WERE HERE: The Talk on Tap Podcast

Borderline Personality Disorder – The Tapestry of Survival

Host Richard is joined by Katie, a lived experience advocate and social work student, and Sam, a psychologist with both clinical and living experience. Together, they unpack the stigma, isolation, and complex emotional landscape that surrounds BPD.
Katie shares how her BPD diagnosis, once wrapped in shame, has become a tapestry of survival, an honest and raw account of what it means to live with emotional intensity, chronic emptiness, and fear of abandonment. Sam brings clinical insights while holding space for truth-telling, describing how professionals must be held accountable and move beyond labelling clients as “too hard.”
Themes explored include:
What BPD really is (and isn’t) from both clinical and personal lenses
The link between early trauma, attachment theory, and emotional regulation
The double discrimination BPD attracts, even within the mental health system
The role of impulsivity, identity disruption, and misunderstood behaviours
The failings of current "early intervention" practices and why system reform is needed
How language, care, and co-produced spaces like Talk on Tap can restore dignity
Listeners are reminded that this podcast is not a substitute for professional advice. If you or someone you know needs support, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Not Waiting for Permission: A Manifesto on Lived Experience Leadership

I talk about the difference between appointed leadership and lived experience leadership, and why so many of us are done waiting for permission. I call out performative vulnerability, the tokenism of consumer voices, and the system that rewards control over authenticity. This isn’t a polite chat, it’s a pushback against the idea that leadership only counts when it comes with a title. I talk about what real leadership looks like when it’s shaped by survival, not boardrooms. We’re not tall poppies, we’re the soil cracking open underneath.

Fix Me in 10 Sessions: The False Promises of Mental Health Care

In this episode of Talk on Tap, Richard sits down with Ash, a psychologist and friend, to unpack the messy intersection of policy, practice, and lived experience in Australia's mental health system. From misconceptions about clinical psychology to the false hope created by Medicare's 10-session model, they explore the limits of the system, the pain it can cause, and the professionals caught inside it. Together, they ask: why do we keep supporting a model that so many of us know doesn't work?

The Outlet, Not the Cause – Living with Mental Illness and Outbursts

Richard Hendrie is a mental health advocate, lived experience leader, and professional with decades of frontline experience in trauma, recovery, and systems reform. Drawing on his own journey through mental illness, public service, and advocacy, Richard offers a raw, honest, and compassionate perspective on what it means to live with the complexity of emotional outbursts, both as someone who has caused harm and as someone who has been harmed. Richard believes in the power of words to both wound and heal, and he challenges the idea that vulnerability must come at the cost of personal safety.
Through this podcast, he explores difficult conversations that don’t always make it into public discourse, offering space for those navigating the messy intersection of pain, accountability, and human connection.

i am chemicals and context

For this short podcast I want to talk to about something I often say when I speak about mental health: I was asked yesterday to explain it, and this raised some internal anxiety, perhaps, too often we can get caught up in slogans to explain complex things, those complex things cannot necessarily be explained by slogans, and perhaps, as a possible view, by doing so we dilute metal illness. After all, we are many stories under many stories, influenced by many more stories, in an environment.
 
The saying I often use is "I am a matter of chemicals and context."

small red fire-extinguisher (What I Think the Mental Health System Is)

What I Think the Mental Health System Is
We begin life as an empty fire pit, safe, grounded, with the potential to contain heat and light. Over time, as we experience life, we start to accumulate kindling: small sticks of stress, dry leaves of loss, twigs of trauma. These pieces by themselves don’t spark much; they just sit there, quietly piling up.
Eventually, we gather firelighters, things like unresolved grief, systemic pressures, discrimination, family dysfunction, or isolation. These don’t ignite right away, but they’re ready to burn fast and hot.
Then, something strikes a match. Sometimes it’s a big life event, a death, a breakdown, a job loss, or sometimes it’s just the cumulative heat of everyday struggles. Suddenly, there’s a flame. At first, we can manage the small fires. We stomp them out or douse them with what we’ve got, coping mechanisms, therapy, medication, connection. Even the medium-sized flare-ups, we can learn to contain.
But then something bigger happens. A drum of petrol, trauma, crisis, burnout, gets thrown onto the fire. The flames erupt. They’re unpredictable. They leap and spread to places we didn’t even know were vulnerable. They burn into our relationships, our work, our sense of self. We can’t think clearly through the smoke. The fire becomes chaotic and consuming.
This is when the mental health system usually steps in. And what does it hand us? A small red fire extinguisher from Bunnings. It’s well-meaning, even helpful in the short term, but it’s not built for a bushfire. It doesn’t account for the fuel still piling up in the pit. It doesn’t clear the flammable debris or rebuild what’s already been scorched.
Worse, sometimes the system itself unintentionally enables the stockpiling of kindling. It keeps us in environments that spark, stress, and retraumatise. It tells us to "manage our fires better" without ever asking why the fuel is there in the first place, or who keeps delivering more petrol.
What I think the mental health system misses is this: you can't just hand someone a fire extinguisher and walk away. You have to sit with them in the ashes, help them sift through what’s salvageable, clear away the fuel sources, and build firebreaks. Prevention. Compassion. Systemic change. Not just reaction.
Until then, we are left trying to contain these bush fires with borrowed tools and no map and small red fire-extinguisher.
 

