Wired for Hope
Wired for Hope is a podcast hosted by Dr. Jessica Barton, an NHS clinical psychologist and university lecturer in the UK. It explores the brain, behavior, and mental health, featuring conversations with people who have lived with brain injury and experts who study it. The show covers topics like sports-related concussion, feminist perspectives on disability, and mental health and identity. It also includes a regular segment highlighting recent neuroscience research from around the world. The podcast aims to make neuroscience more accessible to a general audience.
Episodes
Three Decades in NHS Mental Health: A Clinical Psychologist's Perspective (Part 1)
In this episode, Dr Jess spends some time with Dr Melinda Rees, a consultant clinical psychologist with more than three decades of experience across clinical, leadership, and commercial roles in mental health.Melinda is now CEO of the mental health technology company Psyomics. She opens up about her own journey: from her first day as a newly qualified psychologist arriving at a struggling GP
Nature Therapy, Poetry, and Healing (Part 2)
In part two, Dr Mary Delaney picks up with the neuroscience of nature, exploring how natural environments reduce activity in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, restore attentional capacity, and boost creativity.She highlights why that matters profoundly for people living with brain injuries and neurological conditions. Mary describes what a typical adapted forest bathing session looks like f
Nature Therapy and the Brain (Part 1)
In this episode, Dr Jess meets Dr Mary Delaney, a consultant clinical neuropsychologist in Greater Manchester and co-founder of the social enterprise Neuro in Nature. Mary shares the story of how she and her colleague Claire McDonald came to set up the enterprise, after noticing, during the Covid lockdowns, just how differently their clients with brain injuries engaged in sessions held outsid
ProSocial in Action: From the NHS to the Ebola Crisis (Part 2) | Wired for Hope
In part two, Richard Coates picks up with the third pillar of ProSocial: contextual behavioural science and ACT, and how psychological flexibility, values, and an awareness of our threat system shape how we behave within groups. Richard and Dr Jess discuss what a ProSocial session with a struggling NHS team actually looks like, including the ACT Matrix tool, and explore the common mistakes la
ProSocial: How Cooperation Makes Us Human (Part 1) | Wired for Hope
In this episode, Dr Jess welcomes Richard Coates back to the podcast to discuss the science of human cooperation and what it means for teams working under pressure in healthcare and beyond.Richard, who is a psychologist and ProSocial facilitator, introduces ProSocial - a framework rooted in three interlocking theories.He begins with evolutionary science, exploring why cooperation is not just a nic
Brain Injury and Homelessness: Designing Services That Work (Part 2)
In part two of this conversation, Dr Jess and George Evans pick up their conversation about brain injury and homelessness, turning their attention to what better services could and should look like. George describes the specialist residential service he is developing in Lewisham, designed to support people with acquired brain injury and alcohol-related brain damage who have repeatedly fallen
Brain Injury and Homelessness: The Hidden Picture (Part 1)
In this episode, Dr Jess is joined by George Evans, commissioner of supported housing and homelessness at Lewisham Council in South East London.They explore the intertwined relationship between brain injury, alcohol-related brain damage, and homelessness - a topic that remains under-recognised in both clinical and policy settings.George describes what homelessness really looks like, from the stark
The Iced Viking: Practical Breathwork Advice (Part 2)
In part two of this conversation, Chuck McGee III, brain injury survivor, breathwork coach, and ACT therapist, picks up where he left off, sharing the deeply personal impact that breathwork has had on his mental health, relationships, and sense of self. He reflects honestly on moving from hyper-vigilance and reactivity to developing what he calls "a pause button," and explains how ACT princip
The Iced Viking: Trauma, Breath, and Recovery (Part 1)
In this episode, Dr Jess meets Chuck McGee III, also known as Iced Viking, a traumatic brain injury survivor, breathwork coach, and ACT therapist based in California. Chuck opens up about his remarkable and at times raw journey: surviving approximately 24 brain injuries across car and motorcycle accidents and years of working as a bartender in high-conflict environments, where violence became
