Personal Growth & Healing Episodes

In this episode, Cass is joined by Susan Pearse, a best-selling author and leadership expert who developed Australia's first mindfulness based leadership program, which is now used around the world. Susan has spent two decades trying to find the secret to living a more fulfilling life, and through those experience, she's now written a "Spiritually Loose" manifesto as an antidote for the modern world. Connect with Susan: https://www.susanpearse.com/spiritually-loose Connect with Cass: www.cass...

Have you noticed that you sometimes use self-kindness as a way of letting yourself get away with bad habits? It's tough to strike a balance between being kind and self-compassionate while also keep yourself accountable and achieving your goals. In this episode, I respond to a listener who is dealing with this exact issue, and offer ways for you to find this healthy balance. Want more great content and less ads? www.crappytohappy.supercast.com Upgrade to Paid and listen ad-free on your favourit...

Do you find yourself struggling from burnout after having too much on your plate? In this episode, I explain the concept of the 'exhaustion funnel' in psychology, and various steps you can take to help dispel stress that is built up in your body, and prevent burnout from occurring.Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com www.instagram.com/crappytohappypodwww.tiktok.com/crappytohappypod Join the free 7-day Happiness Challenge:www.cassdunn.com/happiness Connect with Ca...

In this episode, Cass is joined by Alison Brahe Daddo, a screenwriter, podcaster, teacher and former model who appeared regularly on the cover of Cosmopolitan, Dolly and Cleo magazines in the '90s. She's now written a book called 'Queen Menopause' which is a frank and compassionate companion to any woman experiencing menopause. Ali reflects on her career, her experience with sexual assault, and how mothering her daughters is a completely different ballgame to mothering her son.Connect with Ali: ...

Do you find the Christmas Holiday period stressful and overwhelming? Do you struggle to set boundaries with your family during this time? In this episode, I explain why clear communication and boundary setting is the key to a happy and healthy Christmas with your family, and how setting expectations early can help avoid conflict.Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com www.instagram.com/crappytohappypodwww.tiktok.com/crappytohappypod Join the free 7-day Happiness Cha...

Are you worried that adversity that you faced in your childhood is negatively effecting your life as an adult? In this episode, I explain the science behind adverse childhood experiences and the detrimental effects they can have on us as we grow up, while also explaining how much positivity in our childhood can benefit us, and how we can learn to live with the things that may have happened to us.Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com www.instagram.com/crappytohappy...

In this episode, Cass is joined by Rick Morton, an award winning journalist and author with an incredible story of trauma and survival. Rick shares his experience with generational trauma and how his experience in childhood shaped his adult life. He describes his pathway to healing and the different steps he took to help him begin his journey of recovery.Content Warning: This episode does touch on the topic of sexual assault and contain some adult language, so if you have little ears around you ...

Are you motivated by the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance of pain? In this episode I explain the difference between avoidance and approach style behavioural responses, what the implications are for each, and how you can apply this mindset to achieve your goals. Connect with Cass: www.cassdunn.com www.instagram.com/cassdunn_xo Contact Crappy to Happy: Email: hello@crappytohappypod.com www.crappytohappypod.com www.instagram.com/crappytohappypod www.tiktok.com/@crappytohappypod Are you a...

In this episode I explain the concept of Epigenetics, which is the 'nuture' in the nature v's nature debate. I'll explain how our the genes we inherit from our parents are not set in stone, meaning our behaviours and environment can cause changes essentially turning gene expression on or off. Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com www.instagram.com/crappytohappypodwww.tiktok.com/crappytohappypod Join the free 7-day Happiness Challenge:www.cassdunn.com/happiness Con...

After going through a divorce, Steph Sarazin discovered the unique pain of ‘ambiguous grief’ - when you grieve something or somebody who is still there, just not as you knew it. Steph has spoken to hundreds of people about their experience of ambiguous grief - from people whose partners went to jail, to loved ones with Alzheimer's, to addictions. In this chat she shared with me the unique qualities of ambiguous grief, how we can learn to acknowledge it better as a society, and why hope can somet...

In this episode I explain the three circles model of emotions by Paul Gilbert. This model is so useful for helping us see if our emotional systems are out of whack, and how we can get them in balance again. Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com www.instagram.com/crappytohappypodwww.tiktok.com/crappytohappypod Join the free 7-day Happiness Challenge:www.cassdunn.com/happiness Connect with Cass: www.cassdunn.com www.instagram.com/cassdunn_xo Contact Crappy to Happy...

During the COVID-19 lockdowns of the past few years, Brigid Delaney went searching for ideas that might help us feel a bit better. She stumbled across Stoicism, an ancient Greek philosophy which is all about how not to sweat the small stuff and better appreciate our precious time on earth.Brigid’s new book is called Reasons Not to Worry, and you can follow more of her work on twitter @BrigidWD. Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com www.instagram.com/crappytohappyp...

