Bloom: Human Stories of Resilience
When bad things happen, how do people bloom? What can we learn from those who thrive when the going gets tough? Amazing life stories of resilience, practical advice, and quirky, intelligent chat from hosts Dr Steve (clinical hypnotherapist) and Susie (writer, baker, parent, cancer patient).
Episodes
42 episodes
We Can No Longer Be Friends
While Dr Steve gallivants around Europe, Susie catches the plague and discovers you can't go back in time. We talk about the fallibility of memory and whether the world is becoming more tolerant or less, and which of our favourite old ...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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18:46
Stand Up and Be Counted
Ettie was a soldier, and one day the moment came to take action, whatever the cost. But doing the right thing was both hard and risky. Ettie tells Susie and Dr Stave about bravery, risks and when the other side hold all the cards. ...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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20:44
It Takes a Lot of Guts
Your life can change, very fast - as our guest Tim discovered one fateful day. The moment he knew is a story of emergencies, zero blood pressure, organ transplants, an Australian first - and more than that, a story of how he coped and how...
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Season 4
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Episode 7
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40:55
You Are Enough
Talking kids and self-image through the lens of a woman born with cleft lip and palate, whose kid was born with cleft lip and palate. This is our most emotional interview yet, and Susie & Dr Steve (but mostly Dr Steve) make Megan cry,...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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24:25
I Get Knocked Down, and I Get Up Again
When life gives you lemons, yeah yeah... What about when life gives you cancer and amputation at seven years old? And you find yourself knocked down so deep and dark a hole you don't know how to get up again? Liam talks about the moment that ch...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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33:43
A Terrorist Reading Shakespeare
Found guilty of hoarding 70,000 violent, racist files, a young feller is sentenced to... Shakespeare and Jane Austen?! Susie and Dr Steve ponder the redemptive power of dead white authors on living white terrorists.
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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16:48
Careering Through Life
If you want to make God laugh, goes the old Yiddish saying, tell him your plans. How has life turned out for you? Susie and Steve share Sliding Doors moments, and Steve shares his theory on why those with a brilliant school leaving score may be...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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19:24
Butterflies and blowjobs
Where do we go when we fall asleep? What is it like to have a near-death experience in an hallucinogenic state? And what would you end up saying out loud if you lost your grip of reality? Meet Sarah and you'll know the answer to one of...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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26:22
Sliding Doors
We’re back! We’re back! We’re baaaaaack! Susie checks up on Steve’s homework (nope) and recalls when an awful tragedy happened… nearly. And we preview our new season, our 76th (according to Steve): The Moment I Knew.
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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15:45
The Moment I Knew
Is it curtains for the Bloom podcast? No. It's not. But it is the end of series three. Susie and Dr Steve reflect on pivotal moments that changed their lives (always easy listening here)... and unveil their cunning plan for series four.
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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20:31
Good To Go
Good to Go. It’s going to happen to us all (except Keith Richards). This week Susie and Dr Steve explore the final frontier. What makes a good death, and who gets to have one? And when very, very bad things happen to people we love, how do we c...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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35:46
No Courage Without Fear
Has your life worked out the way you expected? Guest Elizabeth found the resilience to do something extraordinary. She tells us about processing her daughter’s Down syndrome diagnosis with aplomb, humour and support and solace for others - oh, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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45:17
I Was a Priest… And Then I Wasn’t.
Susie and Dr Steve talk to Andrew, who was a Roman Catholic priest for a decade, and then… wasn’t. What is it like entering the outside world? Steve should know, because something like that happened to him, too. PLUS we reveal the meaning of li...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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27:07
When It Rains
Is it possible to store up resilience? Susie and Dr Steve talk about building up your reserves for when life throws lemons at you. Today's guest is Paul, who has taken advantage of a terrible period of his life to help others as a Speaker for B...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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32:07
Be Yourself - Everyone Else Is Taken
You CAN be what you can't see, but it's harder when you have to forge your own path. Guest Cath describes building a life as a gay single parent and corporate boss. Susie and Dr Steve talk about confidence and how to find it, and fo...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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31:24
Grace Under Pressure
Hemingway's definition of guts never applied better than to Liz, today's guest. A bitter divorce is one thing, but coping with years of manipulation and emotional abuse quite another. Susie and Dr Steve talk about resilience when things are ble...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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33:11
Memories Are Made of… What?
What’s your earliest memory? Probably never happened – at least, not like that. Susie and Dr Steve talk about memory and how time changes perspectives and getting the view from the other side. In this two guest special you’ll meet Catherine, wi...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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51:31
Devils and Angels
If I exorcise my devils, my angels may leave too. When the life you plan is snatched from you, how to do you get the point of being glad of it? Susie and Dr Steve meet Kenny, a remarkable man who wouldn’t have his sight back even if he...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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31:58
Ermagerd!
Belief in religion is in decline. In this episode we discuss faith, its absence from our lives and what it means to live in a secular world. Joining Susie and Dr Steve is Father Bob, a Roman Catholic priest driven to serve the poor and excluded...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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39:13
Trailer - Season 3
Susie and Dr Steve are back for season 3! In the trailer we give a sneak preview introducing our first guest (world famous in Melbourne) and talk about how and why we tweaked the formula to focus on 'human stories'.
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Season 3
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6:38
Best of 2020 - Resilience
In this final episode of season 2, Susie and Dr Steve talk resilience - what it means and how to tap into it - and review favourite tips for resilience from some of 2020's best episodes. Includes Steve's five top tips for finding equilibrium du...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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27:24
Thank You, Mind!
Are you the slave of your emotions, or the master? And if slave, what can you do about it? Guest Judy Herreen speaks about mindfulness, NLP, ACT and how she used her mind to recover from a terrible time. Plus Susie puts the cross back in cross-...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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41:05
My Life is Compost
Is your body telling you things have to change? Can illness, stress or depression be cured by health, fitness or yoga? Steve and Susie meet Jane Mallick, who broke, mended herself and is now living the life she always dreamt of – with added com...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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33:19
PC, JKR and All That Jazz
Language is powerful - but is it so powerful that it must be policed? We hear from an expert who's written the book on balancing freedom and control in language. We chat about JK Rowling and Steve tells us his position vis-a-vis the Nazis (he's...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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52:36
Inside of a Dog... The Joy of Reading
If how we perceive reality relies on the language we use, then the books we read matter. A lot. Susie and Dr Steve talk to university professor (and good egg) Beth Driscoll. Is Fifty Shades of Grey better than Jane Austen - better to read, bett...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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37:59