Sex, intimacy, and disability
In this episode we explore a topic that rarely gets discussed in brain injury rehabilitation: sex, intimacy, and disability.Dr Jess is joined by two experts in this area - Bea Meadow is an award-winning somatic sexologist and retired conscious sex worker ,specialising in disability.Dr Giles Yates is a clinical neuropsychologist and couples therapist with more than 20 years' experience in sexuality
Psychedelic Afterglow Neuroplasticity: How Mushrooms Rewire Your Brain for Weeks | Therapy & Healing
Psychedelic Afterglow Neuroplasticity is emerging as an exciting discovery in modern neuroscience. Research suggests that after a psychedelic experience, the brain may enter a powerful period of increased flexibility, coinciding with what is experienced as a felt afterglow effect. During this time, neuroplasticity may remain elevated, creating a unique opportunity for emotional
The Psychology of Acceptance
In this episode, Dr Jess speaks with Dr Richard Coates, a clinical neuropsychologist, about the transformative power of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - both in brain injury rehabilitation and in everyday life. Richard opens up about his own experience of using ACT skills to show up for the things that matter to him, from walking into a podcast studio with a racing heart to queuing for ro
Living Well with Multiple Sclerosis: Mindfulness and Hope
In this episode, Dr Jess speaks with Lucy Traynor, who was 31 when she first experienced symptoms of multiple sclerosis - a diagnosis that would take three years to confirm. Lucy shares the emotional weight of seeing her brain scan for the first time, the frustration of navigating medical systems not designed with women in mind, and how negative media portrayals of MS fuelled her initial fears abo
Mild brain injury and neurodivergence
In this episode, Dr. Jess speaks with Aaron, a PhD researcher and mountain biker who sustained a concussion that left him with persistent symptoms affecting every aspect of his life. Aaron shares his raw experience of struggling with noise sensitivity, motion sickness, debilitating headaches, and concentration difficulties that made completing his PhD feel impossible. He discusses the is
The Complexities of Mild Brain Injury and Sports-Related Concussion
In this episode, Dr Jess explores mild traumatic brain injury and sports-related concussion with world-renowned neuropsychologist Dr Nigel King. Although most people recover from mild brain injury within weeks, a small percentage develop persistent post-concussion symptoms that can last months or years. Nigel explains the complex interplay between subtle brain injury and psychological fa
Mental health after traumatic brain injury
In this episode, Dr Jess welcomes Andrew Jenkins to the Wired for Hope podcast.Andrew survived a devastating car accident 25 years ago that left him in a coma for four weeks. He shares his raw and honest journey from silently struggling with shame, identity loss, and toxic masculinity to finding self-compassion and purpose. He discusses the turning point of meeting the surgeon who saved
Supporting mothers after brain injury
In this episode of the Wired for Hope podcast, Dr Jess speaks with Dr Phil Butler, a social worker and researcher who completed her PhD on the lived experiences of mothers with acquired brain injury. Phil discusses her groundbreaking research using feminist disability theory to explore why parents with ABI, particularly mothers, have been largely overlooked in the literature, with most studie
The science of hope in brain injury recovery
In our first episode, Dr Jess speaks with Dr Alan Gray, a consultant clinical psychologist, with a specialism in neuropsychology, about the transformative power of hope in brain injury rehabilitation. We explore why hope matters for both mental and physical recovery, the surprising statistics about brain injury prevalence in the UK, and how goal-setting can foster meaningful progress. Al
Trailer - Welcome to Wired for Hope
Welcome to Wired for Hope, where we explore the brain, behaviour, and mental health with people who have lived with brain injury and those who have studied it.I'm Dr. Jess, an NHS clinical psychologist in the UK, university lecturer, and published author, passionate about making neuroscience more accessible.We’ll explore a range of topics from sports related concussion, to feminist perspectives on
