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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

A new mental health hub, May 2022

In Episode 39, we were honoured to share an exclusive! Perks of the job meant that Sarah Lawrence took a turn in the guest seat with Sarah Bagg from Life, Love and Me when they joined Berenice and Michael to share news of a new counselling and coaching resource called The Childless Mental Health Hub.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

The power of grief with Stella Duffy, OBE: April 2022

"There is huge power in grief, power in understanding what loss is like but as well as being pronatal and heteronormative, our culture is 'let's be happy' and to never admit that things are hard sometimes." Stella Duffy, OBE

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

Do childless men need a community? March 2021

We invited a few guys from the Childless Men's Community to discuss this topic, we were lucky enough to share views from three continents and cultures. Of course it was a rhetorical question - we all need community - but what we found the reasons why men need to feel included is enriching

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

Empowerment, February 2022

Empowerment can be a big act or something personal. In this episode we share our podcast episode with Judy Graham and Sarah Roberts who run their own practices supporting people who are childless not by choice.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

Evolution: a full stop future, January 2022

In this episode, we share the details on our plans. The background to the change is future proofing our work and making it more streamlined so that we can continue to inform, entertain and give a voice to our community.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

The Alternative Kings and Queens speech, December 2021

In this episode we share messages of hope and coping techniques to help you through the festive season. Our guests share their experiences, and as always, there may be some mentions of infertility treatment and miscarriage in this podcast. We were joined by Helen Segal, Bindi Shah, Professor Krista Cooper, Clare Elleray (Mae) and Tessa Broad. You’ll also find some lovely messages from past guests too.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

Past, present and future reflections, November 2021

In this episode we discuss the healing properties of the Full Stop, what we’ve learned from guests and our key episodes. We also share the plans we’re making to secure the future of the podcast in 2022.

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Episodes Berenice Howard-Smith Episodes Berenice Howard-Smith

Childlessness and work, October 2021

In this episode we were joined by Katy Schnitzler who is a trainer, researcher and lecturer, studying for a PhD. She’s doing amazing work as the founder of MIST (Miscarriage & Infertility Support Training) providing workshops and information for businesses who want to support employees who are struggling with miscarriage, infertility and childlessness, and give them advice on creating a balanced workplace.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

Let's talk about intimacy, September 2021

Join us as we talk about sex and how being childless affects mental health, perception and worth. We discuss the triggers, the challenges and misunderstandings that come with not being a parent and how this life-changing journey has impacted intimacy.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

World Childless Week, August 2021

In this episode, we were joined by the founder of World Childless Week, Stephanie Joy Phillips to get the inside information on the plans for the 5th year of this week-long event. World Childless Week brings together Ambassadors selected from the thought leaders, campaigners, and awareness raisers who volunteer alongside Steph, to give hope, support, and strength to our childless not by choice community.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

Men and mental health, July 2021

Our guest this month is Chrissy Pantlin. She’s based in Australia. After illness, Chrissy qualified in counseling and set up her practice in the pandemic. Chrissy talks about what she’s learning from the men who come to her practice and shares a wealth of advice that we know will be useful to all genders.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

The joy in the everyday, June 2021

Please be aware that we discuss failed pregnancy and suicide in this episode. If you would like further support you can find resources here on our toolkit. Episode 28: The joy in the everyday is a celebration of self-care and looking after ourselves. We hope you’ll be inspired by our guests, Bindi Shah and Clare Elleray

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Episodes Berenice Howard-Smith Episodes Berenice Howard-Smith

Simply us, March 2021

This episode actually began as an ‘admin’ chat! We hit record and we realised there might be a few nuggets of wisdom. Join us as we riff about screen sharing, Covid in our countries (we do get a bit emotive here, and this was recorded in early February so the statistics have changed), handling Zoom meetings and boundaries.

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Episodes Berenice Howard-Smith Episodes Berenice Howard-Smith

Navigation, February 2021

We are delighted to share with you, our next episode with Kate Kaufmann in another cross-continent broadcast - we get very excited about making connections across the world! We’ve called this episode Navigation because Kate, for us, is a fantastic voice for our community, not just through her book Do you Have Kids, Life When the Answer is No, but in the many articles she has published, as a World Childless Week Champion and a good friend to many of us.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

Making connections, January 2021

In this episode, we’re talking about adapting to online communication and making connections. Who better than Helen Louise Jones who has been raising our spirits with singing through her Childless Voices project and Chanting Circles. The choir began before lockdown in the UK in March 2020 and she had to quickly adapt the delivery to keep providing support. We were also delighted to welcome Lisa Ann Kissane who talked about her love of books and how she’s encouraging our community to read through her website and Gateway Women’s NoMo Book Club which hosts online meetings to chat about the books she's recommended. If you’ve ever been triggered by a book then you need Lisa in your life!

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

Toxic hope and worth, November 2020

In this episode, we were joined by our good friend Andy Harrod who is the voice behind Invisible Childlessness. He’s one of many new, powerful contributors to our community as he explores coming to terms with involuntary childlessness through writing and academic study. He’s also part of the Clan of Brothers.

From the start, this episode poses questions about events that lead us to this space called involuntarily childlessness and we do mention infertility treatment.

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Berenice Howard-Smith Berenice Howard-Smith

Grief and Childlessness, October 2020

In this episode, we were joined by artist Helen Segal who is the founder of Empowered Childlessness. Helen shares her inspiring life journey, discussing openly her grief and impact of IVF, and change in her life. It’s an incredible episode and we loved chatting to her, and there’s so much to take away from this.

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Disclaimer

The Full Stop Podcast and content posted by the Full Stop is presented solely for general informational, and educational purposes. The guests views may not represent those of the Full Stop or the co-directors of the Full Stop CIC. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.