Get Booked – Dennis Relojo – Howell, Psychreg

Hello, I'm Hazel and this is Get Booked for Women's Radio Station. I'm losing my voice a little bit, but don't worry about it. You know, who needs a voice when you've got a radio program? I hope you are all ready and raring to get booked.. And as part of our aim here at Women's Radio Station to support women's emotional well-being, I have an excellent guest joining us here today who has a, a website that's called PsychReg. Um, Dennis Relojo, how are you? I'm good. It's, um, Dennis Relojo. Relojo, obviously. That's fine. Where are you from? Um, I'm originally from the Philippines, but I moved here about 7 years ago. Okay. Relógio. Yeah, it's a Spanish surname. It means watch. Colonization. So it's just basically trying to confuse us, right? Yeah. Yeah, I like that. But you're actually right, 'cause in Portuguese they would say relógio. Yeah. Yeah. Wow, there you go. I've been, I'm sorry, I've been schooled on it though. Let's go. I'm so excited to get you in here. I've been reading so much. So am I, thank you. Now, Sight Wedge is like, It's not just you writing, it's you have guest writers in there as well. Sorry, I sound really excited, but there's just a couple of them. There's this one guy that I read about the other day. Do you know Joe Emery? Mm-hmm. The one that he wrote, it just— I've read it about 3 times since. It's so incredible. It's incredible what you're doing. Can you tell us a little— Thank you. Sorry, I keep on talking over you. I've had too much coffee this morning, haven't I? I have way too much coffee. I will let you speak, I promise. She can do it. So PsychRage, tell us a little bit about what it is and why you set it up. Yeah, so as you've mentioned, it's a website about psychology, mental health, and well-being. I would say a great bulk of what goes on PsychRage is not really my own writing. It's content produced by the readers itself. So it's a user-generated website. I launched it way back in 2014 while I was doing my master's degree. I've been blogging for about 15 years. So my, the trajectory of my blogging career started as a travel blogger. And then when I was doing my master's degree, I launched this mental health blog. And since then, I've been doing it. I've expanded the platform into a podcast, and also to an academic journal. And I also organize events. What kind of events do you organize? I do organize mental health events. In fact, in October I'll be launching a mental health event in London. I don't want to preempt it yet, but I'm collaborating with a PR agency. Yeah. Oh, wow. Exciting. And what's been the response you've got, especially from the people who contribute to the website? Because it's giving people who don't necessarily want their own blog but want a bit more of a platform that's already established to share what they've got to give. And sometimes people don't want to share more than once or a couple of times, so there's no point setting up a website and all the fees and the responsibility that's involved. Yeah, good thing you mentioned about it because setting up your own website, your own blog is time-consuming and it requires a lot of energy and dedication. So essentially what I'm doing is I'm giving people a platform to share their voices. And like what you've said, if you create your own blog, no matter how devoted or passionate you are about the topic, it would come to a certain stage that it would become repetitive. So why not just share it with an existing platform? And essentially that's what I'm doing. So obviously, just like any other bloggers, it is my career. It's my main source of income that allows me to offer free content because essentially I earn from ads. Right. Yeah. Okay. And so it's quite, you know, it's altruistic really. You're helping other people get out what they have to say and what they want to share with the world. And they're helping you kind of maintain this up-to-date resource as well. How many different people do you have writing for PsychRage at the moment? I don't really know how many people I'm writing, but on a good day I'm publishing about 7 to 10 different articles. So this would— Wow. Yeah, this would come from universities, from PR agencies, and also from people who want to share their lived experience about mental health. So I would describe it as a kind of mishmash kind of platform. I'm publishing all sorts of content as long as it fits within the theme of the website. Yeah. And how often do you write for the website? Oh, probably once a month, or probably even less than that. Right. I don't really write for my own website. No, there's so much management kind of involved as well in maintaining it and making sure that the right content's going out there. So I guess you have to read every single one of them as well. Do you remember the one, the one that I mentioned earlier by Jo Emery? How did I cope with my mental health issues? Yeah. So basically what I do is I invite people through social media if they want to share their stories, to share their lived experience. And that's how I came across with Jo Emery. It's It's interesting because some people are really strongly— the stories that they read, it strongly resonates with their lived experience. And I'm passionate about mental health, but I suppose it becomes a barrier talking about mental health when you don't have a lived experience of your own. People can relate more with people who can talk about their own experience. But that's the whole reason for it. I mean, yeah. This book, this show is, Get Booked is all about writing and authors and the power of writing. And it's not just about being in a book, you know. People aren't even writers just from writing blogs. If you look at the Instagram posts, they can go on for a good 500 or 600 words and it's just people's way of getting out there something to help other people. The beauty of websites like PsychRage is there's gonna be something for somebody. It's sometimes making you not feel like you are alone in what you're feeling. So the people who write their own experiences to help other people are so incredibly brave, but that also is uplifting for the person reading it