Trigger warning, this podcast contains discussions relating to PTSD, trauma, mental health, suicide and other potentially distressing experiences. If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, you can call Lifeline on 131114.

PTSD is something we are very aware of now, but what if you developed PTSD from traumatic experiences while working in the police force decades ago? And how would you handle living with that without diagnosis?

Keith Banks is a former police officer, bestselling author and mental health advocate. He speaks powerfully on trauma, resilience, mental fitness and rebuilding life after adversity.

In this episode he shares:

- His childhood experience of trauma

- Why he was drawn to dangerous police work

- The fatal shooting that changed everything

- The toll of losing his best friend in the line of duty

- Living with undiagnosed PTSD for decades

- How trauma affected his family life

- The diagnosis that changed everything

- His understanding of post-traumatic growth

- How he found purpose after policing

- The power of connection and community

- How karate became part of his healing

- Why it is never too late to heal

Key Quotes

“I thought I was alone in this whole morass of trauma and pain.”

“I had a dark side that was taking over that previously happy, joyful little dude.”

“I had the classic symptoms, the nightmares, the flashbacks, the hypervigilance, the anger, the drinking, all of that.”

More about Keith

Follow Keith on Instagram, find out more via his website, or read his books.

You can get involved with the podcast online

You can follow us on Instagram.

Find out more via my website.

You can reach out to me via email.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trigger warning, this podcast contains discussions relating to trauma, mental health, and other potentially distressing experiences. If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, you can call Lifeline on 131114.

Kat John’s path has been one of overcoming deep personal challenges. Struggling with a sense of unworthiness and battling through significant hardships like childhood abuse, drug abuse and brain surgery she confronted and made friends with the patterns and limiting beliefs that kept her from living out who she was and achieving a fulfilling life.

Now she is an authenticity coach, author, speaker and founder of the ZEROFKS movement. Kat empowers people to reconnect with themselves and live courageously through healing and self-worth.

In this episode she shares:

- What “doing the work” really means

- Why self-awareness is the first step

- The beliefs that shape your identity

- How people-pleasing makes you lose yourself

- Taking radical responsibility

- Learning to date yourself

- Why healing is not a straight line

- The ego’s role in keeping you stuck

- Taking the next best step

- How she rebuilt her life after chronic pain

- Why you should give less power to fear and judgment

- Why authenticity is timeless

- Why the hard work is worth it

Key Quotes

“If you train like an Olympic athlete for something that you want, if you train for that gold medal, then you might just get that gold medal, but you need to know what your version of the gold medal is.”

“But am I ever really going to get out of this chronic pain? Am I ever really going to get out of this?”

“I thought, my God, I could get to the end of my life and never even know who I am.”

More about Kat

Follow Kat on Instagram, find out more on her website and buy her book.

You can get involved with the podcast online

You can follow us on Instagram.

Find out more via my website.

You can reach out to me via email.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trigger warning, this podcast contains discussions relating to PTSD, trauma, mental health, suicide and other potentially distressing experiences. If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

You are not broken, you are rebuilding.

That is a mantra I live by and that has seen me able to overcome some enormous challenges in my life.

In this podcast I will be interviewing incredible people about what happens after the worst moments in their lives and how they live alongside their trauma, rebuild, and keep going.

But to start this podcast, I am joined by my incredible friend Lisa Messenger who will be interviewing me to explain my story, what I have experienced and the lessons I have learnt along the way.

In this episode we share:

- My years in elite police squads

- My experience working undercover and in organised crime

- How I became a domestic violence survivor

- The PTSD diagnosis that followed

- My father’s devastating assault

- The breast cancer diagnosis I received

- How I coped with PTSD and cancer at the same time

- The treatments that helped me heal

- The role my Labrador played

- How I rebuilt after multiple traumas

- Why finding collateral beauty in adversity was important

- Why I created this podcast

- The importance of helping others rebuild and reinvent

Key Quotes

“Everyone still has a conscious choice to curate the best life that they can have despite the bad things that happen to them.”

“It was the mental and the physical coming in hard and fast and just horrendously.”

“Within 24 hours, actually on Valentine’s Day… the doctor said, ‘I’m so sorry Effie, you have cancer.’”

More about Lisa

You can follow Lisa on Instagram, or read her substack.

You can get involved with the podcast online

You can follow us on Instagram.

Find out more via my website.

You can reach out to me via email.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.