Better Thinking

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Joe Coyne about the Circle of Security Parenting Course and The Attachment Theory. Joe Coyne has worked for 20 years in the area of child and family psychology. He is particularly interested in the developmental processes involved in healthy outcomes and the impacts of parenting and life events on personal trajectories. In recent years he has been exploring the benefits of incorporating attachment theory and research into contemporary treatment approaches for parents, children and adults. Joe Coordinates the Master of Psychology (Educational and Developmental) at QUT and he is an Endorsed Clinical Psychologist and Endorsed Educational and Developmental Psychologist. In the past he has worked in Health services delivering family and parenting interventions, and supervising clinical staff, and prior to that in a trauma focused family service. He is an accredited therapist and supervisor for the Circle of Security Intervention. Episode link at http

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Joel Sardi about regaining the quality of life after spinal cord injury. Joel Sardi had a fall and broke his C2 & C5, T3, T4 AND T5 vertebrae, also breaking his sternum on the 31st of August 2014. The injury caused irreparable spinal cord damage. He underwent a 6 hour surgery after the accident where the surgeons were able to stabilise his neck fractures and prevent any further spinal cord damage by inserting a titanium cage and fusing C4 to C6. Joel is classified as a “C-5'“ Quadriplegic. The injury that night left Joel a C5 quadriplegic, meaning that there are still some messages getting through the spinal cord and the extent of his recovery is unknown. Joel is paralysed from the shoulders down, has no movement in his legs and his upper body can only activate his biceps, forearms and wrists.  With the injury originally occurring in Adelaide where Joel was working, he was brought to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he stayed for 10 days, before

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Louise Byrne about the lived experience workforce development, better access to mental health services, and all about mental health issues we have today. Dr Louise Byrne is a Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow at RMIT. Previously Louise was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship and inaugural RMIT Fulbright fellowship, to conduct research on the Lived Experience mental health workforce in the United States. Louise’s Fulbright research was based at Yale University, where she holds an adjunct position. Louise is recognised internationally as a thought leader in the area of Lived Experience mental health workforce development. Louise has over 30 journal publications on this topic and has been awarded several times for outstanding contributions to research and teaching, held expert/advisory roles with State and National Mental Health Commissions and led policy development at State and National levels, including the National

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Scott Harris about the physical and mental challenges of living with an injured brain. Scott B Harris is a keynote speaker, author, and resilience expert. In 2008, Scott was involved in a motorbike accident that caused lasting injuries including a Traumatic Brain Injury. This was due to a severe Closed Head Injury, which resulted in extensive facial fractures, requiring a facial reconstruction. To reconstruct his face, 11 titanium plates were bolted to his skull. The Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) was so severe that he sustained extremely severe Frontal Lobe Damage and shearing of the brain. This has left Scott with paralysis on the right side of his body from shoulder to toes, causing major instability issues. He also has a Brachial Plexus injury to his right arm involving three severed nerves. After the accident, rehab became Scott’s full-time job – a job he took very seriously. The intense physical and mental rehabilitation which he continues

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Gaj Ravichandra about developing mental toughness and increasing mental resilience. Gaj Ravichandra is a mindset and leadership coach, organizational psychologist, and co-founder and Managing Partner at Kompass Consultancy. Gaj is a highly sought-after performance coach recognized for his effective leadership training techniques and passion for helping clients reach higher potential. For 20 years, Gaj has worked with leading organizations and individuals to enhance productivity, maximize performance, and accelerate growth. As a registered psychologist, Gaj leans on his psychology training to deliver the most effective evidence-based solutions to his clients. Gaj leads individuals, sporting teams, and educational institutions to success with cutting-edge learning techniques and disruptive growth strategies that are proven to enhance potential and performance. Recognized as an authority in peak performance and mental toughness, Gaj has spearheaded

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Christopher Love about Erectile Dysfunction and how much this condition can take a toll on men’s mental health. Dr Christopher Love is one of Australia’s most experienced Urological Surgeons, and the foremost Penile Implant and Peyronie’s Disease Surgeon in Australia. With over 35 years’ experience, Dr Love is known throughout the industry and by his patients as a caring, thoroughly professional and experienced surgeon with exceptional outcomes. Dr Love specialises in Erectile Dysfunction Treatment including Penile Implant Surgery, Peyronie’s Disease and Penile Curvature, Enlarged Prostate (BPH) treatment including Minimally Invasive Surgical Therapies (MIST), and other urological conditions and issues related to sexual health, prostate, bladder, kidneys, no-scalpel vasectomy, and general urology issues like urinary bleeding, stones and scrotal problems. Dr Christopher Love graduated from Monash University, Australia, in 1978. He spent his ear

