Psychology students launch mental health-focused podcast for final school project

SACKVILLE, NB — Mount Allison University students in the seminar psychology class, Stress, Burnout, and Resilience, taught by associate professor Dr. Lisa Dawn Hamilton took their learning to the airwaves recently.

Students researched, wrote, and recorded podcast episodes as their final project during the Fall term. The assignments focused on the areas of stress, burnout, and resilience and included topics such as the benefits of acute stress, emotional regulation, and the importance of social connection.

All the students’ recordings, with transcripts and list of resources, have been culminated into the podcast titled: This is Fine: A Podcast About Stress, Burnout, and Resilience, which was launched on January 12, 2021.

Hamilton, whose research focuses on sex, stress, and relationships, developed the new course after reading the book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski prior to the pandemic.

“Stress and burnout are issues we’re all familiar with, especially during the pandemic,” says Hamilton. “But the research around resilience is also really important. I think the students did a wonderful job taking their work from the class and adapting it to a medium for a wider audience.”

Psychology student Shannon Reid completed her podcast: The Benefits of Acute Stress. A mature student who is also a mom, Reid says she could relate to her topic and enjoyed completing the assignment in this new format.

“Developing a podcast episode was such an amazing experience. I am a huge consumer of podcasts and to get to see and participate in the other side of the medium was an incredibly valuable opportunity,” says Reid. “It was also a really fun challenge to learn and implement a new writing style than what I'm used to. The process of creating this content to send out into the world helped me understand the topic at a much deeper level.”

Psychology student Michael Hewlett produced his podcast titled Burnout - The End of the Match for the class.

“Writing and recording the podcast was a unique experience because it allowed me to express my creativity in an academic setting.”

The seminar course was offered exclusively online, which enabled Hamilton and her students to get creative in their material. Along with putting their own podcast together, students also gave academic presentations and participated in peer editing and reviews of each other’s projects. All podcasts were recorded at the CHMA campus radio station when possible or remotely.

The concept to have the final class project stemmed from Hamilton’s own work as a podcast host and producer. In 2019 she launched Do We Know Things? a podcast to help battle misconceptions and misinformation around sex, sexuality.

Links and transcripts for This is Fine: A Podcast About Stress, Burnout, and Resilience can be found at mta.ca/psychology with podcasts available via podcast apps or via the podcast host site Acast - https://shows.acast.com/this-is-fine