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Sunburnt Souls: A Christian Mental Health Podcast
Sunburnt Souls is a Christian mental health podcast exploring faith, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and emotional resilience through honest conversations and biblical hope.
Hosted by Pastor Dave Quak, an Aussie pastor living with bipolar disorder, the podcast explores what it really looks like to follow Jesus through the highs, lows, and everything in between.
Each episode shares powerful stories, biblical encouragement, and practical tools for navigating anxiety, depression, burnout, and mental wellness as a follower of Christ.
Whether you’re battling darkness, searching for joy, or trying to make sense of faith and mental illness, you’re not alone. Sunburnt Souls is a safe, unfiltered space for honest conversations about Christian mental health.
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. 🌐 Learn more at sunburntsouls.com
Episodes
101 episodes
The “Strong One” Is Struggling: Christian Mental Health with Susie Holt
You can be the person everyone counts on and still feel like you’re barely holding it together. Sitting down with Susie Holt, we get honest about the gap between what people see and what’s really happening inside, especially when you’re a publi...
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31:42
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Teen Mental Health in Church: What We’re Missing
Church can be the last place people admit they’re struggling. I share a new live session from a Brisbane church where we talk honestly about faith and mental health, from the quiet pain adults carry to the rising pressure crushing many teens. A...
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27:04
Top 10 Questions Christians Ask Me About Faith and Mental Health
The questions people ask about mental health and Christianity are usually the ones we're all thinking about anyway. So I’m answering them plainly, with zero filter or desire to be eloquent. We start with why Sunburnt Souls exists a...
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22:42
Alcohol, Bipolar and Drinking in the Dark
What if the habit that takes the edge off is the very thing fraying your mind, your marriage, and your mornings? I open up about how “just a couple of wines” became a quiet loop of mediocrity that amplified bipolar swings, dulled my medication,...
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22:42
Predictable Coffee, Your Mind, and Your Brain with Dr. Ash Moreland
What if your brain isn’t the problem—your code is? We sit down with Dr. Ash Morland to unpack the eye-opening difference between brain and mind, and why that single shift can break the ceiling on therapy, productivity, and peace. Starting with ...
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34:57
Owning The Damage: Mental Illness, Faith, And Making It Right
Sometimes the relapse is sudden and loud—the kind of week where anxiety returns out of nowhere and dysphoric mania lights every fuse. I share the mess honestly: the regret of words that cut, the weight of hurting someone I love, and the hard ro...
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18:30
Moses And The Weight Of Leadership
Ever felt called and crushed at the same time? We dig into the life of Moses to explore how real leadership stretches the soul, from a childhood of unlikely rescue to the desert where calling and capacity collide. We talk about what happens whe...
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30:14
Please Don’t Build A Tent, Peter
What if your strongest flaws are the very channels God uses to shape your calling? We sit down to explore the life of Simon Peter, a disciple who rushes first, speaks loudest, and still becomes a steady pillar for the early church. From campfir...
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30:17
Running From God Warps Your Sense of Justice (Jonah)
A runaway prophet, a repenting city, and a God who refuses to be less merciful than He is—Jonah’s story hits closer to home than we like to admit. We open the book not to argue about a fish, but to wrestle with why a man who knows God’s heart w...
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31:12
What If Sitting at Jesus’ Feet Means Letting Your Family Fall Apart? (Mary & Martha)
A quiet living room in Bethany, a sealed tomb, and a Savior who stops to weep before he calls a name—this is where faith and mental wellbeing meet. We invited listeners into the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus to explore how Jesus honors diff...
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32:18
Success Nearly Killed David’s Soul
What if your greatest risk isn’t suffering, but success? We dive into David’s uneven path from overlooked shepherd to celebrated king to show how formation in hidden places can hold you together when the spotlight doesn’t. This is a story about...
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29:39
Barren, Broken, and Begging: When God Stays Silent (Hannah)
The story of Hannah opens inside a storm of rivalry, shame, and unmet longing—and yet it becomes a roadmap for hope. We unpack how a woman dismissed by culture and misread by a priest found language for her pain, courage for her vow, and a song...
