The embodied wisdom of peer-led approaches

The embodied wisdom of peer-led approaches

Author: Charts & Leisure October 23, 2024 Duration: 31:08


Description:

This episode of Unravelling delves into peer-led mental health care by exploring the work of Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu, founder of Project LETS. This national grassroots organization centers the voices of individuals with lived experience through its peer support model. Mary Wilson interviews Stefanie who recounts their personal journey of founding Project LETS in high school, spurred by the suicide of a friend and the failure of traditional mental health systems to support grieving students. They discuss how peer support redefines conventional power dynamics in mental health care, shifting the focus to those directly impacted by mental health challenges. Stefanie advocates for community-based alternatives to mainstream mental health care, calling for a reexamination of how we define and approach mental health. They emphasize the transformative power of peer support in empowering individuals and reshaping the future of mental health care.


Links: 

Learn more about Project LETS and the peer support model - Project LETS 

Get in touch with Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu - Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu (stefaniekaufman.com) 



Calling our listeners!
We want to hear from you! We're cooking up a special episode and need your voice in the mix. Have a question, thoughts on a past episode, or something happening in your life you’d love to explore through the lens of mental health? You can call, email, or send us a voice memo—and you just might hear yourself on a future episode of Unravelling. We’re excited to hear what’s on your mind!   


Leave a voicemail at 802-258-3763 (802-258-3POD)

Email or send a voice memo to unravel@brattlebororetreat.org




There’s a thread that connects our inner lives to the culture we live in, and Unravelling pulls on it to see what emerges. This isn’t a lecture series, but a conversation guided by therapist Kurt White and journalist Mary Wilson, who bring their distinct perspectives to every discussion. They explore how mental health is woven into everything from our daily fitness routines and societal pressures to the art we consume and the relationships we keep. In each episode, you’ll hear from experts who study the mind alongside individuals sharing their personal, lived experiences, creating a dialogue that feels both intellectually rigorous and deeply human. The aim is to move beyond simple definitions, examining how anxiety, resilience, joy, and struggle shape our collective reality. Produced by Charts & Leisure, this podcast provides a space for nuance, challenging the idea that our psychological worlds exist in a vacuum. It’s for anyone who has ever felt the tension between their private thoughts and the public world, offering not easy answers but a more textured understanding. By listening, you become part of a broader exploration into how compassion, for ourselves and our society, can actually be built from a place of genuine curiosity.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Unravelling
Podcast Episodes
What the circus can teach us about mental health [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:34
In this episode of Unravelling, we’re talking about circus arts and mental health with two people behind A Little Unwell, a circus variety show coming to Brattleboro, VT, this October through a partnership between the Br…
Releasing with joy: Inside hoarding recovery [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:04
In this episode of Unravelling explores hoarding disorder through the lived experience of Marnie Cooper, an acting teacher, coach, wife, and mother who has openly shared her journey through her online project, A Hoarder…
It’s not about clutter: Why we misunderstand hoarding [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:07
In this episode of Unravelling, Kurt interviews renowned psychologist Dr. Randy O. Frost, a pioneering researcher in hoarding disorder, who explains what clinically significant hoarding looks like and why it’s about far…
Extension of your mind: Navigating complexity beyond the individual [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:21
In this episode of Unravelling, Kurt White sits down with psychiatrist and bioethicist Dr. Anthony Peter Weiss, Chief Medical Officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Ha…
Who deserves to exist?: The dark history of eugenics [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:44
In this episode of Unravelling, Kurt White interviews Mercedes de Guardiola, historian and author of "Vermont for the Vermonters": The History of Eugenics in the Green Mountain State, to examine the history of eugenics a…
The ethics of ought (not) to: Conversion practices [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:21
Special day early episode drop for this, our third episode of our Pride Month series on conversion practices, we welcome Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Davison, a pioneering psychologist whose work helped change the mental health fi…
The burden compounds: Conversion practices [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:41
The second episode of Unravelling’s Pride Month series examines the hidden human and economic costs of so-called conversion therapy. Kurt speaks with health economist and professor Ben Harrell, Ph.D., of Trinity Universi…
Made to Want to Change: Conversion Practices [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:42
In the first episode of Unravelling’s three-part Pride Month series, Mary and Kurt examine the realities of so-called conversion "therapy," which many survivors, advocates, and researchers more accurately describe as con…
Unravelling Adventure!: Conclusion/Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:08
Herein we present the exciting conclusion of our three episode series all about the world of Table Top Role Playing Group Therapy (Collaborative Role-playing Integrative Therapy) using the world of Dungeons & Dragons.Wil…
Unravelling Adventure!: Real Play D&D/CRIT Demo (Pt 1) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:11
In this very special episode of Unravellling, hosts Kurt and Mary step into the world of Table Top Role Playing Group Therapy (Collaborative Role-playing Integrative Therapy) using the world of Dungeons & Dragons, they e…