going, wow, if they can talk about it, and normalize it and kind of, it's so helpful and it's so incredibly important. There are so many different elements of writing that are important, whether it's cathartic for the person doing the writing or whether it's entertainment for somebody who just needs to, you know, escape a little bit or, you know, something that just tells you what you need to hear at that particular time. And I thought his was, I mean, I've read quite a few of them But there are obviously the amount that you publish a day, it's quite hard to keep up to all of them. But you have your own section as well. Tell us a little bit more about how the idea came about. How long has Psychowedge been going? I launched it in 2014. I just want to pick up on what you said about the cathartic element of, of blog. That's another reason why I launched the blog, because I'm I'm better off expressing myself in writing. So, and I actually did a research about the psychological benefits of writing. In psychological parlance, this is what we would call expressive writing. When you write about the stress, stressful life events, you can actually better cope with it. And I think that's the psychological aspect of, you know, what people can gain from contributing to websites, not just on PsychRage, but also, you know, it allows them to process what's going on with their lives, whether mental health or well-being. Yeah, I launched PsychRage in 2014, but as I've mentioned earlier, I've been blogging for about 15 years now. So my, my experience has been shaped by all those years of blogging. So it's more about the technical side. I designed the website myself. Oh wow. Yeah, that's pretty good. Do you have another website as well where people can find out about what you were saying before about your mental well-being events? It's all on PsychRaj, but I run a separate personal website and just more recently I launched my own podcast on YouTube. Keeping busy then. Yes. So if we go on to PsychRaj, Ah, so the YouTube, all the icons are up there anyway, so you can get, people can go into psychreg.org and you've got the Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube icons up there, so it's very easy for people to get connected. Now I'm going to ask you a controversial question. Let's fire it. Who is your favorite blogger? Um, actually I'm more into, and I'll be very controversial with this, um, I have a strong political, how would you say, appetite. Yeah. Right. So most of the blogs that I read have political undertones. So my favorite blog would be Quillette. I don't know if you've read about it and also UnHerd. I don't read my competitors' blog. No, why would you give them more hits, right? No, it's not about giving them hits, but I'm more drawn to Quillette because it's a mixture of psychology and politics. And I like the story behind Quillette. I could talk about that later if you want. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to write it down. I want to— people talk about all these incredible things around my shows and, you know, it's a conversation here at Get Booked, but I'm scribbling down notes saying which website do I need to go for, which author do I need to put on my bucket list and all these bits and pieces. So yeah, I'll get those bits and pieces from you shortly. What I would like to know is in terms of, you know, a little bit more, actually, I'm not gonna ask you a little bit more, I've got a feeling that telling us a little bit more about yourself is gonna go into the next section without a doubt. But have you ever thought about publishing a book? Yes, I actually have a submission to a publisher and my book should be out um, within 2 to 3 months. Oh wow, exciting! Well, what's that going to be called? It's called Let's Talk About Behavior. So it's some collection of essays that I've wrote about mental health. Um, yeah, and, uh, it's about a collection of, um, 120 essays. Wow! And it's definitely going to get published? Yes. Brilliant. Well, you'll have to make sure that you let me have a copy of that back and come in again as well, and then we'll talk about that one. We're just going to go off to our first set of ads and we'll be back in a couple of minutes. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Junie Mae Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy, and we're at Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being, and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Nicole Goodman, and I'm Lauren Mishkon, and this is the Self-Care Club podcast. The advice for self-care today is endless and can feel like yet another overwhelming job for women. The Self-Care Club is part social experiment, part reality show. 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At Nurturing Nurturing Birth, we offer approved doula training courses across the UK, which are facilitated by an award-winning doula. Here you will learn more about the support you can offer, explore the doula role, and think about how to set up your business. No need for previous qualifications. Find out more at nurturingbirth.co.uk. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station. Daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter @WomensRadioStation, that's Women's Radio Station, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Hello and welcome back to Get Booked. I'm Hazel Butterfield, and joining me in the studio today is Denis Rolloho Howell. See, I pronounced it right this time. Yeah, and my coffee's wearing off as well. You need another cup. Yeah, I need another double espresso. I mean, soon it's gonna, you know, get to the time when I can just switch into an espresso martini anyway. Before we went on to our break, we were talking about your favorite bloggers or blog sites and you were saying Qillette, which is Q-U-I-L-L-E-T-T-E. It's— wow, it's quite an interesting— I've never heard of it before. It's quite an interesting blog site, isn't it? Yeah, it's quite unique because I don't want to sound controversial about this, but that's the kind of— just do it. Yeah, but that's the kind of website that publishes not so politically correct content because especially here in the UK and the