In episode 338 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with George Gabriel.
George is the Director and Co-Founder of an organisation called ‘The Dad Shift’, which is made up of a group of men, dads and other parents campaigning for better paternity leave in the UK.
Currently, in the UK, dads only receive a statutory two weeks off work when they become a father or for any future children they have. This is paid at less than half the minimum wage, with self-employed men receiving nothing.
The Dad Shift is calling for more paternity leave that is sustainable, affordable and equal.
In this episode we first discuss George’s mental health journey, which centres around several major life events. The first was his marriage to his first wife, who he was in a relationship with for 13 years.
After it ended acrimoniously, he ended up moving back into his childhood bedroom with his parents at 30 years old. At the time, he was running a humanitarian organisation supporting refugees called ‘Safe for Passage’ and he hit rock bottom.
The first steps of his recovery then came when his brother took him on a holiday to Brazil. However, things didn’t pan out that way and after signing up for a mountain hike in the middle of the night whilst intoxicated, he reached the summit and thought about taking his own life.
Just as he was about to complete this attempt, his tour guide came over to him and offered him a Snickers bar, and it broke his suicidal thought cycle.
He came back to the UK, took more positive steps with his recovery, and suddenly things began to fall into place for him.
He was approached by a recruiter for a tech company and got the job, he did EMDR therapy and ayahuasca, which we’ll discuss in the pod how they benefited him, and George slowly rebuilt his life.
He entered a new relationship with his now-wife and became a father twice! In his words, he now lives a life he never imagined.
We discuss this entire mental health journey of crisis and recovery, fatherhood, the work he is doing with The Dad Shift and the impact it has had on changing the conversation.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can find out more about The Dad Shift here.
You can follow The Dad Shift on social media below:
Support Us:
