a coin flip. But seeing law enforcement use it successfully on television gives us, the viewers, a sense that these methods yield tremendous results in real life. And, maybe, makes us believe that we would be successful should we be given a similar task. Dr...

A lot of the time, awards given out in school reflect academic achievement - marks and grades are quantifiable, and it's easy to determine which students are the top academic performers. But does this create too much pressure on those students who compete for those accolades? And where does it leave the students who excel in other, less quantifiable areas? Today's Mind Full guest, Dr. Linda Iwenof...

Contingent workers, a group which includes gig workers, contract workers, and temporary foreign workers, are a growing segment of Canada's workforce. This trend shows no signs of slowing, and as a result there is an increasing need to protect those workers, who are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Today's guest, Dr. Catherine Connelly, tells us about the current state of contingent work in Ca...

On the Mind Full podcast we are always keen on talking about music. Popular music, and the music we heard often in our formative years, can hold memories for us, and hearing a certain tune can unlock memories we might not otherwise access on a regular basis. Today's guest, Dr. Myra Fernandes, recently published a study with Pelin Tanberg and Ryan Yeung at the University of Waterloo that tells us e...

It has been more than 30 years since the Satanic Panic gripped popular culture. Millions were convinced there was an epidemic of child abuse stemming from satanic beliefs and rituals. There was no evidence to support these claims. There were TV specials, arrests, prosecutions, and even convictions - all based on something that never happened. Dr Randy Paterson joins Mind Full to look back at this...