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31:20
Elijah Wanted to Die — And God Didn’t Immediately Fix It
Fire falls on the altar, a nation gasps, and the prophet stands vindicated—then one threat sends him running into the wilderness. We follow Elijah through that whiplash from public triumph to private collapse and uncover a deeper story of how G...
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32:47
Taking a Breath: Dave and Jess on Rest, Renewal, and Reconnection
After 89 episodes, Dave and Jess Quak open up about taking a short, intentional break from producing the Sunburnt Souls podcast. This conversation dives deep into the rhythms of rest, spiritual renewal, and what it means to step back without st...
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22:59
Paralysed but Not Defeated: A Christian Mental Health Journey from Depression to Hope
After a BMX crash left him paralysed, Nathan faced years of depression and doubt. Discover how faith, resilience, and community led to real hope.What happens when your body breaks, but your spirit refuses to? This powerful Chris...
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31:07
How the Bible Speaks When You’re Mentally Hurting: Finding God in Every Genre
When silence and solitude fail, Scripture still speaks. In this heartfelt conversation, Dave Quak and Jess Quak explore how the Bible connects us to God when our minds and emotions feel heavy. From poetic laments to prophetic promises, discover...
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34:59
Why Some People Are Blunt — and How to Love Them
Why are some people so blunt—and why does it sting? In this honest and humorous episode of Sunburnt Souls: A Christian Mental Health Podcast, Dave and Jess Quak explore why blunt people speak the way they do and how relationships can thrive whe...
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36:07
Faith & Mental Health: Finding God in the Mess of Bipolar, Anxiety & Depression
In this solo episode of Sunburnt Souls, a Christian mental health podcast, host Dave Quak opens up about faith, mental illness, and what it means to live a life that’s “unideal” yet deeply loved by God.From a story about Tony wi...
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31:31
The Indigo Psalms: Faith, Mental Health & Hope with Indigo Rogers
Sunburnt Souls is a Christian Mental Health Podcast. This week we meet 18 year old Indigo Rogers. She has already published her first book The Indigo Psalms: Volume One—a raw and beautiful collection of personal psalms written since sh...
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25:02
Schizophrenia, Faith & Business: Loving Jesus While Running a Startup
This is Sunburnt Souls, the Christian Mental Health Podcast. Host Dave Quak welcomes back Tomas Heligr-Pyke...Tom gets real about navigating hallucinations at work, recognising what’s real, and how prayer and gratitude ground his mental health ...
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36:13
The Single Life: Faith and Mental Health in the Church.
Sunburnt Souls is a Christian Mental Health Podcast. Today, we find out what’s it really like to navigate Christian singleness in your 20s and 30s—while guarding your mental health and staying true to your faith? In this candid conversation, Do...
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31:26
Women in Leadership with Jess Quak and Maddy Mandall: Navigating Faith, Ministry, and Mental Health (Part 2)
This is Sunburnt Souls, the Christian Mental Health Podcast. In Part 2, Jess and Dave Quak continue their discussion... They explore living out a ministry calling, navigating gender-based expectations, and the joys of pastoral work, emphasising...
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36:05
Women in Leadership with Jess Quak and Maddy Mandall: Navigating Faith, Ministry, and Mental Health (Part 1)
In the first of a two-part series on SUNBURNT SOULS, Jess and Dave Quak are joined by Maddy Mandall to discuss the unique challenges and rewards of women in church leadership. Following last week's episode on women in leadership, Maddy shares h...
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33:33
Women in Ministry: Calling, Church Stigma, and Mental Health — with Jess Quak
In this episode of Sunburnt Souls, the Christian mental health podcast founded by pastor Dave Quak (who lives with bipolar disorder), Dave sits down with his wife Pastor Jess Quak, to talk candidly about the realities of being a woman in church...
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36:37
From Hillsong to Humanitarian: Joel A'Bell on Faith and Leadership
In this episode of Sunburnt Souls, the Christian mental health podcast founded by pastor Dave Quak (who lives with bipolar disorder), Dave welcomes Joel A'Bell, former Hillsong Global Director and current Oceania Regional Leader for Convoy of H...
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31:28