Fynix Project Podcast Appearances – Darryl Craig on Lived Experience, Trauma Recovery & Mental Health
Sharing Lived Experience to Spark Hope – Real Stories of Struggle, Healing, and Rising Stronger
Honest Conversations on Trauma, Recovery, and Turning Lived Experience Into Hope
The Fynix Project, founded by Darryl Craig (comedian, writer, poet, NLP practitioner, and mental health advocate), delivers lived-experience, trauma-informed mental health workshops across the North West of England and online across the UK. Through podcast guest appearances and interviews, Darryl shares his powerful personal journey - from childhood trauma, domestic abuse, bereavement, addiction, and homelessness to finding healing through writing, therapy, family support, and purpose-driven work.
These conversations highlight the reality that speaking openly about mental health is not a weakness - it is a strength. Darryl’s story shows how lived experience can become a force for connection, recovery, and hope. His podcast appearances reflect the core mission of the Fynix Project: creating safe, non-judgmental spaces where people can recognise their emotions, regulate their nervous system, and release what they carry.
⚠️ Content Note: Some podcast discussions include sensitive themes such as mental health struggles, trauma, abuse, bereavement, and suicide.
Listeners will hear how lived experience can lead to genuine transformation and how practical tools for recovery can support it. These conversations also connect directly to the Fynix Project workshops, including Write to Rise, The Resilience Reset, and Breathe to Balance, which provide practical tools for mental fitness and emotional regulation for individuals, communities, and organisations.
Founded on the belief that healing becomes more powerful when shared, the Fynix Project combines trauma-informed practice with creative expression, including writing, art, and music. Guided by values of lived experience, compassion, accessibility, collaboration, and resilience, our work supports people navigating challenges such as trauma, grief, isolation, and poverty. As Darryl often says:
"Don’t bottle everything up — talk, release, and write your truth."
Darryl Craig on The Quadcast – “When ‘Fine’ Is a Lie” (3-Part Series)
⚠️ Content Warning: This 3-part conversation includes open discussions of childhood trauma, grooming, domestic abuse, bereavement, homelessness, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. Listener discretion is advised.
In this raw and deeply honest three-part series on The Quadcast, Darryl Craig - founder of The Fynix Project - sits down for one of his most open conversations to date.
Across the episodes, Darryl shares his full journey: from childhood abuse and grooming at age 11, through the loss of his younger brother to overdose, years of domestic violence, homelessness, and the night he stood on Halton Bridge ready to end his life. He speaks candidly about the dangerous lie of constantly saying “I’m fine” when he was anything but.
The conversation moves from personal story (Part 1) into practical solutions, why lived-experience facilitators make a real difference, body-first grounding and emotional regulation tools, workshop breakdowns, burnout support for frontline staff, and the importance of second chances for people leaving prison (Parts 2 & 3).
Darryl also discusses how writing, poetry, and even AI-generated music became essential parts of his healing, and introduces the new free Wellbeing Journals now available on the Fynix website.
This series perfectly reflects the heart of The Fynix Project: dropping the mask, regulating the nervous system, reframing your story, and turning lived experience into practical support for others. No toxic positivity, just honest talk about what actually helps when life gets dark.
- Patreon: https://patreon.com/TheQuadcast353
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7gNeBnmnCf5zRfFvSK09vc?si=K7n11Tb5ROiiYO1IgYw7mw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583955021265
These episodes connect directly to Fynix workshops such as The Art of Letting Go, Our Right to Rise, Breathe to Balance, and Burnout Recovery Lab.
Support The Quadcast & listen on other platforms:
From Childhood Trauma to Purpose: Darryl Craig on the Becoming Lucy Podcast
In this powerful episode of the Becoming Lucy Podcast, Darryl Craig — founder of the Fynix Project — shares his deeply personal journey through childhood trauma, abuse, loss, and survival, and how those experiences ultimately shaped his mission to help others. Darryl speaks openly about growing up in an environment affected by domestic violence, spending time in a women’s refuge, experiencing grooming at a young age, and navigating profound grief following the loss of his younger brother.
Through honest reflection, Darryl explores how unresolved trauma can impact the nervous system, relationships, and mental health throughout life — and how recovery becomes possible through connection, creative expression, and practical regulation tools. The conversation also explores how these experiences led him to create the Fynix Project, which delivers trauma-informed mental health workshops and lived-experience support across the North West of England and online across the UK.
This episode highlights the importance of breaking cycles of trauma, speaking openly about mental health, and creating safer spaces for healing. Darryl’s story demonstrates how lived experience can be transformed into meaningful advocacy, helping others feel less alone and showing that recovery, even after profound hardship, is possible.
⚠️ Content Warning: This podcast discussion contains references to childhood trauma, domestic abuse, grooming, bereavement, PTSD, and suicidal ideation. Listener discretion is advised.
Darryl Craig on The Hurt Locker Podcast – A Lived Experience Mental Health Journey from Trauma to Strength
⚠️ Content Warning: This podcast discussion includes references to mental health struggles, domestic abuse, bereavement, and suicide. Listener discretion is advised.
In Episode 73 of The Hurt Locker Podcast, host Yinka speaks with Darryl Craig — comedian, writer, mental health advocate, and founder of the Fynix Project — about his powerful lived-experience journey with trauma and recovery.
During this honest and deeply personal conversation, Darryl reflects on growing up in an environment affected by domestic violence, abuse, and bereavement, and how those experiences shaped his mental health throughout adulthood. After more than two decades of carrying these experiences in silence, Darryl now speaks openly about them to reduce stigma around mental health and encourage others to seek support.
The episode explores how Darryl transformed pain into purpose through writing, creative expression, advocacy, and the creation of the Fynix Project, which delivers trauma-informed mental health workshops and lived-experience-led support across the North West of England and online across the UK. His story highlights the power of sharing lived experience to help others feel less alone and to promote more compassionate conversations around trauma, resilience, and recovery.
Darryl Craig on the Same Walk, Different Story Podcast – From Trauma and Survival to Healing Through Writing
In this powerful episode of the Same Walk, Different Story Podcast, Darryl Craig — founder of the Fynix Project, writer, comedian, and mental health advocate — shares his lived-experience journey of trauma, survival, and healing.
Darryl speaks openly about growing up in a childhood marked by domestic abuse, loss, and profound adversity, and how those experiences shaped his mental health and identity. At one of the lowest points in his life, Darryl describes how the intervention of a stranger helped change the course of his story, becoming a turning point that led him toward recovery, self-reflection, and purpose.
Through writing, poetry, and creative expression, Darryl began to process trauma and rebuild his life. Today, he uses that lived experience to support others through the Fynix Project, which delivers trauma-informed mental health workshops and lived-experience-led support across the North West of England and online across the UK.
This conversation highlights the power of sharing personal stories to inspire hope, reduce stigma around mental health, and help others see that healing is possible. Darryl’s message reflects the belief that even after life’s darkest moments, recovery and rebuilding are possible — and broken things can be rebuilt.
Why These Appearances Matter
As founder, Darryl Craig centers lived experience in every Fynix workshop and public conversation. These episodes promote our values and inspire the resilience we build together.
Why How To Get Involved
- Book a Fynix workshop (in-person North West or online UK-wide) for your business, charity, school, or community.
- listen and share the podcasts to help reduce stigma.
- Follow Fynix Project on all our social medias