A brand-new volunteer-run podcast set to launch in April looks to provide tools and information for young people about their mental health

The podcast, In My Head,  is being produced by local mental health youth support service, Headspace Orange, which secured funding from the Department of Communities and Justice through the Regional Youth Radio program in 2022.

Run by Headspace’s Youth Reference Group – a team of volunteers who are passionate about breaking the stigma around mental health – the podcast will feature special guest speakers from the local community, who are qualified in mental health, to share their knowledge and pass on valuable information.

Headspace Community Awareness Officer, Emma Crisp is excited about the range of people who are getting involved.

“We’re going to have our Clinical Team Lead jump onto an episode of the podcast and answer questions. I’m hoping it can be used as a tool for young people, and that clinicians can refer them to it,” Emma said

“But I also hope that parents and family and friends that are supporting a young person will listen to it as well,”  she continued, “and then they can get a different perspective on what that person is experiencing.”

Participants of the podcast will be sharing their stories, and guest clinical specialists will talk about strategies to help listeners cope with their own mental health issues.

“It will be a mix of everything,” Youth Reference Group member, Tivarna Johnson, explained.

 “We’ll be talking about our lived experience of mental health, and we’ll be talking about things that people might be experiencing in the community, cultural awareness, LGBTQIA+ and where to go to get support if you need it.

“ We want to cover all bases. I think spreading awareness in the community, and letting people know they’re not alone would be the best outcome from the podcast,” Tivarna concluded.

The Headspace team recently undertook an extensive three-day training program, delivered by 

Media for Millenials, which covered all aspects of podcast creation – planning shows, interviewing skills, equipment maintenance, hosting, editing and advertising.

In My Head will be available on Spotify and Itunes from late April. It will originally run as a six-episode pilot series.

The group hopes that after releasing the pilot episodes it will encourage other young members of the community to get involved in the Youth Reference Group and will be able to continue and participate in the podcast.