

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

Apr 25, 2023 • 1h 2min
Part 2 of Psychiatrizied with Irit Shimrat, Escaped Lunatic
This is Part 2 of Bernadine’s chat’s with Irit Shimrat, author, editor, advocate and agitator around her experience of being psychiatrized. Irit has a long history being involved in and critiquing the mental health field - although she would label that differently: health being the misnomer. We address the problems of language, the shadow reports she is a part of writing for the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and why she feels she is the luckiest person in the world. music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.

Apr 17, 2023 • 1h
Bullseye the Clown on Bullying
“Bullseye The Clown™ is on a mission to empower those who have lost their hope and belief due to bullying to stand up, speak out and reclaim their authority!” He comes and chats with Bernadine about bullying and what we can do about it.music Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.

Apr 11, 2023 • 48min
Psychiatrized with Irit Shimrat, Escaped Lunatic
Bernadine chats with Irit Shimrat, author, editor, advocate and agitator around her experience of being psychiatrized. Irit has a long history being involved in and critiquing the mental health field - although she would label that differently: health being the misnomer. We talk language, consequences to people's lives from being psychiatrized, and the danger of psychiatry in our lives. Even if you don't agree with anti-psychiatry, this is a conversation to listen to just to educate yourself on what you are really supporting or fighting against. Irit also offers her invaluable advice on how to protect yourself if you find police at your door on a wellness check or if you have been involuntarily detained in a psych ward. Interesting conversation. music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.

Mar 30, 2023 • 1h 4min
Keith Chiefmoon on Racism, Residential Schools, and Healing
Keith Chiefmoon is from the Kainai Nation, part of the Blackfoot Confederacy, which is just south of Calgary in Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta. He holds a BA, a BEd in Native American Studies and an MA in Education. Keith is a Residential School Survivor who is currently working as an Indian Residential School and Community Engagement Worker. We are going to chat about racism, residential schools and healing. image: CBC Brandi Morinmusic: Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.

Mar 23, 2023 • 1h 1min
Carolyn Clement: The Complaint Process and Dealing with Harassment around Therapy Abuse
Carolyn Clement, survivor of sibling, child, and therapy abuse, shares her experience making a complaint against her predatory therapist. They discuss the harassment she faced from him and his wife. The podcast also explores the issue of therapy abuse and the lack of regulation for life coaches in holding them accountable. They emphasize the importance of speaking out, seeking support, and collecting evidence to address this destructive issue.

Mar 14, 2023 • 46min
Surviving Therapist Abuse with author Amy Nordhues
Author Amy Nordhues shares her experience of therapist abuse in a church setting. They discuss the manipulation tactics used by the abuser, the process of grooming in therapist abuse, and the challenges of grieving and rebuilding trust. They also explore the obstacles faced when seeking legal action, the devastation of therapist abuse, and its impact on victims' relationship with God and the church.

Mar 7, 2023 • 60min
A White Settler and a South Asian Immigrant talk about Reconciliation in Canada
A White Settler and a South Asian Immigrant talk about Reconciliation in Canada.Ninu Kang, Executive Director of EVA, an immigrant from South Asia returns to Rethreading Madness to have a conversation about Reconciliation with Bernadine, a white settler: what it is, what it means for us, what we have done, where we make mistakes, what more we need to do – all with a view and agreement that we aren’t going to do perfectly and we may embarrass ourselves. It was purposefully off the cuff, without rehearsal - willing to call each other out or be called out. Willing to learn, to be humble & vulnerable.You will not hear this type of conversation anywhere else.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.

Feb 27, 2023 • 1h
3 Options for Peer Support: MadCamp, Connection Salon, and Coast Mental Health
Peer Support with MadCamp, Connection Salon, and Coast Mental Health: RTM explores three options for finding peer support for folks with mental health challenges. Dina Tyler talk to us about MadCamp - a camping event happening in Northern California in July 2023 for folks who identify as living with mental health challenges. Connection Salon is showcasing an art exhibition (Mar 3 to April 4) with low barriers for 16 artists here in Vancouver BC. Organizer, Pierre Leichner, and artist, Leef Evans, invite us to join them on March 10th for a meet and greet at The Gathering Place. Fraser McKenzie from Coast Mental Health talks about how it rose out of the psychiatric survivor movement of the 1970s, continues to provide peer support opportunities (including training) from the ground up to a wide-range of individuals who live with mental health challenges. It is combo program full of helpful information.More Information:madcamp.netconnectionsalon.comhttps://www.coastmentalhealth.com or via email peersupport@coastmentalhealth.com or outreachresourcecentre@coastmentalhealth.com.music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.

Feb 21, 2023 • 1h
Rebecca on her Use of Plant Medicine to Heal from Childhood Trauma
Bernadine speaks with Rebecca, a visual arts painter of beautiful images. Her day job is as a caregiver in a senior's living home. Rebecca struggles to heal from childhood abuse and has engaged in an alternative form of healing that includes plant medicine to assist her in opening up to traumatic experience. Rebecca describes her process of healing and how her childhood has impacted on her current life giving us a bird's eye view.music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.

Feb 14, 2023 • 60min
Your Consent is Not Required with Rob Wipond Part 2
On ReThreading Madness Bernadine and Rob Wipond continue their discussion of his latest book, "Your Consent Is Not Required: The Rise in Psychiatric Detentions, Forced Treatment and Abusive Guardianships". In this part, they discuss how the psychiatric industry is being used to punish whistleblowers, political advocates, and within our daily lives with disgruntled employers and unhappy spouses. A mental health wellness call can too easily result in involuntary commitments and being drugged even for the sanist among us. And, then that commitment however wrong becomes a stain on the person's record and can impact him long after. From press release: "There's a common misconception that, due to asylum closures, only 'dangerous' people get committed now. But forced psychiatric interventions today occur in thousands of public and priviate hospitals and also in group and long-term care facilities, troubled-teen and residential treatment centres, and even in people's own homes under outpatient commitment order. Intended to 'help', for many people the experiences are terrifying, traumatizing, and permanently damaging."Rob's research demonstrates not only the ways in which these forced detentions are the equivalent to torture, that there is no research demonstrating that they are helpful, and that they are indeed on the rise.Bernadine and Rob list the ways in which you can protect yourself from a forced detention and, if it happens, how to help yourself get discharged.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.


