ReThreading Madness
Bernadine Fox
Bernadine Fox brings a rare and powerful combination of lived experience, long-term disability rights advocacy, and creative insight to her role as host and producer of ReThreading Madness, the award-winning radio show and podcast that dares to shift how we think about mental health.A recipient of the 2022 Courage to Come Back Award, Bernadine is a white settler of Scottish, Irish, and French heritage with a familial connection to the Tsuut'ina nation. She has spent over 30 years advocating for those with lived experience of mental health challenges including survivors of trauma and therapy harm. She is an intersectional feminist, artist, and author of Coming to Voice: Surviving an Abusive Therapist—a memoir that confronts the devastating misuse of power in therapeutic relationships.Bernadine is not a clinician, but she is a deeply informed mental health advocate with firsthand knowledge of trauma, CPTSD, and disability. Her background includes decades of work as a support worker for survivors of severe childhood trauma, a trauma consultant, and public speaker. She has led expressive arts groups in collaboration with Richmond Mental Health and Gallery Gachet, where she also served on the board and helped publish The Ear magazine. She has served on the board of such organizations as Kickstart (Disability Arts and Culture) which focused on breaking down barriers to creative access for people with disabilities.What sets Bernadine apart as a radio host is her unwavering commitment to telling the truth—even when it's uncomfortable. She doesn't shy away from difficult conversations; she invites them. With compassion and clarity, she brings forward voices that are often silenced, challenges harmful narratives, and explores the messy realities of mental health, trauma, and recovery.ReThreading Madness is more than a show. Under Bernadine's guidance, it's a platform for unfiltered, survivor-centered dialogue—one that refuses to pathologize trauma and instead builds community through shared truth. RTM won the Breaking Barriers CRABO award through the NCRA. Bernadine currently lives in the forest with two cats, raises her grandchild, and continues to create, speak, and advocate for a world where mental health care is ethical, accessible, and just.ReThreading Madness is produced and aired on the ancestral and unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We extend our gratitude and appreciation to the Indigenous people who have been living and working on this land from time immemorial.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 23, 2025 • 1h
Courage to Come Back: Theresa Duggan’s Journey and Richard Lett chats about his Art
Courage to Come Back Winner in Mental Health: Theresa Duggan’s Journey From childhood trauma to becoming a beacon of hope for others, Theresa Duggan’s story is one of resilience and transformation. After surviving years of sexual abuse and a suicide attempt 12 years ago, she struggled with undiagnosed bipolar disorder for much of her life — so paralyzed by her condition she couldn’t even brush her teeth or leave the house. Everything began to shift when she was properly diagnosed. Theresa works in hospital psych wards, supporting others facing mental illness. As someone who has walked the same path, she builds trust quickly with clients, offering them something rare: true understanding. Theresa’s journey is a powerful example of how tragedy and healing can exist side by side — and how lived experience can become a lifeline for others. Although winning the award happened 15 years ago, she credits it with changing how she takes on the world. And Richard Lett/Comedian and Spoken Word Artist We are then joined by Richard Lett in an interview we did a couple months back – but really wanted to get his voice back out there. He talks about alcoholism and change and growth. He always brings his particular form of comedy and spoken word to whatever stage he is standing on. Music by Shari Ulrich and Omar RudbergBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
Jul 1, 2025 • 60min
Off the Map (part 2)
Off the Map 2In this episode of ReThreading Madness, Bernadine has the joy of talking to four more writers from Off the Map: Vancouver Writers with lived experience of mental health issues. Seema Shah was the powerhouse behind Off the Map. She along with Betsy Warland and Kate Bird compiled and edited 33 different authors to put together this anthology of stories and poems published by Bell Press. Seema is also one of the writers and she joins us today along Quin Martins, Sandra Yuen, and Merle Ginsburg to talk about what inspires them to write these pieces. Each one of them graces us with a reading of their work. Music by Shari Ulrich & Jake BanfieldBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
