Conversations: Psychology & Relationships

ABC Australia

The world's greatest minds in therapy, emotional intelligence and addiction sit down for a Conversation with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski; including Esther Perel (Where Do We Begin), Glennon Doyle (We Can Do Hard Things) and Dr. Gabor Maté (The Myth of Normal).

In this collection of episodes, we’ve reached back into the rich Conversations archive to curate a selection of episodes where our guests speak about lived experiences with trauma and healing, identity, neurodiversity, anxiety and depression, navigating difficult relationships, psychopaths and sociopaths, and finding happiness and hope.

Hear even more great episodes of Conversations with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski in the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

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21 episodes
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English

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September 14 · 48 min
Healing intergenerational trauma and epigenetics—the children of the Third Reich
Catrine Clay with the story of the children of Nazi perpetrators and Holocaust survivors came together under extraordinary circumstances to come to terms with their dark past. In the early 1990s, historian and author Catrine Clay was working at the BBC, making a documentary about a woman named Renate. Renate had been born in Germany in 1941, and grew up in the postwar years as the sole child of a single mother. When Renate asked her mother about her missing father, she was told he had been an
June 10 · 53 min
Algorithms, accountability and the 'manosphere'—empowering men to be the solution
Clinical psychologist and men's mental health researcher Zac Seidler on how boys are being fed increasingly inflammatory content online, and what men can do IRL to offer a version of masculinity that is healthy and vulnerable, instead of hard and dangerous. Many young men are taking a journey on the internet right now which starts with inoffensive self-improvement videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, but quickly becomes something else entirely. Young guys are searching the internet for
May 11 · 53 min
Moana Hope on a life spent caring for others and re-learning how to love
Former AFLW star Moana Hope has spent her life caring for others, including her dying father and her beloved sister Vinny, who has an intellectual disability. It wasn't until Mo was in her 30s that she realised she needed to learn how to love herself. Content Warning: this episode of Conversations contains discussion of childhood abuse, domestic violence and suicidal ideation. Moana Hope grew up with 13 siblings in a two-bedroom housing commission home in Melbourne's north west. As a little g
May 6 · 53 min
Lessons in living, grief and love from the Lebanese Civil War
Antoun Issa grew up quietly aware of a profound grief in his mother's eyes. As an adult, after living and working in the Middle East, he finally knew how to ask her about surviving the Lebanese Civil War. Antoun is a journalist who grew up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, after his parents had escaped the civil war in Lebanon in the 1970s. Growing up in Craigieburn as the baby of the family, Antoun was particularly close with his mother. He was always conscious of a deep sadness in his moth
April 10 · 52 min
Spotting the psychopaths, sadists and narcissists in our lives and how to get rid of them
Toxic people are around us in our workplaces, our families and our dating lives. Research psychologist Leanne ten Brinke is here to tell you how to spot them, and get rid of them from your orbit. Leanne ten Brinke is a research psychologist whose special area of expertise is what she calls 'dark personality types'. These are particularly cruel, malicious, manipulative people who lack empathy, people who are psychopaths, narcissists or sadists. Psychologists estimate than one per cent of any p
Jul 3, 2025 · 52 min
When a sea change collides with messy midlife
For journalist Kate Halfpenny, moving to a beachside town during Melbourne's lockdowns seemed like the perfect way to unwind and escape her huge mortgage. Then she had to contend with the triple whammy of perimenopause, her husband's alcoholism and distance from family and friends. For the first time in her life, Kate had an empty house, no job commitments and no city life to distract her. She was able to indulge daily in her love of boogie boarding and surf-side walks with her dog, Maggie. O
May 13, 2025 · 52 min
Situationships, risks and growing pains — Jemma Sbeg on surviving your 20s
From relationships and loneliness, to indecision and burnout, Jemma Sbeg is your guide to navigating your 20s, and looking back on that decade with a new perspective. When Jemma Sbeg started recording a podcast in the back of her Subaru about her quarter life crisis, she had no idea just how many people she would reach. But other people her age were desperate for guidance through their 20s - a decade a lot of us romanticise before we get there, and after we leave. It's a decade of massive gro
Mar 26, 2025 · 52 min
Loneliness — it's not only you
Loneliness is a universal experience, for each of us at some point in our lives. Journalist Ros Thomas travelled the world to investigate, and find the antidote. To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversation podcast' with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities. Ros
Feb 27, 2025 · 48 min
Transforming trauma with Dr Gabor Maté
The renowned physician discusses the role of trauma in our lives, showing up as addiction, chronic disease and mental illness — and how recognising his own led to true healing. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversation podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebr
Feb 25, 2025 · 52 min
Gus Worland on the men who made him and Australia's male suicide epidemic