In this episode I explain the three key stages of change, and why we so often feel stuck in the middle stage, otherwise known as 'no man's land'. I also share a fascinating psychological experiment on journalling, and what it can teach us about how to better cope with periods of big change in our lives. Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com www.instagram.com/crappytohappypodwww.tiktok.com/crappytohappypodJoin the free 7-day Happiness Challenge:www.cassdunn.com/hap...

Meg Durham is a former teacher who saw firsthand the devastating impacts of teacher burnout and exhaustion. She decided she had to do something about it, and has dedicated her professional life to improving the health and wellbeing of teachers. In this chat Meg takes us behind the curtain and explains why teachers are so burnt out, and what can be done about it.. There are lessons here relevant to everyone - whether you’re a teacher, a parent or just someone struggling with your own wellbeing. C...

Introducing the first of many new solo episodes where I'll explain a psychological idea or experiment I think will help you feel happier, healthier and more fulfilled. In this episode I explain Dr Dan Siegel's concept of the Window of Tolerance, which is an incredibly effective tool for better understanding and managing our emotions. Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com www.instagram.com/crappytohappypodwww.tiktok.com/crappytohappypod Join the free 7-day Happines...

Hugh van Cuylenburg wants everyone to be happier, and he’s passionate about how practices like gratitude, empathy and mindfulness can help. Hugh is the founder of The Resilience Project, where he teaches positive mental health in schools and sports clubs around the country. In this chat Hugh explains the difficulties he had with his sister growing up, the struggles of getting schools to take mental health seriously and the personal crisis he had during lockdown. Connect with Hugh:https://theresi...

In his 30s Worimi man Paul Callaghan was a success by all Western measures - he was well-educated with a good job, a family and a mortgage.But inside he was felt spiritually depleted and disconnected, leading to a mental breakdown after his 35th birthday. In this chat with Cass Dunn, Paul explains how going bush and reconnecting with his traditional beliefs and culture helped heal him. And why he's sharing what he learnt with indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. You can buy the book Paul c...

In this episode, Cass chats with Tania de Jong AM, who is a social entrepreneur, incredibly talented soprano and co-founder of the not-for-profit, Mind Medicine Australia. MMA’s core mission is to advocate for widespread acceptance and accessibility of psychedelic-assisted therapies to alleviate the suffering caused by mental illness in Australia. Tania shares the remarkable results that are being achieved with psychedelic-assisted therapies for a range of mental illnesses, what the current stat...

This week Cass Dunn chats with Harvard-trained and published neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Dr Taylor is most famous for her fascinating TED talk My stroke of insight, where she talked about her experience of having a stroke that caused her the left hemisphere of her brain to 'go offline'.In this chat Dr Taylor unpacks her new book Whole Brain Living, where she argues that we don’t just a left and right hemisphere, we actually have four brain quadrants - left thinking, left feeling and ri...

Yoga teacher and author, Alice Williams who wrote her book, “Bad Yogi” to be a healing memoir for people who hate healing memoirs. After experiencing a quarter life crisis, Alice embarked on a 2-year yoga teacher training program, immersing herself in the wellness industry while simultaneously entering a 12-step recovery program for an eating disorder. Alice shares how those two paths complemented each other and where they differed; Cass and Alice discuss what all addictions have in common an...

In this episode, Cass talks with Anita Moorjani, a speaker and NYT bestselling author who recovered from cancer after experiencing a Near Death Experience (NDE) in February 2006. Anita shares the message she received during her NDE about the importance of letting go of fear and being willing to embrace and express your authentic nature in order to live fully. Connect with Anita:www.anitamoorjani.comInstagram.com/anitamoorjaniFacebook.com/anita.moorjani Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.com...

This episode is Part Two of Cass’ conversation with Dr Kristin Neff about Self-Compassion. In the previous episode, Dr Neff explained the far-reaching benefits of self-compassion and how to apply it in your life. This week, she digs into the more fierce aspect of self-compassion and how you can use the skill of being kind to yourself to speak up, claim your power and thrive. To find out more about Dr Neff’s work, head to www.self-compassion.org Order her latest book: “Fierce Self-Compassion” Con...

In this episode, Cass talks to Dr Kristin Neff, who is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion. Dr Neff shares how her discovery of Buddhist philosophy including mindfulness and compassion helped her get through a difficult time in her life and how that led her to studying and measuring self-compassion as part of her research as a psychologist. She explains why we struggle to be kind to ourselves and how we can all benefit from learning and applying the skill of self-compassion. This is the fi...

What causes trauma and how can we release it? Trauma expert, Sarah Woodhouse talks with Cass Dunn about how both big and “little” traumatic experiences can leave us trapped in cycles of dysfunctional behaviours, negative thoughts and difficult feelings. When you’re able to recognise your own, and other people’s trauma responses, you’re better able to interrupt those old patterns, reawaken your true self and reclaim your future.Buy Sarah's book You’re Not Broken here: https://tinyurl.com/3vc4jttv...