Jun 24, 2025 • 1h
Exploring Transference with Amy Avalon
Exploring Transference with Amy AvalonTrigger Warning: discusses therapy abuse Have you ever felt an inexplicable pull toward your therapist? Or found yourself reacting to them with emotions that seemed too big, too personal, too charged to make sense? That's transference. It's one of the most powerful, and least talked about, dynamics in the therapeutic relationship. And in the wrong hands, it becomes the mechanism through which therapists cause some of the most devastating harm.Bernadine sits down with Amy Avalon, a retired psychotherapist and passionate advocate for survivors of sexual and emotional abuse by their therapists, to pull this largely hidden dynamic into the light. Together they unpack what transference actually is, how it shapes our behaviour inside and outside the therapy room, and how a client can begin to recognize and work with it rather than be silently controlled by it. They also go where most conversations don't: What should you do when you feel transference toward your therapist? How do you name it out loud? And critically, how should a therapist respond to that disclosure, and what should they absolutely never do? Music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
Jun 12, 2025 • 1h
Outsiders and Others with Redrum Sticker Artist
Art at Outsiders and Others with Redrum the Sticker Artist“Outsiders and Others is a non-profit art Society with a focus on bringing non-traditional artists to the forefront. Their artists identify as outsider, folk, self-taught, visionary, intuitive, and artists with disabilities.” Outsiders and Others defines outsider art as the work of those who have no formal training, create art for themselves to record their life experiences or document historical events (not necessarily for an audience), and use non-traditional materials (like found objects). In May, Mental Health Awareness month, Outsiders and Others presented Brain Child featuring artworks from Caro Embling, REDRUM, and Gabriel Ostapchuk. We had the opportunity to speak with Yuri Ajars. Artistic Director and Curator, about this exhibit and the gallery. We also chatted with Redrum, the sticker artist (@redrum_ays_crew). Redrum describes the different neurodiverse and disability issues he copes with daily but also how important art has been to his process specifically in inspiration around images and topic. You can find Outsiders and Others In Vancouver and at https://www.outsidersandothers.com/Music by Shari Ulrich Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
Jun 11, 2025 • 1h
Off the Map and its Writers
Off the Map with writers Angela J. Gray, Venge Dixon, Mary O’Toole with music by Ren Trigger Warning: Song by Ren Gill includes foul languageMay 1st 2025 saw the release of Off the Map an anthology of prose and poetry that has to do with mental health. ReThreading Madness had privilege of speaking to 3 of the writers included in this publication. Venge Dixon is a nonbinary lesbian who writes, creates art (and comic books) and make music. She wraps a heart-warming story about a very difficult time in her life around a cat named Linus who showed up and put a wrench in her plan’s to die. Angela J. Gray is an emerging black writer who writes about the “impact of colonization on children of African/Caribbean Diaspora who were adopted into white homes” in what, in her case, looks just like 60s Scoop. Mary Phyllis O’Toole says “ she writes, not only for emotional catharsis, but to shine a light on schizophrenia.” All of them share a portion of their writing with us during this hour. In addition, we have included a song entitled “Hi Ren” by Ren Gill, a musician from the UK who used music to have a conversation with himself about his current state of mental health and in, so doing, gives us an incredible inside view of what his world is like while leaving us all inspired and hopeful. Music by Shari Ulrich & Ren GillBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
Jun 11, 2025 • 1h
The 2017 and 2025 Winners of the Courage to Come Back Award in Mental Health: Rachel Fehr and David Chalk
