On 5 April 2020, I gave an interview for the IATEFL Teacher Development SIG podcast, ‘Developod’. The interviewer was Christian Tiplady, who was speaking to me from his home in Brighton. The whole episode was put together with James Taylor, who comes from that town in the south of England, and this happens to the place where I gave my first ever presentation at any language teacher conference in 2018. It is the 20th episode of the podcast and it’s 2020, of course. It also coincides with Mental Health Awareness Week in the U.K. and was published, just in time, on the final day (Sunday) of that week.

You can access the full podcast via the dedicated Developod website.

It is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

I have listened back to the edited interview a couple of times and I am very happy with the result. With a rough idea of the questions, but without notes, I spoke from my own mind and experience on the topic of mental health in general and, especially within ELT. My lived experience hopefully comes through. I have been quite anxious recently for different reasons, but know that I am resourceful and manage my condition. It mentions this article on Covid-19 and mental health, which I recently published as well as my presentations in Brighton 2018 and Liverpool 2019.

I would welcome comments here. Please feel free to share, as this topic is as important as ever, I feel. Especially with the recent restrictions of Covid-19 regulations and the move to fully online teaching in many areas.