My Social Support Network

Here we are with Episode 2 of Regain Control, the guide to taking your life back, getting back out there, while helping you feel well, beat pain and more!

This time, My Social Support Network's very own Paula Billig takes us through how to beat pain, and it's partly about learning how to breath. Most people find that hard to believe, but scientific pain management uses breathing as a key way to cope with pain - and here's your firs...

In our second episode of Season 2, Dr Caroline Howe (founder of My Social Support Network) takes us through the very real changes we see in our bodies after an injury. This is very common, especially due to the added effects of damage to the Vagus nerve and the increase of cortisol in the systems of injured workers.

This is also available through the new My Social Support Network programme "Regain Control", an 8-week reset for your...

In today's episode, we hear from Dr Caroline Howe, Founder of My Social Support Network (MSSN), as she takes us through the year ahead for the podcast, how MSSN works to support and encourage our members to heal and feel safe to get back to work via the Social Cognitive Career Theory.

This year we will be changing things up by bringing inspirational and lived experience stories to you, giving you strength to heal, strength to grow ...

This is our third episode in the Summer Series, and this time we're revisiting Dr Caroline Howe's interview with Bernadette Redford from the Salvation Army "Money Care" Team. Originally aired as Episode 4 - Financial Support for Injured Workers, Bernadette will talk us through some practical advice around financial counselling, getting on top of debt, and acting sooner rather than later!

We also have a short clip from Episode 16 - ...

This is the second episode of our best-of Summer Series while the MSSN Team take a break and prepare for more episodes in 2025.

In this episode, Dr Caroline Howe speaks with Kevin Sawers from the Walker Law Group about worker's rights as they make their way through the Worker's Compensation Scheme. Navigating this process can be very challenging and confusing, but with Kevin's knowledge we can decode a lot of this confusion.

If you...

This is the first episode of our best-of Summer Series while the MSSN Team take a break and prepare for more episodes in 2025.

In this episode we take a short look back at Dr Caroline Howe's conversation with Dr Tania Gardner to discuss chronic pain management and the idea of joy in recovery.

We also have a short preview of another interview you may be interested in, our chat with MSSN member Alex and his journey with PTSD.

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Caring for somone isolated through injury or illness is a full time job - and this job, more often than not, falls to family members. A wife, a husband or partner, a child or sibling, these are the silent compassionate people who care, but it's not an easy road.

In this episode My Social Support Network founder Dr Caroline Howe speaks with the Mitchells and the Smiths, who despite having very different situations, find common exper...

Stigma can play a large part in increasing the suffering of an injured or sick person. Often they feel like they are being judged, or letting the side down, and when they do return to work, will they be treated the same way.

In this episode Dr Caroline Howe speaks to Libi Stone - Occupational Rehabilitation Leader and Senior Rehabilitation Consultant - in a wide ranging conversation encompassing stigma, the role of anxiety, how the...

When you feel so many things have changed in your life and that you've lost everything, it's very hard to see outside your situation, see that you are more than your job, or your former ability.

In this episode, MSSN founder Dr Caroline Howe speaks to Warren Davies, The Unbreakable Farmer, about his journey about rebuilding his life from a point where he thought he had lost everything. The is a story of hope, of shifting perspectiv...

Burnout is the modern curse of the workplace. Most often seen in the most diligent of workers, burnout is a major impediment to a happy and balanced work life. Even more so, burnout is a huge concern for people returning to work after a workplace injury who are now facing the prospect of reinjury.

In this episode, Dr Caroline Howe is in conversation with Alicia Gibbs, who takes us through the effects burnout can have on your abilit...

When people go through Worker's Compensation, or any insurance claim, they are assigned a Case Manager (sometimes called a Claims Manager). Together, the injured worker and the Case Manager are supposed to work through the process together to see a healthier worker return to the workforce.

So what's it like being a Case Manager, what are the pressures and how do they see working with injured workers?

In this episode, Dr Caroline Ho...

During times of injury or sickness, it is not unusual for people to turn to self-medication. The most common forms are food, alcohol and drugs - but this can be a slippery slope and end up in addiction, which as we all know can be very dangerous.

On this episode, MSSN Founder Dr Caroline Howe speaks with Zoe Cook, creator of the Pink Cloud app, which works to assist women to combat the use of alcohol addiction while also creating...

There are so many questions when you're on Worker's Compensation - it can feel like a full time job! When it comes to doing the right thing with your Certificate of Capacity, knowing your rights with Independent Medical Consultants, and the ultimate goal of returning to work, getting good advice can be difficult, especially if it seems like a lot of legal gibberish!

In this week's episode, MSSN Founder, Dr Caroline Howe speaks wi...

Recovering from an injury is, more often than not, isolating. Some people reach out at this time for companionship from an animal, a friend who can give comfort and love when the world seems all too hard.

So what is the best pet for you and how do you go about choosing your new lifelong companion?

Dr Caroline Howe is joined by hosts of the upcoming Yap and Yarn podcast, Nursed Angie and Dr Reiko for a fun chat about pets as therapy...

Dealing with pain through injury, whether it be physical or psychological pain, is a major part of the day to day difficulties for anyone dealing with an injury. Adding pain to stress, isolation and uncertainty brings with it a bevvy of complications, but what if there was a way to work through that pain without yet more medication.

Dr Tania Gardner is a Lecturer in Physiotherapy at Sydney School of Health Sciences and Senior Physi...

For some workers with injury, PTSD (or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) plays a dominant part. 

The Mayo Clinic in the U.S. describes PTSD thus: "The condition may last months or years, with triggers that can bring back memories of the trauma accompanied by intense emotional and physical reactions. Symptoms may include nightmares or flashbacks, avoidance of situations that bring back the trauma, heightened reactivity to stimuli, a...