Writing your own rules – becoming a parent when you don’t have a relationship with yours.
Becoming a parent can change your perspective on the world and bring strong emotions to the surface.
It can also prompt you to look within, to turn to the example that was set for you as a child.
And if you have a complicated relationship with your own parents – or they’re not around –who do you turn to when you start wondering “Am I going about this the right way?”
Chris Jephcott found himself facing the prospect of becoming a dad at the same time he was losing his own.
His partner Suzi Garden fell pregnant early in their relationship, and although they were excited, they were also nervous –they knew this would be tough terrain to navigate.
Becoming a dad forced Chris to reckon with the most traumatic moments of his past, but it also strengthened his resolve to build his parenting skills from the ground up and be a different father to his own son.
This episode contains discussion of suicide.
Survive & Thrive is a podcast from Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA), find it in your favourite podcast app.
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Acknowledgement
PANDA acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land where we work and live and where this podcast is made. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We celebrate the stories, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who also work and live on this land.
We recognise the individual and collective contributions of people with a lived and/or living experience of mental health issues, their families, loved ones and supporters.
Each person’s journey is unique and a valued contribution to Australia’s commitment to PANDA's work and mental health systems reform.
It is through listening to and acting on the voices of people with lived experience, that those who provide services, those who fund services, and most importantly, those who use services that we will find the information we need to move towards the mental health system Australia needs.
Every person’s story we hear, every experience shared, helps to develop our understanding of the system that is required to best meet the needs of Australians living with mental health issues, their families, loved ones and supporters.
Credits
Host: Gia Hogarth
PANDA Digital Editor: Serena Ashmore
PANDA Commissioning Editor: Bec Shafer
Deadset Studios Senior Producer: Grace Pashley
Deadset Studios Executive Producer: Rachel Fountain
Sound Design by Krissy Miltiadou
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