Sophie Grégoire Trudeau tackles taboos and inspires frank national conversation about mental well-being in new podcast series: WE Well-being
– Click here to share the WE Well-being podcast trailer #WEwellbeing –
TORONTO, May 4, 2020 /CNW/ - Featuring intimate and soul-lifting interviews and conversations, the WE Well-being podcast series is an open-minded discussion that boosts grit and busts stigma around mental health. Developed to inspire, educate and engage, it will challenge the way listeners think and talk about mental well-being. In today's uncertain times of heightened anxiety and fear as we face COVID-19, the WE Well-being podcast will offer listeners hands-on advice, tools and strategies to foster well-being in all corners of life.
Each Monday, starting May 4, the 45-minute-long program features a conversation between host Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and inspirational guests and leading mental health experts, sharing their own stories and unique perspective on well-being, including Olympians Silken Laumann and Tessa Virtue, former NFL player "Mr. Aloha" Esera Tuaolo, mental health advocate, Margaret Trudeau, French Canadian entertainer, Mitsou Gélinas, Principal Investigator for the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University Dr. Michael Ungar and Professor in the Human Development at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, and more.
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau serves as the official Ambassador and Ally of WE Well-being, an initiative of WE created to empower youth, educators and families with tools and resources to promote their own well-being and the well-being of their community.
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau has been a strong advocate for reducing the stigma around mental health and has openly shared her own story of suffering from bulimia as a teenager and young adult.
"The moment I started sharing my story was the moment I began my journey to recovery, and it allowed others to start healing as well," said Sophie Grégoire Trudeau. "I'm excited to engage in life affirming, important conversations. I hope this podcast serves Canadians from all ages and backgrounds. Through this podcast, my mission is to expand the way we think, talk and feel about mental well-being. For those who know me, be assured there will be no taboo left behind."
Each podcast episode dives deep on a specific theme, from building resiliency and the power of kindness and empathy to adolescent brain development and how to stay connected with young people going through tough times and wraps up with thoughts from leading medical experts in the field of mental well-being, which are facilitated with Leysa Cerswell Kielburger, who is the author of the WE Well-being Playbook and a faculty member at the Centre for Mindfulness Studies. Connecting to each theme, iconic figures and thought leaders share their own personal stories and struggles with mental health.
Four-time Olympian, and overall champion of mental, physical and spiritual health, Silken Laumann, opens up to listeners about obstacles she has faced including growing up with a mother who struggled with an undiagnosed mental illness and her battles with anxiety, anorexia and finding self-love.
"I don't think I believed in unconditional love until much later in my life. I felt that love was something that could come and go. And you had to be a certain way and act a certain way in order to deserve love," said Laumann reflecting on the trauma she experienced in her childhood. "When I finally got in my life that I deserved to be loved, I was raising my child and was going to counseling. My counselor asked me 'how would you feel if your daughter was treated the way you were treated?' And a lightening bolt went through me. Because I had no compassion for that little girl. I had no compassion for myself. And that's where my healing began, after making that connection."
The WE Well-being podcast will be available on we.org/wewellbeingpodcast and all major podcast platforms, including iTunes and Spotify.
WE Well-being Podcast Schedule
May 4 – Overcoming the negative and achieving self-love |
May 4 – On being true to yourself |
May 11 – Resilience |
May 11 – Connecting with nature |
May 18 – The importance of relationships |
May 25 – Social, emotional learning |
June 1 – The Power of Kindness |
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Host and guest bios and photos are available for download in the WE Well-being electronic press kit |
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Social media links & content
Access the WE Well-being Podcast image and other social media assets in the WE Well-being electronic press kit.
#WE #WEwellbeing |@WEmovement @SophieGregoireTrudeau| Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |
About WE Well-being
WE Well-being is a program that empowers youth, educators and families with tools and resources to promote their own mental well-being and the well-being of their community. Drawing upon evidence based mental health promotion and prevention strategies, we support the early development of mental well-being through accessible and inclusive programs, making well being stigma free, and reaching millions of youth and families. Translating the science of well being into everyday action, we provide clear pathways and resources to promote mental well-being, including through action-oriented curriculum in schools, professional learning for educators, youth and family workshops, mass awareness campaigns, books and workbooks.
We are proud to partner with leaders in mental health research, policy, support services and capacity building in order to promote well-being and to help create our WE Well-being tools and resources, including founding partner the Erika Legacy Foundation.
To learn more about the WE Well-being program visit www.we.org/wellbeing.
About WE
WE is made up of a family of organizations that make doing good, doable, including WE Charity, empowering domestic and international change and ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences to help support the charity.
WE engages 4.2 million young people each year across North America and beyond through its free, yearlong service-learning program WE Schools. Designed to enhance a school or community's existing social initiatives or spark new ones, WE Schools provides teachers with educational resources and action campaigns to encourage students to further their curricular learning and develop social and emotional skills to succeed beyond the classroom. WE Schools operates in over 18,000 schools and is proven to increase academic engagement, civic engagement and college and workplace readiness.
Moreover, programs such as WE Well-being empower youth, educators and families with tools and resources to promote their own mental well-being and the well-being of their community.
WE enables youth and families to better the world—supporting 7,200+ local and global causes by volunteering millions of hours of service and raising millions of dollars that directly benefit their local communities and the world.
Join the movement today at WE.org.
SOURCE WE Charity
on the WE Well-being Podcast, please contact: Angie Gurley, Head, Communications at WE, [email protected], 416-432-9291; Camila Ossa, Associate Director, Communications at WE, [email protected], 647-459-4460
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