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Jon Lieff about how it’s our cells communicating with each other that causes feelings, sickness, thoughts, and diseases in our bodies. Dr. Jon Lieff is a neuropsychiatrist with a BA in Mathematics from Yale University and an MD from Harvard Medical School. He pioneered the creation of integrated treatment units that focus on complex patients with combined medical, psychiatric, and neurological problems. For ten years, Dr. Lieff has produced a weekly blog, called Searching for the Mind, where he summarized the latest scientific findings in brain science, immunology, molecular biology, animal intelligence, plant intelligence, microbes including viruses, and cellular intelligence. Dr. Lieff has written and edited multiple books and has lectured widely over the years on a variety of subjects. His recently published book, The Secret Language of Cells, is the result of his years of work researching scientific literature for his blog. The book has re

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Prof Angela Martin about promoting workplace positivity and how we can actively manage mental health issues in the workplace. Angela Martin is a Professorial Research Fellow of Work & Mental Health, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, and an Adjunct Professor of Management, School of Business and Economics, at the University of Tasmania.  She is also a Director and the founder of Pracademia, a knowledge translation consultancy organisation. Her PhD is in the area of industrial and organisational psychology and she is well known nationally and internationally for her research on mental health in the context of working life and for developing mental health management capabilities in leaders, managers and employees. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and been an investigator on several nationally competitive funded research grants for studies of interventions that aim to create healthier working environments. Her consulting wor

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Michael Ronin about masculinity and the challenges of the modern men. Michael Ronin is an interdisciplinary cultural commentator, pulling together the threads of an unraveling world to provide clarity amidst all the Crazy. If there is a single objective truth, then it is found between many different trains of thought. Therefore, he generates insights that shed light onto that “truth” from diverse angles and viewpoints. He’s spent a large proportion of his adult life trying to see the world as it really is and coming to his own conclusions. Conclusions about everything he’s been told or have learned from others. Most people, especially nowadays through their social media preferences, live in an echo chamber. Strangely, he finds there aren’t enough groups or people out there whose thinking is closely mirrored by his own. He finds himself constantly and intentionally challenging his thinking by reading and reviewing stuff from all over the informati

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Michael Leiter about improving work engagement and combatting burnout. Dr. Michael P. Leiter is Professor of Organisational Psychology at Deakin University in Melbourne Australia. He previously held the Canada Research Chair in Occupational Health at Acadia University. He has published widely on job burnout, work engagement, and workplace civility. His recent initiatives have focused on improving the quality of worklife through enhancing the level of civility and respect among colleagues. His intervention work on improving respect and civility at work has demonstrated a close link of improved collegiality with greater engagement with work. His most recent book with Cary Cooper is the The Routledge Companion to Wellbeing at Work. Episode link at https://neshnikolic.com/podcast/michael-leiter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Arnold Bakker about work engagement, job crafting, playful work design, job stress and burnout, strengths use, and topics about work life balance. Arnold Bakker, PhD. is Full Professor at the Department of Work and Organizational Psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is President of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, and a fellow of the American Psychological Society. In addition, he is Adjunct Professor at Lingnan University (Hong Kong), Distinguished Visting Professor at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa), and Extraordinary Professor at North-West University (South Africa). His research interests include positive organizational behavior (e.g., job crafting, playful work design, flow and engagement at work), job demands–resources theory, burnout, work-family balance, and crossover of work-related emotions. Episode link at https://neshnikolic.com/podcast/arnold-bakker See omnys

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Roy Sugarman about the role of biological perspective in psychology and how those two worlds are coming together. Dr Roy Sugarman is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society's Colleges of Clinical Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology, member of the Royal Charter of Psychologists in the UK, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Member of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Neuropsychology and Faculty of Paediatric Neuropsychology, and a member of the American Psychological Association.  In the USA he is on the advisory boards of several USA-based entities: as Neuroscience lead with Social Health Innovations and Transhuman Inc, (Sydney and Delaware), Mind Experts International (Fla), as well as directing Applied Neuroscience in the Performance Innovation Team of EXOS (Az).  In this last capacity he served as a mindset coach with the USA National Men's Soccer Team, as well as providing support for various

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Anthony Biglan about his book, The Nurture Effect, which offers evidence-based interventions that can prevent many of the psychological and behavioral problems that plague our society. Anthony Biglan, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at Oregon Research Institute. He has been conducting research on the development and prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior for the past 30 years. His work has included studies of the risk and protective factors associated with tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; high-risk sexual behavior; and antisocial behavior. He has conducted numerous experimental evaluations of interventions to prevent tobacco use both through school-based programs and community-wide interventions. And, he has evaluated interventions to prevent high-risk sexual behavior, antisocial behavior, and reading failure. In recent years, his work has shifted to more comprehensive interventions that have the potential to prevent the entire r

