Mind Beyond the Mission

In this episode of Mind Beyond the Mission, host Laryssa Lamrock is joined by guest co-host Tarik Kadri and special guest Guy Dallaire for a conversation about the impacts and complexities of vicarious trauma and intergenerational trauma among military and Veteran Families. Guy Dallaire was born into a multigenerational military Family — both his father and grandfather served in the Canadian Armed Forces. Guy served in both the Res...

Laryssa Lamrock and guest co-host Staff Sergeant (Ret’d) Gary Hollender are joined by Sheri Lux. Sheri opens up about losing her husband Mike, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer, who died by suicide in 2017.

Sheri shares her journey of healing and self-discovery, providing insights into the unique challenges faced by RCMP Families, the power found in community support, and the importance vulnerability played in healing a...

In this episode of Mind Beyond the Mission, Laryssa Lamrock is joined by guest co-host Andrew Gough — a Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Veteran, serving Reservist and medically retired police officer — and guest Emily Zufelt. Emily is a former police dispatcher, advocate for first responders, military members and Veterans, and host and creator of What’s Your Twenty?, a podcast featuring stories from first responders, CAF members and Ve...

This special compilation episode of Mind Beyond the Mission brings together the most valuable insights from two conversations with Dr. Lyn Turkstra and Veteran and CFL player Ryan Carey, who each joined Brian and Laryssa on Mind Beyond the Mission previously to share their perspectives as a clinician specializing in traumatic brain injury and a person with lived experience of TBI.

Dr. Turkstra is Assistant Dean and Professor of Spee...

“If I'm forming a consultation group, I'm not going to bring someone there that I know whose role in life is to flip the applecart over. There's no value there. But if I look around the room at a grouping of people I've gathered and there's no one there that's ever showed me dissent to an idea before, I have not formed a consultation group. I have formed an applause choir that's going to tell me I...

Corporal (Ret’d) Josh Muir joined Brian and Laryssa to talk about his experiences with the complex and deep-rooted relationship between alcohol and military culture. Josh shared how his journey to sobriety grew from external pressures from loved ones into a deep, personal commitment and discusses the value of openness and vulnerability in his recovery.

The episode explores Josh’s transition to a sober life focused on physical and me...

Corporal (Ret’d) Shauna Mulligan, a Métis Veteran of the Canadian Army Reserve, joined Brian and Laryssa to reflect on her experiences and insight on how Indigenous culture and military service can intersect and interact with each other.

Shauna shares her personal journey of understanding her identity and cultural heritage and the challenges of integrating them into her military career. From the vital role of Veterans at powwows. to...

Colonel Telah Morrison, OMM, CD, retired from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 2022 after 35 years of service in both the Regular and Reserve Forces. Telah joined the CAF in 1986 and went to Royal Military College (RMC) Saint-Jean, six years after the RMC began allowing women to attend in 1980. She is the first woman Logistics Officer in the Royal 22nd 3rd Battalion, and the first woman and first logistician to teach at the infan...

When Jim Davis saw on the news that a Canadian soldier had been killed in Afghanistan, he thought to himself, “My son is serving there… but so are 2,000 other Canadian soldiers. The odds are that it isn’t him.” Jim faced a parent’s worst nightmare later that day upon learning that his son Paul was the person killed in the line of duty.

In the 18 years since, Jim continues to cope with this loss by honouring his son’s legacy, sharing...

An overwhelming number of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Veterans and their Families are directly and profoundly impacted by suicide loss. Yet, few know where, how or when to talk about it — or if it should even be discussed at all.

Canadian Armed Forced (CAF) Veteran Dennis Mackenzie joined Brian and Laryssa on Combating the silence around suicide to discuss the prevalence and impact...

“When I’m talking about hypervigilance in the Veteran community, I’m actually talking about the perfect amount of vigilance, but for somewhere other than when you walk inside your home or when you go on vacation with your Family.”

Hypervigilance — being constantly on high alert and keenly aware of your surroundings — is a critical skill for soldiers that can be the difference between life and death. For Veterans and their Family mem...

In this episode of Mind Beyond the Mission, Brian and Laryssa are joined by Tabitha Beynen, a former Air Force medic and single parent navigating the complexities of balancing personal well-being and parenting while living with a posttraumatic stress injury (PTSI).

They discuss:

• Managing personal well-being while caring for a child
• Finding balance as a single parent
• Healthy coping mechanisms for difficult days
• Emotional numbing and ...

An overwhelming number of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Veterans and their Families are directly and profoundly impacted by suicide loss. Yet, few know where, how or when to talk about it — or if it should even be discussed at all.
 
How soon is too soon? What happens when it's too late? What should one even say?
 
Dennis Mackenzie lost 10 friends while serving in Afghani...

Peer support can be described as having someone meet you where you are and walk alongside you in your journey. It can look different for everyone, but it boils down to a supportive relationship between people who share a common lived and living experience.

In this episode, hosts Brian McKenna and Laryssa Lamrock discuss the profound impacts of peer support within the Veteran and Family community, including the role peer su...

“Am I burnt out or just tired?”

“Am I sick or am I just fatigued?”

“How can I be someone’s caregiver and their spouse at the same time?”

These are questions that are often asked by Veteran Family members supporting a loved one with a health concern. Family members may sometimes find themselves shifting from “spouse mode” to “caregiver mode” and back again several times a day, which can be exhausting. It’...

Anger is a natural human emotion. Anger can motivate you, give you a sense of strength and help you react quickly to threats. Although many people think that being angry is wrong or inappropriate, anger itself is not a problem. For many Veterans, it was often integral to their missions and survival. However, the behaviours that stem from this emotion have the potential to become problematic.
 
For Family members, it can be ...

Andrew and Elizabeth Gough join Brian and Laryssa on this episode of Mind Beyond the Mission to speak about the distinctive experiences of Reservist Families, including around community, connection and accessing care. The Reserve Force is an integral component of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), with Reserve Force units existing in hundreds of communities across Canada and the world.
 
They joined Brian and Laryssa to speak...

Major (Ret’d) Mark Campbell was wounded in 2008 while serving in Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He lost both of his legs and his military career came to a sudden halt after 34 years of service. That instant in time marked a massive transformation in Mark’s life and that of his wife Donna, herself a Warrant Officer with 30 years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Mark and Donna ...

When people develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), certain parts of their brain can be over- or underactivated, triggering thoughts, emotions, moods and behaviours that can be unhelpful or distressing. These responses can be unconscious and happen very quickly, making them hard to manage.

Neurofeedback therapy helps people learn how to self-control brain activity and regulate PTSD symptoms. Dr. Andrew Nicholson, Clinical Rese...