US, most of academics are leaning towards the left-wing side. And these are the websites that you don't often— you would read articles that often won't be talked about. And I kind of like the website because I can relate to the creator of the website. It's Claire Lehmann. She's an Australian and her background is also into psychology. And most of her viewpoints doesn't really conform with the existing narrative about left-wing. She's not really into that, so she decided to launch her own website. I'm not trying to be like that. I'm still focusing on concentrating on mental health and well-being, but on my own website I did publish a few controversial articles. Just more recently, I published an article from a transgender woman who's not really into— I don't know if you follow this story, you know, like, um, um, trans women being allowed to compete in sports which used to be for women. I did. I didn't get a chance to read it. I saw it and I earmarked it as one that I wanted to go back to. But yeah, you think I should read that one? Yeah, it's a refreshing take to what we've been hearing about trans women competing in Olympics, into sports. It's a tough one, isn't it? Because I mean, there's going to be so many people throwing things or whatever they're listening to the radio at the moment. Yeah, we might be called transphobe now. Yeah, but it's like, you know, the theory is, is that supposedly men are stronger, and so they would say, you know, that a trans woman who used to be a man, they were like, well, they're gonna win everything. But I mean, I know that that's not necessarily— that would be the— we know that that's what the argument's going to be. Um, and so it, it's interesting, but it should be up for debate, right? Yeah. Um, But I like things like that. I like things that get people thinking and, you know, it's opening discussions. Yeah. So that article where I mentioned is actually written by Dr. Debbie Hayton. She has— I think she's got a PhD degree in physics, but obviously because of her lived experience of being a trans woman, this is close to her heart. And the way she wrote it, it's very eloquent the way she wrote it. And it's interesting to hear it from a trans woman actually, not, who doesn't also agree with that kind of politics. I like that. It's just challenging the rhetoric. It's brilliant. And another website that you were telling us about that you quite liked is UnHerd, unherd.com. What do you like about that one? I like About and Her because I'm a big fan of Douglas Murray. I bought two of his books, and I also like the social science articles there. Yeah. All right. Okay. I mean, so there's a couple of things there for our listeners to go and have a look at. You also play a little bit of a role here at Women's and Men's radio station, don't you? Yeah, I, at one point I was managing the social media website of women's radio station and I'm still currently managing the social media website of men's radio station. And do you go on some of the shows every night? I'm sure I've seen you on a couple of Russ's shows. Yeah, sometimes I go there. Yeah, but I run out of things to say because of, you know, Russ Kane is very vibrant, so it's hard to 'Contribute to the discussion.' Wow. I like— it's delicately put. I love him. Fantastic. Now, what are your favorite books? My favorite books. I don't know if you've heard about Titania McGrath. It was written by a comedian called Andrew Doyle. Right. So it's for anyone who's on Twitter, they would probably have heard about Titania McGrath. So it's basically a parody about the ultra woke, you know, like being too politically correct. I hate myself using the word politically correct because it sounds like I'm taking the piss about being civil. But just visit her Twitter account and you would get the flavor of what kind of character Titania McGrath is. So that's one of my favorite books. And, um, and now, yeah, um, also because my background is in psychology, I also read a lot about, um, the more psychology stuff, um, the boring ones. Oh, why do you read the boring ones? There's plenty of good ones out there. Um, because I'm actually preparing for my, um, for my PhD, so I need to refresh my, my psychological knowledge. Yeah, you're going, you're doing a PhD? I am, I am an incoming, um, PhD student. Right, so you've gone back to education? Yeah, because before I came into this country, I was university, I was a university lecturer, so I was teaching psychology. Of course you were. It's just, it's like, have you ever watched, um, what's it called, uh, Gavin and Stacy? Right, okay, I'm gonna have to come up with another one. So basically you just think, but you've developed a website, you know, you publish 8, 9 articles a day, you've got a new YouTube channel, you've just getting another book published, of course, you used to be a— a first book published, sorry, but you know, you've got all these things, you're kind of spinning all these different plates, yeah, you've got the book being published, and you know, you used to be a university lecturer, now you're gonna just go and do a PhD, I'm sorry, is there nothing looking good on TV for you at the moment. I don't know, I think it's fantastic. It's great. But are you one of those people that's going to be in their 70s and you're going to be going back to university because you suddenly decide you want to learn a little bit more about quantum physics? No, not really. Um, the beauty about psychology is quite, it's quite a neutral field, so it's not really about just more about, you know, that hard, hard stuff about statistics and all that, but there's an element of statistics in psychology, but it's more about things that you actually see and the applications of psychology is actually real life. So that's the beauty of it. I don't envision myself to be going back to universities and teach. I'm actually doing a PhD just for my own self-satisfaction. I just want to learn more about psychology. That's the reason why I'm doing PhD. It's not to advance my career or anything. I'm not taking the mickey, I really am not. I'm absolutely in awe. I'm just like, yeah, you know, I'm just doing a PhD because of them. The reason