Inside ADHD: Lived Experience, Diagnosis, and What We’re Still Getting Wrong

In this extended episode of Talk on Tap, we explore the complexities of ADHD, not just as a diagnosis, but as a way of moving through the world. Following a live event at The Thirsty Devil, we gather again, four friends, a clinician, a consumer, and two psychologists, to continue the conversation in a more reflective and intimate space.
This episode isn’t a quick take. It’s long because ADHD is complex. We discuss everything from diagnosis pathways in Australia, lived experience, dopamine and executive function, through to the justice system, misdiagnosis, self-medication, gendered presentations, and the role of schools and early intervention. It’s raw, thoughtful, and human.
Whether you’re a clinician, someone living with ADHD, a parent, or just curious about how brains work differently, this is for you.
Note: This is not medical advice. We are peers and professionals sharing lived and learned experience.Note: Expect vulnerability, humour, deep insight, and a Labrador snoring in the background.
Because at the end of the day, this is what Talk on Tap is all about: creating space for meaningful conversations over good company.

The Power of Storytelling in Mental Health

In this episode, I welcome Samantha and Ashley, and together we explore the power of narrative (stories) in mental health care. We begin by discussing the importance of humanising therapy, critiquing rigid diagnostic models and emphasising the value of client-led narratives over formulaic checklists. Both guests underscore the need for person-centred dialogue, noting that lived experience often provides a deeper understanding than clinical detachment ever could.
We then examine narrative as sovereignty, framing the act of reclaiming one's story as a powerful form of personal empowerment. Mental health systems, we argue, too often appropriate or reduce individual experience to a diagnosis, stripping away the person’s identity and lived reality.
The conversation also highlights the limitations of the current system, particularly the Medicare model of 10 subsidised sessions, which is frequently insufficient for building meaningful therapeutic relationships. Healing, we agree, takes time, and storytelling requires space, something policy must better reflect.
We discuss the importance of regional and relational context, especially in rural and remote areas. Clinicians working in local communities often have a deeper understanding of the social and cultural landscapes their clients are navigating, which strengthens connection and relevance in care.
Finally, we explore storytelling as a form of healing. Sharing one’s story is not simply an act of communication, it is therapeutic in itself. Tangents, emotional expression, and informal reflection are not distractions but expressions of trauma, survival, and identity.
Ultimately, Talk on Tap champions a model of care where stories are central, not peripheral, to mental health practice. We advocate for policies and systems that honour narrative, respect autonomy, and validate emotional experience, recognising that healing is, above all, a deeply human process.

Mental Health Law Reform: A Dialogue on Rights, Care, and Change

For this podcast (post being named citizen of the year)  I am joined by Joshua, a Sydney-based solicitor with personal connections to mental health systems, the podcast delves into the complexities of legislative frameworks such as the New South Wales Mental Health Act.
Together, we unpack the challenges of balancing individual rights with clinical obligations, discuss the implications of involuntary treatment, and envision a future driven by human rights-centered, trauma-informed, and holistic approaches to mental health care. Our aim is to foster dialogue, challenge the status quo, and inspire systemic change.
Tune in for thought-provoking conversations and actionable insights on mental health, advocacy, and the power of community-driven reform.

Living With, Not Defined By, Epilepsy.

Welcome to Talk on Tap, a lived experience-led podcast that brings together consumers, clinicians, and those with lived experiences to discuss mental health, disability, and resilience. Hosted by Richard, co-founder of the Talk on Tap initiative, this podcast delves into authentic conversations about life-changing diagnoses, the power of advocacy, and the strength it takes to navigate life's hurdles.
In this episode, we are joined by Brooke, an honours psychology student at La Trobe University, who shares her journey living with epilepsy and her perspective as a future mental health professional. From grappling with the challenges of her diagnosis to rediscovering purpose through education and advocacy, Brooke’s story is a testament to resilience and hope. Together, we explore the complex relationship between chronic illness, mental health, and societal perceptions.
Through these raw and heartfelt conversations, Talk on Tap strives to break down stigmas and foster a fairer, more compassionate society where disability is seen as a reality, not a limitation. Note: Discussions may include sensitive topics such as mental illness and suicide. Listener discretion is advised. If you need immediate support, please contact Lifeline at 13 11 14.