This week Nicola and Di chat with one of the top global thought leaders in mental health, Mitch Wallis. Mitch is most well known for being the founder of Heart On My Sleeve - a leading global mental health movement that helps people drop the brave face and be real about how they feel. He is also the author of Real Conversations, a powerful book which helps you connect with confidence and create healthy, supportive relationships. Mitch truly is an expert in his field, with a master’s degree in clinical psychology, he’s been an advisor to the United Nations on the topic of youth mental health and won a Man of Impact award by GQ. Not only that, Mitch is a talented speaker who has delivered talks to tens of thousands of people, and we were so lucky he shared so much of his wisdom in this episode. 

In this chat, Mitch gives us powerful ways that we can all learn to have meaningful and real conversations with one another, and how it is that we can truly connect. He explains the difference between talking and connecting, and why it is that if you try to fix someone’s problem, you will only make things worse. As Mitch says, the goal of a real conversation is not to fix a problem, but to understand the person.   

We hear about the 5 key mistakes that people make when they’re trying to connect with someone, and why we need to take a counter-intuitive approach. Mitch gives us so many ideas for how we can avoid these mistakes and learn to truly understand and support people.

Mitch also opens up about his own personal struggles with mental health, his lowest moments and the words from his mum that saved his life. We talk about the loneliness epidemic and how it’s vital that we prioritise connection, and Mitch reminds us how we can all do that. 

This was an incredibly powerful and inspiring conversation and we learnt so much from having Mitch in the studio with us. We hope you love it as much as we did, and we encourage you to share this special episode with your loved ones as everyone can benefit from hearing this. 

This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF15 at checkout to receive a 15% discount on any purchase. 

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Buy Mitch’s book Real Conversations here

Listen to Mitch’s Podcast here

Find out more about Mitch’s work here

Find out more about the Heart on My Sleeve movement here 

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Find out more about Eir Women here and use code OTBF15 at checkout