why I'm also doing another PhD is I think it's kind of like to compensate for my parents because my parents were not able to go to— they did not have any higher education. Just to tell you a bit of my background, I grew up in a slum in the Philippines, so life was really tough. And it was my parents who instilled to us the value of education. Like, if you want to— I remember my dad saying, if you want to escape slum, education is the tool. Yeah. So I've absorbed that. Well, you definitely have. So where are your parents now? They're still in Philippines. Hopefully they will be able to come here July, August if the visa gets approved. Okay, and they're in different living circumstances? Both of them are retired, but they're living in the Philippines. They're doing well despite some health issues. Okay. I do actually have a— see, my auntie is from Jakarta, and yet, do you know what, I've never been. Oh, that's one part of Southeast Asia that I really want to go to. Can you— Indonesia or Indonesia, Philippines, but you know, all that kind of that region. You should go there. Thailand is a lovely place to visit. I know, because I think that's slightly lower down. That's kind of— I've been to Thailand a couple of times, but I think it's— that's a bit more kind of— well, if you've been to Thailand, you would actually have the flavor of Philippines because we have the same— we have the same culture. Really? Oh, okay. See, that's the thing. I don't know because I've not been. You don't know anything about a place until you've actually been there. Do you not agree? Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Until now I've lived here for 7 years, but I still don't know a lot of things about this country. Neither do I. Yeah, probably it helps that I'm married to an English guy, so he kind of like reorients me. Great. How long have you been married? 5 years. 5 years. Ah, congratulations! I don't think I managed 5 years. No, that's fantastic. Now, do you have anything that you'd like to share to people about how to get published on the basis that you've managed to go through the process of getting your first book? I think you have to be persistent about it, and you also have to identify whether you want to self-publish or go to traditional publishing. In my case, I just want to I do self-publishing because I want to have more control of my book. And just, you know, internet is a wonderful thing, so you can always scout for different publishers and just also just be clear about what you're trying to achieve with your book. Is it more to express your knowledge? Is it more about to promote your brand? So basically research it and assertiveness. Yes. Really make sure that you're true to yourself, which I think, you know, is absolutely fantastic. We're gonna be shortly going off to another break. When we come back with the second half of the show, I'm gonna be asking you about your 3 tips on mental wellbeing and many, many other things as well. So, and a couple of things I want, I would invite everybody to just go and check out in the break, psychreg.org and go and go and have a look at what we are discussing here with Dennis Roloho Howell. And we will be back very, very shortly. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station is all about diversity, from opinions, career, ethnicity, education, and most importantly, women's well-being. We aim to celebrate the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and the platform for your voice. Visit our website womensradiostation.com for more information. Do you want to be a doula? Would you like to support families through pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period? Do you have qualities of compassion, Listening, caring, and empowering. At Nurturing Birth, we offer approved doula training courses across the UK, which are facilitated by an award-winning doula. Here you will learn more about the support you can offer, explore the doula role, and think about how to set up your business. No need for previous qualifications. Find out more at nurturingbirth.co.uk. Hi everyone, and welcome to the Femaling Show. I am your host, Nicole Goodman, and I am a woman's identity expert and coach. As women, we fall into different phases of identity through our adult life, and during these, our challenges can look pretty similar. Here at WRS, I will be talking to you about the real issues we all face, and even the ones we can silently struggle with. Through honest, heartfelt conversation here at Femaleing, you will learn how to accept yourself, understand yourself, and be yourself. Hi, I'm Carolyn van Beers. Please join me for a brand new show here on Women's Radio Station. It's Mother's Hour. 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For more information on how you can sponsor a show, go to womensradiostation.com. Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Welcome back to the second half of today's Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station, supporting women's wellbeing. I'm Hazel Butterfield, and joining me throughout today's show, I have Dennis Rillojo Howell, who, uh, has a website called psychreg.org, which is all about publishing posts on mental health and mental wellbeing, um, obviously blogging Instagramming, it's all— they're all different areas of writing and it's all— we all have different ways of taking in our literature and I think it's great to have an incredible variety. Obviously you have a lot to do with mental health and mental well-being. You've been telling us about the events that you hope to do as well, but what 3 tips on mental health and mental well-being would you like to give to our readers? I think the first one is just to take it easy because we tend to be, you know, like we want to achieve more. And in the process of doing that, we tend to forget about looking after ourselves. So that's one. And second is don't be a perfectionist. I'm quite messy. I'm quite— I'm not advocating to be messy at home, but I'm quite messy. I'm quite disorganized at home. And sometimes my husband would tell me like, 'Would you clear up?' And I would just say, 'That's life.' You know, like, I've got better things to