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Amanda Feilding about the transformative and therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds and their clinical applications. Amanda Feilding has been called the ‘hidden hand’ behind the renaissance of psychedelic science, and her contribution to global drug policy reform has also been pivotal and widely acknowledged. Amanda was first introduced to LSD in the mid-1960s, at the height of the first wave of scientific research into psychedelics. Impressed by its capacity to initiate mystical states of consciousness and heighten creativity, she quickly recognised its transformative and therapeutic power. Inspired by her experiences, she began studying the mechanisms underlying the effects of psychedelic substances and dedicated herself to exploring ways of harnessing their potential to cure sickness and enhance wellbeing. In 1996, Amanda set up The Foundation to Further Consciousness, changing its name to the Beckley Foundation in 1998. She realised th

In this episode, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Liam O’Donell as a guest on BrainTainment podcast about the importance of psychological flexibility. Nesh Nikolic is a Canberra-based clinical psychologist with over 15,000 hours of one-on-one therapy experience. He has trained in a number of therapy modes including Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Schema Therapy and he is also recognised by Medicare Australia as a qualified provider of specialist clinical psychology services. His therapeutic passion lies in utilising Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for his clients and has trained clinicians around Australia in ACT. Nesh holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology and is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), Association for Contextual Behavioural Science and Fellow of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists. Liam O’Donell is the founder of BrainTainment podcast thataims to make the ever-growing world of 'self-help' far more digestible and enj

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Michael Carr-Gregg about the growing mental health crisis among young people in Australia and ways on how we can all address it. Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is one of Australia's highest profile psychologists, author of 14 books, broadcaster and a specialist in corporate mental health, families, parenting, children, adolescents and the use of technology for mental health. Michael works in private practice at Corporate and Personal Consulting in Melbourne. He is the Commonwealth Government representative on on the Board of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation. He is an accredited trainer for Mental Health First Aid Australia. Community Ambassador for Smiling Mind; Big Brother Big Sister; a Patron of Read the Play and a columnist for a number of publications.. Michael is the resident parenting expert on Ch 7's Sunrise as well as the top rating Morning Show with Neil Mitchell on Fairfax Radio 3AW. In 2018, Michael helped launch the Green Lig

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Peter Graham about the realities of retirement, the danger of boredom, and how we can prepare emotionally for retirement. Peter Graham has been involved in the financial services industry for over 50 years. Initially, his involvement was with the marketing of life insurance but he quickly moved into the financial planning area when he established one of the original Licenced Financial Advisory businesses, in Australia, which was issued with a Securities license. He was regularly called upon to give presentations at conference es and as part of training programs in the financial services industry. Peter was an early contributor in the area of superannuation and management when he established the retirement fund manager, Spectrum Retirement Plan. This plan has since been institutionalised and is now a very large and successful administrator. Episode link at https://neshnikolic.com/podcast/peter-graham See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Kaitlin Harkess about the empirical evidence of yoga and its positive effects to our mental health.  Dr. Kaitlin Harkess is a registered Clinical Psychologist and Senior Yoga Instructor who is passionate about supporting individuals to cultivate healthful and meaningful lives. Kaitlin is particularly interested in integrative psychology approaches and completed PhD research exploring the practice of yoga as a tool to support individuals experiencing chronic stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression.  Kaitlin is passionate about making tools of psychological wellbeing accessible. She runs a private psychology practice in Adelaide SA called Embodied Psychology embodiedpsychology.com.au and hosts the weekly Wisdom for Wellbeing podcast drkaitlin.com Episode links at https://neshnikolic.com/podcast/kaitlin-harkess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr John Gray about how couples can maintain and fuel the spark in their relationships during challenging times of COVID-19. Dr John Gray is the author of the most well-known and trusted relationship book of all time, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. USA Today listed his book as one of the top 10 most influential books of the last quarter century. In hardcover, it was the #1 bestselling book of the 1990s. Dr. Gray’s books are translated into approximately 45 languages in more than 100 countries and continues to be a bestseller. He has appeared repeatedly on Oprah, as well as on The Dr. Oz Show, TODAY, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, and others. He has been profiled in Time, Forbes, USA Today, and People. He was also the subject of a three-hour special hosted by Barbara Walters. Dr. Gray has written over 20 books. His most recent book is Beyond Mars and Venus. His Mars/Venus book series has forever changed the way men and women vie

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Christopher Willard about the science of mindfulness and how it rewires our brains and bodies for greater resilience. Dr. Christopher Willard (PsyD) is a psychologist and educational consultant based in Boston specializing in mindfulness. He has been practicing meditation for 20 years, and has led hundreds of workshops around the world, with invitations to more than two dozen countries. He currently serves on the board of directors at the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and is the president of the Mindfulness in Education Network. He has presented at TEDx conferences and his thoughts have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, mindful.org, and elsewhere. He is the author of Child’s Mind (2010) Growing Up Mindful (2016) Raising Resilience (2017) and eight other books for parents, professionals and children, along with six sets of cards and therapeutic games, available in more than ten languages. He teaches at Harvard Me