Mind Full: The Canadian Psychological Association podcast

Dr. Steven Taylor of UBC was the first person to identify a need for a comprehensive look at the psychology surrounding pandemics. His book, "The Psychology of Pandemics: Preparing for the next Global Outbreak of Infectious Disease" was published presciently in October of 2019, a month before the first COVID-19 case appeared in Wuhan.

On US Election Day, November 3rd, we recorded this interview with Dr. Ghayda Hassan of CPN-PREV (Canadian Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Radicalization and Extremist Violence). We were planning to include it in the upcoming season of Mind Full this spring. With the events in the US today, it seemed like now was the time to listen.

Dr. Christine Korol of the Vancouver Anxiety Centre joins Mind Full to talk about anxiety and depression in the context of a Canadian winter and a pandemic. We also get into conspiracy theories, social media use, and the best way to write a book! Dr. Korol, along with the other guests of the first season of Mind Full, will be co-hosting a panel on COVID and the Canadian Winter December 10th at noo...

Dr. Heather Hadjistavropoulos and her team at the University of Regina have been studying every facet of internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT) for the past decade. Then COVID hit. This meant they were very well prepared to make the transition to online therapy, and also meant that their research was about to take a whole new direction. Join Dr. Hadjistavropoulos and the other par...

Dr. Stephen Shainbart was a psychologist with a thriving practice in New York City when Donald Trump won the 2016 US election. A little over three years later, Dr. Shainbart became a permanent Canadian resident, with a private practice in Toronto. Dr. Shainbart joins us to talk Trump, immigrating to Canada as a PhD psychologist, and Torontonians wearing New York Yankee ballcaps. I Actually Did It!...

Dr. Ben C. H. Kuo is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Windsor, and his research is in the area of cultural diversity. He joined Mind Full to speak about the dual crises being faced by a number of communities: the pandemic, and racism. Dr. Kuo, along with the other participants in this first season of Mind Full, will be co-hosting a webinar with the CPA on Coronavirus and the...

Dr. Yael Goldberg is a psychologist with Baycrest in Toronto. She works with people with dementia and their caregivers, and she sat down with Mind Full to talk about isolation and dementia during the pandemic and the winter. Dr. Goldberg, along with the other guests on this inaugural podcast series, will be participating in a webinar at noon EST, December 10th. If you have any questions you'd like...

Dr. Janine Hubbard, President of the APNL and child psychologist in St. John's Newfoundland, joins Mind Full to discuss children and the pandemic. She shares some strategies to ensure your kids are getting the most out of school, Hallowe'en, Christmas, and life in general while restrictions remain in place. Janine, along with the other participants in this first season of Mind Full, will be co-hos...

TK Manyimo will be hosting a workshop over two days, November 5th and 6th, for the CPA. Having A Courageous Conversation is all about equity, diversity, and inclusion in Canadian workplaces. Details on the workshop to come, in the meantime here is a sneak preview.

Dr. Keith Dobson is the keynote speaker at Carleton University's Psychology Mental Health Day. He joined the CPA to give us a little bit of a preview of his talk - about the evolution of evidence-based psychology over the past 40 years, tackling stigma with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and an upcoming conference call with the WHO. To register for Carleton's virtual Psychology Mental Hea...

Dr. Marnin Heisel co-wrote the CPA Fact Sheet on suicide, and also co-wrote the Canadian media guidelines for the reporting on suicide. He joins us to talk pandemic, advocacy, and moving forward with a National Suicide Prevention Strategy. Resources: https://www.crisisservicescanada.ca/en/ National Crisis hotline: 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645

Dr. Monnica Williams, Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Disparities and Associate Professor in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Ottawa, joins us to talk about the effects of racial trauma, the path of racial justice, and why we need to stop sharing the George Floyd video.

Dr. Judi Malone, CEO of the Psychologists Association of Alberta, and Dr. Ray Bollman, Rural and Small Town specialist with Statistics Canada, join us to talk about rural and northern communities in the time of COVID-19.

Dr. Anusha Kassan is an Associate Professor at UBC. She helped launch an innovative program to increase diversity in the counselling psychology program when she was at the University of Calgary, and is carrying it over to her new location. We discuss the lack of diversity in mental health professionals, and what psychologists can do to be prepared to help people dealing with racial trauma.

Connected North was the recipient of the CPA's 2020 Humanitarian award for their work connecting youth in remote northern Canadian communities to educational programs and mentors through 2-way video technology. We spoke to Waukomaun Pawis at Connected North about their programs, Indigenous role models, and coping with COVID.

Dr. Helen Ofosu is a Work and Business Psychologist who runs I/O Advisory Services, a HR Consulting, Career and Executive Coaching firm. She has spent a lot of time solving problems in the workplace and joins us to discuss the dual crises of COVID-19 and anti-Black racism. The blog articles referred to can be found on https://ioadvisory.com/

Dr. Heather Prime and two colleagues collaborated on a paper called "Risk and Resilience in Family Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic". They turned to previous crises (natural disasters, economic crashes, etc) to better understand where families are at and may be headed during COVID-19. You can find their paper here: paperhttps://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2020-34995-001.html

E.L. Adams II is a psychologist based in Kingston who has started a podcast to connect music with mental health. To listen to his podcast Mental Health, Mood, and Music, click here: https://vimeo.com/elapsychology

Dr. Wendy Wood runs Dr. Wendy Wood and Associates, a team of clinical psychologists in Montreal. Montreal is the epicentre of Canada's COVID-19 crisis, and Dr. Wood is launching a campaign to provide free psychological services to as many Canadians as possible. Look for the hashtags #NotAlone and #PasSeul, which she is using to encourage people to reach out for mental health assistance.

How has the change in our work environment due to COVID-19 affected us? And when we eventually all go back to work, what will that environment look like? Dr. Lindsay McCunn, chair of the CPA's Environmental Psychology section, elaborates.

Dr. Amy Tan, an MD in Calgary, was the CPA's 5,000th follower on Twitter. We spoke to her about this tremendous achievement. (And also about Advanced Care Planning and being an MD during COVID.)

Dr. Khush Amaria discusses Mind Beacon's new free online health offering, created for the COVID pandemic. Stronger Minds has a number of resources, videos, and the chance for the public to have questions answered. https://www.mindbeacon.com/strongerminds

Dr. Khush Amaria of the Mind Beacon psychology group has been helping patients remotely through a variety of platforms. She discusses the changes in the group's process as they launch a new free online platform called Stronger Minds.

Dr. Katy Kamkar, the newly-elected Chair of the Traumatic Stress section at the CPA, talks about resilience in the wake of the Nova Scotia shooting. She also discusses the power of social media to engender a sense of community following such a tragic event.

With the world responding en masse to the COVID-19 pandemic, this may be the best opportunity we have to confront the climate change emergency. We talk about the prospect with Dr. Kimberly Sogge of the Ottawa River Psychology Group.