do than tidying up. And that's kind of my philosophy in life. Like, when you're trying to be perfect in everything you do, you're not enjoying it. So yeah, just enjoy it. Enjoy the battle scars, enjoy the mistakes, the lapses in judgment. That's life. And third is, I think, exercise, especially for, you know, authors and publishers. I think it's important that we get to be active. I'm a freelancer, so I just work from home. And I try to force myself to run at least twice a day. Twice a day? I try to. You are so— And not twice a day, sorry, twice a week. Sorry, I'm scatterbrained. It's okay. No, welcome to my world. I mean, I'm a kind of black coffee, predominantly double espresso. So sometimes I'm just like, "Bling!" But even with that amount of coffee and having it that strong, I still couldn't run twice a day. But still, I get the thing. I mean, you are one of these people that just are incredibly driven. I feel like we kind of glossed over the fact that you were brought up in a, you know, in the slums in the Philippines. And I mean, have you ever taken your husband to the Philippines? I've taken him in the Philippines 3 times, but to be honest, he doesn't enjoy it. Does he stay in a nice 4 or 5-star hotel? No, I have a house in the Philippines, but I won't take him to the slum where I grew up because it's quite— it's not a nice area and I don't think he'll come out alive. Wow. They're not known to be, but I just find it incredible that you've kind of You know, you had the kind of parents that said, "Education, education." You utilised that and it's driven you and it's worked and it's still making you drive further and further, which I think is something to be commended. But it's so evident in, you know, the way that you kind of attack the things that you want to do. I think it's absolutely fantastic. Thank you. No, thank you. And do you— we were talking about Southeast Asia before and you were saying that Thailand's quite like the Philippines. Have you done a lot of travel around Southeast Asia? Yeah, I've pretty much, because that's where I came from, so pretty much been to most of Southeast Asian countries. I've been to Thailand a lot. I've been— I was just in Malaysia last October. I was there for a month. Oh, where's your favorite place in Malaysia? I stayed— I like Kuala Lumpur, but I was in Sabah at that time. I've also been to Penang. Lovely food. I can't remember what I've eaten, but Penang has a stereotype of, you know, the best food in Malaysia. Okay. I've been to the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia. Absolutely love them. I took my grandma with me, actually. We went backpacking for a little bit. But these, I mean, I just— they're the common places to go to in Southeast Asia, Malaysia and Thailand. And I kind of feel as though if I've kind of robbed myself a little bit having not been to Indonesia and the Philippines yet, and I think that's gotta go on the list. I think you should go there. We've got lots of beaches, yeah. Yeah, well, that would work for me. And a friend of mine recently, she just, her kids were both just in junior school, and she went, "I'm really bored of the rat race." She took them out of school, rented a house out, and she's in Bali at the moment. And she's just going to move there for 4 months and she's like, I'll come back when I feel I've done enough. And I think it's absolutely fantastic. But before, you know, your kids get into the final years of junior school and go into high school and things like that, and I'm just like, I just want to go. So I'm kind of just trying to absorb the travel vibe from you, really. Do you ever make your— make— do you ever request kindly that your husband goes to other parts of Southeast Asia? Oh yeah. He's not a fan. I've taken him to Hong Kong, where apparently he enjoyed Disneyland in Hong Kong. I'm getting a really good pitch. Yeah, I want to take him to Singapore because I've also lived in Singapore for a year. Have you? Yeah. Wow. I like Singapore because it's organised, low crime rate. Yeah, it's always kind of strict. I mean, it's interesting that there's a low crime rate. Isn't the coffee like £15 a go or something? Yeah, it's a very expensive country. It's more expensive than London. But if you know where to eat, like they've got what they called hawker centres. Basically, it's like, how I would describe it, like communal restaurants. So you could probably eat there for what, like 3 Singaporean dollars. Okay. It's quite cheap. I need to keep it up. There's so many places I want to go to. I was actually, I flew through Singapore actually in February of last year. And it's just that thing of you kind of fly over somewhere, you don't want to come out of the airport. I don't want to just be stuck in there with the Lego shop and the donut shop. I can relate to you because I've never been much to— I've never seen much of Europe. Yeah, but you know, the beaches aren't that cracking in Germany, I'll be honest. Anyway, I digress, I digress. Uh, so I would like to know— we're going to go back onto the well-being thing. Sorry, I just Traveling is part of well-being. Do you know what though? Like, because I travel quite a lot on my own, um, or I'll quite often go just with my kids, and, and people like, oh, you know, take some adults with you. It's like, no, because the kids will run about and I can just sit there and actually absorb the country, and they actually just get involved with whatever's going on. My idea of heaven is going on holiday on my own, just being able to read and just chill with your own thoughts. Things can get so loud. I just, you know, I can just lay in the middle of, you know, I'll swim out to a certain part in the ocean and I will just lay there. People are like, "Is she okay?" I'm like, "No, I'm good." I just, it's that to me, that is where I get my relaxing vibes from. And just involving yourself in a different culture and just, and being warm, let's be honest, that does help. Yeah, it does. We need vitamin D. We do. Yeah, especially it's winter. I'm having to take a spray. Yeah. I don't wanna take a spray, I wanna take a flight. So anyway, we'll go back to the whole wellbeing vibe that's, you