Courage to Come Back: Rachel Fehr (2017) and David Chalk (2025)The most obvious thing about Rachel Fehr and David Chalk is that they are not defined by diagnoses and for both of them they have carried several labels. All of which are important only in that they defied them all. Rachel is the 2017 Courage to Come Back award winner in mental health. In the years since then, she has gone from teaching marital arts to attending classes and using what she learned to parse out which of the psychiatric diagnoses she was given were accurate and which were misdiagnoses -and then realizing as is so usual her autism had been misdiagnosed as borderline. From this she created new and positive life skills and taken her life that much farther. Now she wants to use her skills to create a traditional medicine farm as 2nd stage housing for men coming out of prison. David won the Courage to Come Back award this year (2025) has defied every assumption adults had about him as a child. He created his own businesses and was a millionaire at 28 years despite being told graduating from high school that the only life he could hope for was welfare, jail, or a psych ward. Despite his success he held a burdensome reality. His ADHD messed with his focus. His Dyslexia messed with his ability to read. And his pragnuh… meant he had a difficult time just recognizing faces – any faces. But clearly David is not someone his accepts what others might consider fate. At 62 years he participated in a program which led to him being able to read in 11 hours. Now, he is developing an educational program that can be used around the world to help others to do the same.Music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
May 26, 2025 • 60min
Therapy Harm Resistance Project with Natalie Russ
Therapy Harm Resistance Project with Natalie Russ Natalie Russ is a psychologist and psychotherapist, with a background in dialogue and deliberation, training pedagogy, and community organizing. She was harmed in a twelve-year psychodynamic therapy beginning in adolescence, as well as in post-harm therapies with well-meaning therapists who, like most in the mental health industry are not trained to support therapy harm survivors. In addition to content creation, she writes and publishes poetry on her therapy harm and post-abuse therapy experiences. Her particular areas of interest include post-abuse therapies and therapist education on working with therapy harm survivors. (taken from https://www.natalierusspsyd.com/therapy-harm)Natalie Russ joins us to discuss her recent work establishing the Therapy Harm Resistance Project (THRP), an advocacy and support endeavor to address therapy harm as a disavowed reality in the mental health field. We are creating content and resources for survivors, clients, and therapists, hoping to support a broader and ever-growing therapy harm resistance movement. We seek to join others within the therapy harm resistance space to build conversation and capacity. This movement needs a thriving ecosystem of activism, advocacy, scholarship, training, and victim/survivor support infrastructure. Music by Shari Ulrich, Jann Arden, Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
May 20, 2025 • 60min
Nothing About Us Without Us with Caroline Mazel-Carlton from Wildflower Alliance
Nothing About Us Without Us with Carolie Mazel-CarltonCaroline Mazel-Carlton is a suicide attempt survivor who, since moving out of a staffed psychiatric group home in 2009, has worked tirelessly to create change in the mental health system and has developed and re-defined peer roles in a number of settings in the public and private sector. She works with Wildflower Alliance, which “supports healing and empowerment for our broader communities and people who have been impacted by psychiatric diagnosis, trauma, extreme states, homelessness, problems with substances and other life-interrupting challenges.” They do this through peer support, alternative healing practices, providing education, and advocacy. Essential to their work is “recognizing and undoing systemic injustices such as racism, sexism, ableism, transphobia, transmisogyny, and psychiatric oppression.” On this program we talk about the incredible healing value of peer support and harm reduction around suicide. Music by Shari Ulrich and We ThreeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
May 11, 2025 • 60min
Mad Pride Art Café 2025 with Richard Lett, CR Avery, and Lea Taranto
Mad Pride Art Café 2025 with Richard Lett, CR Avery, and Lea TarantoTrigger Warning: some of the language used in creative material may be offensive to some people.These three artists performed live at the Mad Pride Art Café at the Gathering Place in downtown Vancouver, BC. Richard brought his particular form of comedy and spoken word. CR performed musical/spoken word pieces that can only be heard to fully appreciate. And Lea gave us a reading from her new book A Drop in the Ocean. Music: Shari Ulrich, Shawn Mendes, Jelly Roll, and ScottBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
Apr 20, 2025 • 36min
Living Your Truth w Tavares and Bernadine
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