Two of the most important men to Gus Worland departed his life in shocking and unexpected ways. Gus' grief led him to dig deeper into what it means to be a strong man and re-frame vulnerability as something powerful. TV and radio host Gus Worland grew up with some deeply rooted ideas about what it meant to be a man and a good bloke. When Gus was just 10 years old, his father left the family home for reasons Gus didn't understand or even know about until many years later. Then, when Gus was an
Nov 8, 2024 · 52 min
From Yugoslavia to Australia — Jelena Dokic on tennis and the truth
Jelena Dokic overcame adversity, poverty and violence to rise to the top of the tennis world. Years later, her revelations about her father's abuse stunned the world. (CW: discussion of domestic violence and coercive control). Jelena Dokic overcame adversity, poverty and violence to rise to the top of the tennis world. Years later, her revelations about her father's abuse stunned the world. (CW: discussion of domestic violence and coercive control). After arriving in Australia with her family
Oct 30, 2024 · 53 min
The Indigenous psychologist doing things differently - From the Pilbara to Perth and beyond
Dr Tracy Westerman grew up in the Pilbara, where suicide and mental health issues have deeply scarred Indigenous communities. So this Nyamal woman decided to do something about it. Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman grew up in some of the most remote parts of Western Australia, moving from a station to a town called Useless Loop, eventually landing in the mining town of Tom Price. Tracy, the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and a white father, became the first person who was educated entirely in Tom
Oct 18, 2024 · 53 min
Changing prisoners' minds with Vedic meditation at Rikers Island
Joh Jarvis was a high-flying boss when grief from a terrible loss began to overwhelm her. She tried therapy, exercise and healthy eating. Then she found Vedic meditation, and the experience was 'psychedelic'. Joh Jarvis is a Vedic meditation teacher. Every week, she travels into Rikers Island Prison — a notorious jail in New York City — to teach meditation to hardened criminals. Joh grew up in Adelaide and had always wanted to live amidst the bright lights of New York. After a stint as a
Aug 30, 2024 · 52 min
The psychedelic revolution — how MDMA mended Rebecca's mind
While struggling with PTSD, social researcher Rebecca Huntley chose an unconventional and underground path to healing — MDMA therapy. Rebecca Huntley is well known to many Australians for her formidable intellect and career as a broadcaster, an author and a social researcher. But despite her impressive public-facing life, in private, Rebecca's trauma from a difficult upbringing refused to leave her. At 50, she walked the Camino in Italy and realised that after 30 years of therapy, she was
Jun 3, 2024 · 51 min
The secret psychosis of a first-time mother
When psychologist Ariane Beeston started having delusions after the birth of her son, and hallucinating that he was a dragon, she had to learn how to become the patient. Ariane Beeston thought that when her son was born, she would feel that immediate rush of love that everyone told her to expect, and that motherhood would come naturally to her. But that's not what happened. Instead, Ariane started having delusions about her own death, she became paranoid that social services would take her ch
Jan 31, 2024 · 48 min
Trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling) and me
As a teenager Adele Dumont started pulling out her hair from the root. Eventually she created a bald spot the size of a 20-cent piece at the crown of her head. Adele would sometimes enter a trancelike state, covertly sitting on her bathroom floor, picking at her scalp for hours on end. The urge to pull at her hair was uncontrollable, and secret. When Adele finally put a name to her behaviour, she learnt that trichotillomania has a complex history and psychological understanding, much of whic
Nov 16, 2023 · 52 min
The ladder out of depression with psychiatrist Ian Hickie
Professor Ian Hickie has spent decades trying to understand clinical depression. Where does it come from? What role do genes play? And most importantly – what works to release its chokehold? Ian Hickie has spent his career trying to help people at their darkest times. He's a psychiatrist who is particularly passionate about taming the black dog of depression. Depression is not a simple puzzle to solve. Ian has seen how the right medical treatment can lift someone out of even the worst depressi
Oct 25, 2023 · 52 min
Penny Moodie's compulsive and compelling life
Penny grew up consumed by catastrophic thoughts and developed habits to try to ward off impending doom. It turned out she had been living with obsessive compulsive disorder for 30 years Penny Moodie grew up consumed by catastrophic thoughts and ideas - that her parents would die in a car crash, that her mother was not really her mother, or that she had somehow contracted HIV aids. It's not unusual for children to worry about their parents and their own safety, but for Penny these anxieties wen
Aug 28, 2023 · 51 min
Craig Hamilton's three lives
Coalminer turned broadcaster Craig Hamilton was in his 30s when he had a psychotic episode on Broadmeadows train station. In the aftermath, his life was completely changed (CW: mentions suicide) Craig Hamilton began his working life as a coal miner in Newcastle north of Sydney. He worked deep underground, knocking down walls and digging through tunnels through the inky blackness. One day after many years in the mines, Craig got a chance to be on the radio for 5 minutes talking about cricket. He
Aug 25, 2023 · 53 min
Lessons from the world's longest study on happiness: Dr Robert Waldinger
Dr Robert Waldinger on what it takes to live a happy life. Robert Waldinger has spent most of his working life trying to understand the secret to human happiness. He’s Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. The project has been tracking what makes for a joyful life for more than eight decades and points to meaningful relationships as the key to human fulfilment. Bob tries to apply the insights from the study to his own li

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