know, based around GetBooked. Now, a question I ask all the guests that come in onto GetBooked is, who's your favourite wellbeing public figure or somebody that you just think embodies the vibe or, you kind of look towards and think, they're doing good things, I get them? I would say, he's a clinical psychologist, he's a Canadian clinical psychologist, it would be Dr. Jordan Peterson. Oh, wow, okay. You do like non-PC, don't you? I do. And sometimes people find it like ironic because I'm a minority and then they said, you're supposed to be reading The Guardian. And unfortunately, I can't stand The Guardian. Nobody should tell you what to read or what to think, or, you know. No, no, no, like people from my background, no, you would expect me to be more, to identify more with PC stuff, but I don't. It's fine. I think that's great. I don't like it when people do what people think they should be doing. You know, you should do what feels right for you. And what is it about Jordan Peterson that you like? I like Jordan Peterson because he's got a common sense approach in most things. Oh yeah. Not just with politics, but of psychology. I like his idea about intelligence, about resilience. And going back to my background, actually, when I share people that I try not to talk about my background growing up in the slums, but since we're talking about it, I think I don't really want it to come across as a sob story because I don't see growing up in the slum as a sob story. I actually tell my husband that I'm actually privileged growing up in the slum because I'm not squeamish and I'm tougher than I look like. And that's one thing that I want to convey with people when it comes to managing mental health and well-being, that you have to harness resilience. Maybe some people would not be able to manage their mental health and well-being, but there's a good thing that if we remind ourselves that we can actually deal with this, I think that's a better message. Okay. Yeah, I like that. I like— and you know what? We don't always understand why something means something to us, but I mean, you know, we don't have to just completely agree 100% with somebody either. And I think people need to realize that we can appreciate certain elements and it's not cut and dry, if you see what I mean. I mean, there's a lot of things, especially about Jordan Peterson, that I think are absolutely fantastic. But also, you know, there's many people out there who are doing, admiring things or just opening the discussions. I mean, half the time, controversial things that happen in public space, they're planted to either increase someone's kind of social media profile or to give them, to increase their profile because they're about to promote something. And it's, you know, we live a life of where people are intentionally trying to be controversial for so many reasons, some less good than others. There's so many other bits and pieces that I want to talk to you about. We're going to go over to another break very, very soon. But when we come back, I want to be talking to you a little bit about how people can get involved with PsychReg, what they need to do to get in touch with you and how they can submit a potential blog to be published. Because there's so many people out there just going, I just wouldn't have the faintest idea. And I want to encourage people that if you don't try, you never know. So we'll be back in a couple of minutes. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy, and we're at Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being, and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Nicole Goodman, and I'm Lauren Mishkon, and this is the Self-Care Club podcast. The advice for self-care today is endless and can feel like yet another overwhelming job for women. The Self-Care Club is part social experiment, part reality show. Every episode, we trial a different self-care practice, live it to the letter for a week, and report back to you on the results. Will it actually improve your well-being, or will it be another waste of your time? We test out self-care so you don't have to. Welcome to the Self-Care Club. My name is Ingrid Marsh, and I host the Radical Well-Being Show, supporting women's well-being. On my show, I bring you ordinary women like me and you who are sharing their unique stories. Women who have refused to be defined by their pains, to be silenced by stigma, or crushed by stereotypes. Stereotypes and who are taking back their power. And together, our mission is a simple one, and that's to inspire you to kick away the roadblocks too, to don your wings and be the person that you were born to be. Do you want to be a doula? Would you like to support families through pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period? Do you have qualities of compassion, listening, caring, and empowering? At At Nurturing Birth, we offer approved doula training courses across the UK, which are facilitated by an award-winning doula. Here you will learn more about the support you can offer, explore the doula role, and think about how to set up your business. No need for previous qualifications. Find out more at nurturingbirth.co.uk. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station. Daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter at Women's Radio Station, that's Women's Radio STN, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Welcome back to our final section here at Get Booked. Uh, I'm Hazel and I have Denis in the studio with me. We've been chatting away pretty much everything. We've been talking about travel, your website, everybody else's websites, all elements of wellbeing and writing and, um, how you basically are one of these people that will just keep on striving to go further and further, which I think is fantastic. Do you have, like, your partner at home, does he sit there going, uh, he's going to do his PhD and then he's going to ask to do, I don't know, like, get on a yacht and go around the world? I'd love to. Would you really? Yeah, no, I love— life is short, so I love to see more, more, more, um, more places before I die. Yeah, it's going to be ages away. I mean, to be honest, you look You look