Petrina Barson grew up as the youngest of five girls in a loving family, surrounded by compassion and kindness. Her early life set the foundations for her caring nature. She attended a church school, learning about Christian principles and compassion. The experience shaped her guiding light, even though she did not fully embrace all its teachings.

Medicine was not an obvious path for Petrina. She found medical education challenging and often felt her natural compassion was unwelcome or overlooked during her training.

A mother of four Petrina faced the sudden loss of her young daughter Maya to sepsis. She learned about the importance of accepting compassion from others and the value of self- compassion in healing.

Petrina made compassion central in her work as a GP, valuing deep connections with patients and holding space for their stories, pain and healing throughout their lives.

Petrina discovered compassion cultivation training at Stanford and became a certified Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) teacher. She founded the Centre for a Compassionate Society, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to building community around the universal human value of compassion. She became a practitioner of the Richards Trauma Process and found new ways to support healing.

Petrina now combines clinical work, teaching and community action to foster a more compassionate society. She is also a poet and an activist for refugee rights. The thread that runs through all these domains of her life is her passion for compassion, and her deep conviction that we have more in common than divides us.

https://centreforacompassionatesociety.net

https://petrinabarson.net

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

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Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

Daniel had a fairly normal upbringing with a supportive family, a love of nature, and a Catholic faith. He loves family, friends, community, and his dog.

Daniel says his Catholic upbringing is very important to him. He holds faith sacred, has a strong sense of values, and appreciates opportunities to reflect and understand what truly matters in life.

He loves connecting and is most comfortable when others share their stories. He found out how much good friends matter, and believes in the power of genuine, unscripted, human connection.

Daniel faced tests, transitions, and rites of passage. He shares how he moved from being focused on his identity as a brother, to discovering how to be his own person.

Daniel has gone through anxiety, depression, and a crisis of faith. He calls unconditional, nonjudgmental support from friends and his wifer Jenna crucial for helping him through tough times and giving him hope.

Daniel wants to help people genuinely connect by sharing their stories. He believes storytelling can be powerful and is excited about building connections as part of the Kintsugi Heroes team.

Over the past 17 years, he dedicated himself to supporting people with disability in the workplace after he was introduced to the incredible hidden value they possess which benefits them, their surroundings and society as a whole.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-p-dougherty

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

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Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

Sharna is the Founder of Kindred Spirits a not-for-profit organisation with the vision to create a holistic healing sanctuary for children who've experienced trauma. As a transformation coach she helps people overcome anxiety, self-doubt, and people-pleasing through her signature Reclamation process, holistically reclaiming the mind, body, emotions and spirit. As a child, she was sexually abused by her step-grandfather, which left her depressed, anxious, lost, shy and with low self-worth. She rebuilt her life with neuroscience-backed processes, mindset shifts, intentional habits, somatic release and energy healing. Now she is on a mission to heal others heal, to speak on stages to inspire and advocate for those without a voice and turn Kindred Spirits' vision into a reality.

Contact Sharna: https://linktr.ee/sharnateresa?utm_source=linktree_profile_share

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

YouTube || Facebook || Instagram || LinkedIn || Website

Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie