Why doesn't mental health advice change what you actually do? You can name your attachment style, explain what co-regulation means and know exactly why yelling isn't helping, and still lose it before school drop off. In this episode I talk with Sana Qadar, host of the ABC's All in the Mind, about the gap between knowing the research and using it, the mental health words that have lost their meaning, and the one parenting strategy she took home and used within the week.
Things we discussed
- How a journalist who trained to be a war reporter ended up hosting a psychology podcast
- Why being fluent in mental health language isn't the same as changing your behaviour
- The anti yelling advice from Dr Lindsay Gibson that fixed Sana's morning routine overnight
- Turning the school morning into a game instead of a fight
- The difference between willpower and building a system around yourself
- What has actually changed in how we talk about mental health in the last five years
- Trauma, ADHD and narcissism used as catchall terms, and what gets lost when they are
- How Sana decides how much of her own life to share with listeners
- Working out whether the person giving you advice online is actually qualified
- Why almost every episode about the brain turns out to be a story about a relationship
- What makes you hard to live with, and what it means when someone calls you unreflective
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:40 From war reporting to psychology and neuroscience
2:40 Why knowing the research doesn't mean you're doing the work
4:40 The parenting advice she took home and used that week
6:20 How much of yourself to share when you host a show
9:20 The basket of paper tasks that changed their mornings
10:10 What has shifted in how we talk about mental health
11:00 Trauma, ADHD and therapy speak as catchall labels
12:40 The story that stayed with her
16:00 What it's like being the one getting interviewed
21:30 How to work out if someone is qualified to give advice
24:30 Why every brain story is really a relationship story
27:20 What makes you hard to live with
About Sana
Sana Qadar is the host of All in the Mind on ABC Radio National. She spent ten years working in international news before moving into psychology and mental health reporting, and has been hosting All in the Mind full time since 2021. She isn't a psychologist or a therapist, which is exactly why this conversation is useful. If you have a topic you'd like the show to cover, you can email allinthemind@abc.net.au.
Resources and links
- All in the Mind podcast – get it on the ABC listen app or where ever you get your podcasts
Keep the conversation going
Got a question or a topic you'd like covered? Send it through here: forms.gle/ExJAeBTXAfn8xGkQ9