extremely young for your age as well. Thank you, but I'm probably older than you. Uh, I think we're the same age actually, give or take a couple of months. I did my research, you know. Oh, thank you. Yeah, well, I hope I get it wrong. I'm not gonna say just in case I get it wrong, but yeah, yeah, you've got a good skincare regime. Thank you. I had something down my face, but I won't go over that. No. Did you? Yeah, I had a few blemishes, um, taken off. Oh cool! That's not Botox. No, not yet. I've got a few blemishes I want to get rid of them, but I don't want to use Botox. I'll do something. I'll just use better makeup, I don't know. So what I was gonna ask you, is there anything that you're really looking forward to that's happening this year? I suppose it would be the Good Mental Health event. That's, that's actually the name, Good Mental Health event. It will be held in October to coincide with the Mental Health Week. I'm excited about this one because it's my first time to collaborate with a PR agency. Actually, they were Russ Gaines' guests a few weeks ago. Wow. And so, I mean, this is something that's going to happen, isn't it? Yes. And I think what's special about this event is that we're trying to say that because we all have— we come across with a range of mental health events talking about how serious the mental health problem is. But we don't often come across with mental health event, which the main aim is to promote good mental health. And that's what we're trying to achieve. So what sort of— are you going to have talkers there? Yes. Tell us a little bit more about what you have in store. Yeah. So we're still in the process of inviting a speaker. So we would have a speaker talk about resilience and we would have speakers talk about wellbeing in the workplace. Everything is not yet final, so unfortunately I can't talk much about it, but the general stuff, just to give you a teaser. Yeah. Do I get a couple of free tickets thrown in? Sure. That'd be really cool. Yeah. You said it on air. That means it has got to happen, right, Melissa? Yes. Yes. Yeah, right, you can hold him to that. Brilliant, yeah. And a couple of things I want to talk to you about, apart from the fact that my eye's really hurting at the moment. Obviously you can't do anything to sort my eye out, can you? So we will talk a little bit more about writing instead. Do you have a favourite kind of book, something that you know— do you ever sit there and go, do you know what, I just, I need a hit of something? Is there a particular kind of genre that you need to go to a particular kind of author that you just know is always going to put you back in the right headspace. I'll confess something. I've actually read Katie Hopkins' book. It's called Rude, and it's so funny. Like every 3 pages you'll laugh. Out of awkwardness? No, she's just funny. And I've actually met Katie Hopkins in person. I went to one of her conferences and As expected, I'm the only brown person there. I think you probably were. I'm surprised you were even let in. No, I had, I had curious there all throughout, but they were not nasty. I think they were just not expecting someone to go there. Did they think that you were trying to possibly do some spin on her? Yeah, I've met her and then I read her book. It's called Rude, and it is really rude. It's more about Katie Hopkins as a mother, as a person, because we see her as a provocateur, like she just talks controversial things and people think that she makes a living out of being controversial. But if you actually read Katie Hopkins' book, you see her as a person, as a mother, as someone who's suffered epilepsy. And also I can relate to— I didn't know she had epilepsy. She did have epilepsy. Yeah. And she had a surgery. She's actually got stitches on her scalp. Yeah, it's not a book, it's more of a book about, you know, recovery and about resilience, and she's a funny character. Wow, I didn't expect that at all. First of all, I didn't expect you to say that Katie Hopkins, but I didn't expect her book to be about resilience. I would expect it to be about, you know, bashing anybody and anything. No, it wasn't like that. She just talked about why her views are like this, and she talked about her experience. Um, it's essentially we're all shaped by our own experience, and yeah, I, I could understand what she have view. I don't agree, um, some of her views, but, um, like what I've said earlier, I would probably be— I could probably identify more with, um, Katie Hopkins than Diane Abbott. This, this needs to be a completely different show as well, doesn't it? You're a great guest to have in, Dennis. Is your husband of the same thinking of you? Oh yeah, we're both Brexit voters. Okay, wow. And we cancelled our license fee because we can't stand BBC. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this. You are. He is, isn't he? Is he? I think so. Well, he's said it now anyway. But we're not far right. We're just ordinary same-sex couple, tuck in Essex. I'm married to an Essex boy. Are you really? Yeah. What, Dennis? Yeah, what, do you want water? Brilliant. Yeah. But the thing is, there are so many people who are kind of scared to say things these days because they're gonna be judged on their decisions, but we do have a right to just you know, think, you know, it depends on, you know, how people express sometimes their thoughts, which is where people like Katie Hopkins has got in trouble because it is in the execution, isn't it, sometimes. Yes. That was a revelation. Well, in which case, I'm going to my next question. I'm slightly scared to ask this question now, but what inspires you? Please don't say it's hunting. Inspire me to what? Just inspires you in life. Oh, what inspires me in life? I always try to pick the good bits in life. