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ReThreading Madness

ReThreading Madness

By: Bernadine Fox
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About this listen

 Bernadine Fox brings a rare and powerful combination of lived experience, long-term disability rights advocacy, and creative insight to her role as host and producer of ReThreading Madness, the award-winning radio show and podcast that dares to shift how we think about mental health.

A recipient of the 2022 Courage to Come Back Award, Bernadine is a white settler of Scottish, Irish, and French heritage with a familial connection to the Tsuut'ina nation. She has spent over 30 years advocating for those with lived experience of mental health challenges including survivors of trauma and therapy harm. She is an intersectional feminist, artist, and author of Coming to Voice: Surviving an Abusive Therapist—a memoir that confronts the devastating misuse of power in therapeutic relationships.

Bernadine is not a clinician, but she is a deeply informed mental health advocate with firsthand knowledge of trauma, CPTSD, and disability. Her background includes decades of work as a support worker for survivors of severe childhood trauma, a trauma consultant, and public speaker. She has led expressive arts groups in collaboration with Richmond Mental Health and Gallery Gachet, where she also served on the board and helped publish The Ear magazine. She has served on the board of such organizations as Kickstart (Disability Arts and Culture) which focused on breaking down barriers to creative access for people with disabilities.

What sets Bernadine apart as a radio host is her unwavering commitment to telling the truth—even when it's uncomfortable. She doesn't shy away from difficult conversations; she invites them. With compassion and clarity, she brings forward voices that are often silenced, challenges harmful narratives, and explores the messy realities of mental health, trauma, and recovery.

ReThreading Madness is more than a show. Under Bernadine's guidance, it's a platform for unfiltered, survivor-centered dialogue—one that refuses to pathologize trauma and instead builds community through shared truth. RTM won the Breaking Barriers CRABO award through the NCRA.

Bernadine currently lives in the forest with two cats, raises her grandchild, and continues to create, speak, and advocate for a world where mental health care is ethical, accessible, and just.
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ReThreading Madness is produced and aired on the ancestral and unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We extend our gratitude and appreciation to the Indigenous people who have been living and working on this land from time immemorial.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.Bernadine Fox Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • Kevin Jesuino Reveals the Magic of Theatre Terrific and Richard Lett Let’s Us in on what Makes Magic for Him

    Kevin Jesuino Reveals the Magic of Theatre Terrific and Richard Lett Let’s Us in on what Makes Magic for Him
    Oct 24 2025
    Kevin Jesuino Reveals the Magic of Theatre Terrific and Richard Lett Let’s Us in on what Makes Magic for Him.

    Kevin Jesuino is a first-generation Portuguese settler, performance-maker, director, choreographer, artist educator, and community arts organizer. He is a passionate advocate for the arts and a firm believer that everyone should have access to both creating and experiencing art and culture. Kevin is continually working to make the arts more inclusive and accessible for all. On his website, he writes: “Since 2004, my artistic practice has been driven by a radical interdisciplinary integration of performance, socially engaged art, and digital media. I create work—including performance, video art, temporary public artworks, and participatory installations—that is fundamentally rooted in the belief that art serves as a catalyst for collective emancipation. My central focus is to establish co-creative spaces that facilitate an embodied exchange of care and dialogue among participants. Through experiential processes, I explore urgent themes such as accessibility, unseen histories, gender and sexuality, and urbanism across both public and private domains.”

    In this lively and insightful conversation with Bernadine Fox, Kevin delves into the meaning and purpose of art—its impact on individuals and communities alike—and shares his deep connection to Theatre Terrific, a vital arts organization in Vancouver, BC. Theatre Terrific pioneers inclusive opportunities for artists of all abilities to develop performance skills and collaborate on original theatrical productions. Its work challenges audiences to confront their assumptions and be moved by thought-provoking, boundary-pushing art. Every class, workshop, and production brings together a diverse mix of people—across physical, developmental, mental health, and neurodiverse spectrums, alongside practicing actors—who are collectively exploring inclusive approaches to theatre-making.

    Most recently, Theatre Terrific presented their newest work, Dance Floors Memoirs, at the Vancouver Fringe Festival—continuing their legacy of inclusive, community-rooted performance.

    Music by Shari Ulrich and Leela Gildray

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
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    1 hr
  • In Memoriam of JD Derbyshire, comedian, theatre-maker, innovator.

    In Memoriam of JD Derbyshire, comedian, theatre-maker, innovator.
    Oct 7 2025
    In Memoriam of the incredible JD Derbyshire, writer, comedian, mad activist, performer, playwright, theatre maker, director, inclusive educator and innovator.

    Tonight on ReThreading Madness we re-air JD Derbyshire talking with Bernadine about being mad and the need for individuals who live with mental health challenges to have agency in their lives and to consider coming out. And laughing - we laughed a lot. But one always did in the company of JD.

    “I don’t think we know much about the human brain and mental illness. The more I talk to other people; it seems like we all have are individual experiences with our moods and our thinking. Medication may be a part of that but we need to empower people to become aware of their emotional lives and thinking styles. Like this idea; Maybe it is possible to learn how you think and feel and know your limits and what happens when you get triggered and to still live a life taking calculated risks.”

    “There are just so many negative representations of people with mental illness in theatre and film and television, often written and performed by people who haven’t experienced mental illness. And these characters are almost always twisted or broken… In my experience and with a lot of MAD people I know, it is not like that at all. “ from Auburn Lane



    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.
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    1 hr
  • Meditation and Mindfulness with Alan Murdock & Impact of child sexual abuse survivors with Charlene Hellson

    Meditation and Mindfulness with Alan Murdock & Impact of child sexual abuse survivors with Charlene Hellson
    Oct 1 2025
    Meditation and Mindfulness with Alan Murdock & Impact of child sexual abuse survivors with Charlene Hellson

    Since 1992, Alan Murdock has immersed himself in Soto Zen practice, seeking the stillness and clarity meditation can bring. But as a survivor of child sexual abuse, Alan also knows that mindfulness isn’t always gentle—sometimes it can open the door to old wounds and deep discomfort.

    Today, Alan serves on the practice committee at the Cedar Rapids Zen Center in Iowa, while also working professionally as a creative consultant and founder of Murdock Media Production. In this conversation with Bernadine, he speaks candidly about the complicated relationship survivors may have with meditation. Together, they explore both the healing potential and the hidden risks of mindfulness when one’s sense of self has been fractured by trauma.

    Alan offers insight into how survivors can recognize when meditation is helping—and when it might be hurting—and shares practical guidance on what to do if negative responses arise.

    his is not just a conversation about meditation. It’s about navigating the fine line between healing and harm, and how survivors can approach mindfulness with both hope and caution.

    And then, Charlene Hellson is a proud Blackfoot who comes from the Siksika nation. Her grandfather was from the Kainai nation both of which are from the Blackfoot Confederacy in Southern Alberta. She currently lives on the west coast of Canada. Charlene has a background in the arts and is an actor, and writer who produces poem and short plays. Academically, she was trained in psychology and anthropology. She is currently working the College of Physicians and Surgeons as an Indigenous Patient Navigator. Charlene came to the program to chat about the impact on survivors of trauma when they are told that they are strong. Charlene gives us a good insight into how trauma operates in her life and inside of her, especially that which we are not conscious about. Dealing with the trauma helped her to understand not just herself but her mother as well. She described her trauma as a shawl of pain that was heavy, poisoning her, and then how taking it off lightened the load immensely.
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    1 hr
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