The Beyond the Beads Podcast has had an amazing 15 episode run, with some absolutely
​inspiring, educating, strong, & amazing women! 

The Beyond the Beads Podcast is archived here & on Spotify & Apple Music.

A new series ••• Beyond the Chats features different Medical & Healthcare Professionals, Medical Mamas, Small Businesses, Family members & Friends, & people who are part of this amazing community & have come together to discuss everything from personal stories & struggles, inspiration, encouragement, humour
(& sometimes horror), & everything around & in between the ups & downs of
life loving on a medically complex kiddo.

This is an Instagram Series & can be found primarily on our Socials.
There is a highlight & saved space over on the BTB Insta page
where new & previously recorded chats will be recorded live & stored.

If you'd like to go live & chat, please reach out either on Instagram through DM or send an email here!

I can't wait to go beyond the chats with you!

Meet Dr. Jasmina Kobiljski - Dr. Kobiljski is a Consultant Psychiatrist with special interest in Perinatal Mental Health, Psycho-Oncology & Psychotherapy. She has outpatient practices in Victoria General Hospital & BC Cancer. She is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy facilitator through the CBT Skills Group Society of Victoria. She provides psychiatric consultation to Rapid Access for Consultative Expertise & Dr2Dr services. Dr. Kobiljski is actively involved in resident physician & medical student teaching through the University of British Columbia & University of Victoria. Dr. Kobiljski completed her medical degree and psychiatry specialty training at University of British Columbia. Prior to that she completed a Bachelors of Science degree in Biochemistry at University of British Columbia. Dr. Kobiljski was born in Former Yugoslavia & is fluent in Serbian. In her free time, she enjoys meditation, weight lifting, hiking, traveling & time with family. This podcast is a wealth of information! Dr. Kobiljski Explains the difference between postpartum depression/anxiety & PTSD and how to access help as well as support live ones.

Meet Erin. We both had the opportunity for our boys to be cared for by this beautiful super human at the Hospital for Sick Children on the 5B unit. Areas that are covered in 5B include gastrointestinal conditions, G and GJ tubes, image guided therapy and urology. Erin graduated nursing from York University in fall 2012, & started working at SickKids on 5B in early 2013 as a staff RN. She then completed her Masters of Nursing & Primary Care NP certification in fall of 2018, then worked as an Nurse Practitioner on 5B for a year. She currently works in family practice, where she works with patients of all ages, although she will always have a special place in her heart for paediatric patients!

In this episode, Kayla and Jessica share there experiences living at Ronald McDonald House in Toronto while their boys were being treated at The Hospital for Sick Children. According to RMHC Toronto (2021) 65% of Canadians live outside of a city with a children’s hospital.  Therefore, if their child gets sick or in our cases born critically ill, families, like us, must travel long distances for their child to receive medical treatment at SickKids. Families must then leave their homes, families, jobs & community support at a time when they need them the most, often causing significant emotional and financial stress. RMHC Toronto encompasses a House for 81 families in downtown Toronto and seven Family Rooms in hospitals across the Greater Toronto Area and in Sudbury.  We don't know how we would have gotten through our experience without RMCH Toronto. Here we share our stories <3

Meet Alex - Alex is a Certified Child Life Specialist at a hospital just outside Toronto. In this role she provides psychosocial support and care to pediatric patients and their families experiencing illness and injury. Using play based and therapeutic interventions, Alex offers infants, children and youth opportunities for normalization and development of positive coping skills.

Meet Linda Burdett - Linda is a registered Psychotherapist with over 17 years experience providing psychotherapy. She is passionate about helping clients overcome anxiety, depression and relationship difficulties, learn to be compassionate to themselves, rediscover their courage, and work towards their ideal life. Linda views life as a process of overcoming and in pursuing personal growth. Her approach is holistic and client centered. Linda’s therapy is always tailored to meet the needs of her clients...which include both of us! Her primary approach is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which looks at addressing and challenging negative thinking that leads to anxiety, depressive feelings and worry. She also uses other modalities including Adlerian; Mindfulness; and Emotionally Focused Therapies. She equips clients with accurate and current information about their issues. Linda promotes self-understanding by helping clients develop insight into their personality preferences, behaviours and family dynamics. We don’t know where we would be without Linda. When speaking with Linda, we never feel judgement and she makes us feel heard and accepted. ​

Meet Adelle - Adelle Purdham is a writer, speaker and parent disability advocate. She holds an honours degree in French literature and is a certified teacher. She earned a graduate certificate from Humber College’s Creative Writing by Correspondence program where she wrote her memoir Here We Are, Happy. Her essay, “The Giving Tree” will appear in the anthology, Good Mom on Paper (Book*hug Press, spring 2022). Adelle’s work has also appeared in The Toronto Star, The Mighty, Broadview Magazine, and she’s a regular contributor to 3.21: Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine. Adelle is the founder of The Write Retreat, facilitating wellness, workshops, time and space for women writers to create. She is currently completing her MFA in creative nonfiction writing at the University of King’s College and writing her next book, I Don’t Do Disability and Other Lies I’ve Told Myself, an ensemble of first-person essays through memoir. Visit her online adellepurdham.ca. 

Meet Ana @bluebirdkisses - Ana is a blogger, Mama, & no nonsense tells it
like it is all around beautiful human being. 

We talk about being a SickKids parent,  #boymom, life in the city, & so.
much. more. 

If you don't already, go give her a follow & live vicariously through her
​PEI posts! We can't wait to drop this episode! ​

​Rachel Sobel of "Whine & Cheez Its", winner of Romper's 2020 Peoples' Choice Award, is living the new normal: Marriage, Baby, Divorce, Remarriage, another baby. She is a published author, writer and speaker and a contributor for Pop Sugar, MommyNearest, The  Today Show Parenting Team and more. 

Rachel brings next level realness and authenticity to all of her content. She creates humorous blogs, Instagram posts and stories, does an engaging weekly Instagram Live Show from her closet every week, and loves to inspire women from the trenches of motherhood. She's been  featured on NPR. The Kelly Clarkson Show. The Tamron Hall Show , Today Show Parenting, PopSugar, Huffington Post, Romper and Scary Mommy to name a few, where she creates engaging, relatable, and viral content for all moms.

​This is a juicy one with all the feels. We share our good, bad, ugly & hilarious experiences about pumping while living at the hospital. We talk about the lack of support & resources available to help moms learn to breastfeed/pump. To us, pumping is breast feeding. We are damn proud of our efforts but believe more options and support are needed for all moms, especially when living at the bedside.