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but— No, I like that. Yeah, I was deprived growing up because we did not have electricity until I was 10, and I did not use a proper toilet probably until I was 12. So, you know, when you need to do your thing, you just squat on a newspaper, put it on a carrier bag, then sling on the river. That's how I grew up. Oh, wow. So as I grew up, I tend to be more appreciative of little things in life. I did not marry my husband for a visa. Graham, you've heard it. Yeah. I'm worried as to why you brought that up. No, no, no. But I still consider coming to this country as a privilege. Privilege. There are things that I don't like in this country, particularly political correctness. But I still consider coming to this country as a privilege. And I think I always try to look on positive things, you know, like on the things that I've chosen about my life. Yeah. I think you're such an incredibly interesting and just straight down the line character. I love it that you actually just speak your mind, and so many people don't. I mean, you've said that you don't particularly have any mental health issues, you just have, you know, you want to support it and you want to, you, you want to help other people with Psych Wedge. Yes, but I'm, I've always been, um, I'm passionate about mental health because I had a friend who died of suicide, um, it's not probably a direct experience of mental health, but I know how it is. And also about special needs, 'cause I have two nephews who's got severe autism, profound autism. So mental health is something close to my heart. So, I mean, you can understand it and have empathy without actually necessarily having the issues yourself. And I think that's probably one of the reasons why you don't is because you're so incredibly true to yourself and you know, you kind of know yourself as well. Just touch on what you said about special educational needs as well. I do actually have a podcast called Send Me the Wine, which is about two mums drinking a bottle of wine, talking about a different SEND issue, whether it's dating when you've got a child with autism or any special educational need, and books that you can read and going out and hints and tips on just all these issues. But it's called Send Me the Wine because the theory is put your kid to bed, We tell you what wine we're drinking in the blurb of the podcast. And then we drink it and it gets a bit silly towards the end. And it's all about a little bit of a silly conversation. So I'll send you a link, maybe you should go and check it out. Me too, yeah. But I think you're straight talking, you are honest. There's so many people that aren't honest these days, or they're scared to say it. And I completely commend you for it. I think what you're doing PsychoEdge is fantastic. You're giving people a voice and a space, and you've created the avenue for people to read or be able to express themselves, which I think is absolutely fantastic. You're thoroughly entertaining. Thank you. I have a weird sense of humor. Oh, me too, me too. I'm, you know, my kind of sense of humor— I'm disappointed if I I come home from a dinner party and nobody was offended. If I haven't offended somebody, then where have I been? You have to do something. I might have lost my voice. I thought I was losing my voice at the beginning of this show, but luckily it came back. You know, I had my second wind. That's the thing about being a radio presenter. You are constantly having to talk, and then when it goes, you are absolutely done. But I think just the drive you have, the variety, of— she's got so many things that you want to just experience and get involved with. I think it's absolutely fantastic. And Dennis, I'm so happy that you came in to chat to us here at Women's Radio Station. Please make sure you come back when your book is published and released into the world. I will. Thank you. Thank you for listening to me. I'm Hazel Butterfield and this is Get Booked. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station is all about diversity, from opinions, career, ethnicity, education, and most importantly, women's well-being. We aim to celebrate the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and the platform for your voice. Visit our website womensradiostation.com for more information. Do you want to be a doula? Would you like to support families through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period? Do you have qualities of compassion, listening, caring, and empowering? At Nurturing Birth, we offer approved doula training courses across the UK, which are facilitated by an award-winning doula. Here you will learn more about the support you can offer, explore the doula role, and think about how to set up your business. No need for previous qualifications. Find out more at nurturingbirth.co.uk. Hi everyone and welcome to the Femaling Show. I am your host Nicole Goodman and I am a woman's identity expert and coach. As women, we fall into different phases of identity through our adult life, and during these, our challenges can look pretty similar. Here at WRS, I will be talking to you about the real issues we all face, and even the ones we can silently struggle with through honest, heartfelt conversation. Here at Femaling, you will learn how how to accept yourself, understand yourself, and be yourself. Hi, I'm Carolyn Van Beers. Please join me for a brand new show here on Women's Radio Station. It's Mother's Hour. If like me, you're a mum juggling far too many balls and dropping most of them, this is definitely the show for you. We'll examine the highs and lows of motherhood and make sure you laugh out loud as we take on this challenging role together. Together with spoonfuls of advice, incredible stories. It will be a refreshing, honest, and funny look at being a mum. Are you struggling with money? Turn to us as a national charity helping people struggling to make ends meet. Job loss, illness, or bereavement can cause a real financial crisis. We give practical help to get people back on track, whether you're thinking of having a baby, trying to get out of an unhappy relationship, or just unsure what benefits you may be entitled to, we can help. Visit turn2us.org.uk. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station can give voice to your brand with a wide range of sponsorship opportunities, including individual programs We can tailor your experience for you. For more information on how you can sponsor a show, go to womensradiostation.com. 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