Episodes

  • Mind Over Fire: The Michael Laughlin Story

    Mind Over Fire: The Michael Laughlin Story
    Feb 10 2026
    Early in his career, Kingston firefighter Michael Laughlin was seriously injured in a snowmobile accident that threatened not just his physical recovery, but his place in the fire service itself. In Part I of Mind Over Fire, Michael walks us through his younger years, the realities of recovering from a major injury in a profession built on strength and endurance, and the quiet pressure of proving himself while his body was still healing. This episode explores what happens when identity, purpose, and livelihood collide early on, and how resilience is shaped long before anyone is watching. You can reach Michael […]
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    50 mins
  • Shaun Taylor: Paramedic, Peer, and Purpose – The #IGYB911 Story

    Shaun Taylor: Paramedic, Peer, and Purpose – The #IGYB911 Story
    Feb 3 2026
    Shaun Taylor is a working Ontario paramedic and the co-founder, alongside Jill Foster, of #IGYB911, one of Canada’s most recognizable and trusted grassroots peer support movements for first responders. In this episode of The Other Side of the Call, Shaun joins hosts Amelia Thornton, Rebecca Rafuse, and Kathy-Ann Laman for an honest, trauma-informed conversation about the realities of frontline work, the limits of traditional support systems, and what actually helps people stay in the job — and stay alive. Shaun reflects on his path into paramedicine, the culture he entered, and the long-standing gaps in mental health support across emergency […]
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Hooked on Healing: Mindful Fishing for First Responders with Christine Lapeer

    Hooked on Healing: Mindful Fishing for First Responders with Christine Lapeer
    Jan 20 2026
    A trauma-informed conversation on stress injuries, nervous-system regulation and the power of nature-based recovery,
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    56 mins
  • The Night the Sky Turned Orange

    The Night the Sky Turned Orange
    Jan 13 2026
    As Fire 52 intensified near Hay River in the Northwest Territories, evacuation orders were issued and Highway 2 became a narrow, smoke-filled corridor of stalled vehicles, poor visibility, and rapidly changing fire behaviour. In this mini-episode, Franco Nogarin, a Forest Planning Officer and Wildfire Modeller with the Government of the Northwest Territories, reads his unedited first-person account of that night. What unfolds is a moment-by-moment record of decision-making under pressure: interpreting fire behaviour through smoke, balancing training against instinct, managing family safety, and recognizing the point at which conditions cross from dangerous to untenable. This story will resonate with first […]
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    41 mins
  • Processing & Possibility

    Processing & Possibility
    Dec 9 2025
    In Part II of this deep and honest conversation, psychotherapist Brittnee Stewart takes us further inside the world of EMDR, low-dose ketamine work, and trauma integration. If you’ve ever wondered why certain therapies work when others don’t, or why first responders often hit a wall in traditional talk therapy, this episode pulls back the curtain. We explore the difference between recreational versus clinically supervised psychedelic use, why “set and setting” matter, and how trained practitioners keep clients safe. Brittnee explains how ketamine can temporarily soften protector parts (using IFS language) so that EMDR and trauma processing can finally move. She […]
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    35 mins
  • Processing and Possibility: Exploring the Promising Future of Psychedelic and EMDR Therapies – with Psychotherapist Brittnee Stewart

    Processing and Possibility: Exploring the Promising Future of Psychedelic and EMDR Therapies – with Psychotherapist Brittnee Stewart
    Dec 2 2025
    When the nervous system holds the story, healing has to start deeper than words. In this episode of The Other Side of the Call, our hosts sit down in studio with Brittnee Stewart, psychotherapist and co-founder of Spear Wellness in Kingston, Ontario – a multi-disciplinary clinic offering trauma-focused therapy, EMDR, and emerging psychedelic-assisted treatments. Together, they explore how psychedelics, when used ethically and clinically, may help bridge the gap between science and spirituality in trauma recovery. Brittnee explains how EMDR and psychedelic-assisted modalities can rewire the brain’s relationship to painful memories and open a path o sustainable post-traumatic growth. From […]
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    45 mins
  • Jessica Van der Hoek: Hard Call, Healing, Hooves & Higher States

    Jessica Van der Hoek: Hard Call, Healing, Hooves & Higher States
    Nov 25 2025
    Career paramedic Jessica Vanderhoek has lived both sides of the job: the pride of service and the private cost. After years of high-acuity calls, insomnia, migraines, anger, alcohol misuse, and a brutal relapse, she hit the wall and looked for what actually heals. Her path led through equine therapy and carefully screened psychedelic work, then a rare return to frontline duty — and ongoing advocacy for safer, smarter support. In this conversation we cut through the myths. Jessica explains why peer support often fails in practice, how low pay and constant labor fights amplify moral injury, and why PTSD is […]
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Creative After Crisis: From Tac Medic to Award-Nominated Author Steve Urszenyi

    Creative After Crisis: From Tac Medic to Award-Nominated Author Steve Urszenyi
    Nov 18 2025
    Decorated tactical paramedic Steve Urszenyi turned decades of frontline trauma into award-nominated thrillers. In this conversation, he reflects on a lifetime of crisis leadership – from commanding Ontario’s Emergency Response Team to managing the 2015 Pan Am Games – and how creativity became his path to healing.
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    1 hr and 1 min