Connections
EXONIAN PROFILE
D R . A N N E H A L LWA R D ’ 8 3
Private Healing Through Public Radio
COURTESY OF ANNE HALLWARD
I
t would seem counterintuitive that people would find the very public medium of radio a place where they were comfortable sharing their most private and painful thoughts and stories, but that is precisely what Dr.Anne Hallward ’83 has discovered. Hallward is the host of a half-hour talk show on Safe Space Radio and every Wednesday starting at 7:30 p.m., she conducts discussions about topics that many would speak of only in whispers. Even a partial list of the subjects covered on the program, which airs on radio station WMPG-FM in Portland, ME, and is available via podcast, reveals some of life’s most thorny and potentially shameful subjects: addiction, eating disorders, failure, life-threatening illnesses and grief. She calls her program “A Live Forum for Courageous Conversations,” and Hallward says it can have great therapeutic value for those who listen and for her guests. “As a therapist, I observed that shame is a great obstacle to getting help and it can block many earnest attempts at healing,” she adds. The Harvard-educated psychiatrist began this project three years ago with no training in radio broadcasting or journalism but with this idea: “Radio doesn’t involve being seen. It is a nonsensationalist, respectful forum where people can learn that others share their feelings and it can help reduce the humiliation of isolation. It is also a way to help listeners find the resources that they may need.” This approach has had some powerful results. Last spring Hallward hosted a series on transgender issues. She recalls, “One of my guests taught me that in order for a person to undergo sexual reassignment surgery, they need two letters from mental health professionals, one at the doctoral level. He said there were no psychiatrists in all of Maine qualified to do this assessment. He asked me if I were willing to become qualified and offered to set up a panel to instruct me.” Hallward put out an invitation to psychiatrists in Maine to listen to the radio series and to join her in being trained. Last May, 12 psychiatrists attended an educational session and learned more about transgender issues and mental health. “I was so delighted that in this small way, a marginalized group of people who have been unable to access help will now be able to get the resources they need,” she says. The show has provided Hallward with some surprises. “I get quite a bit of intimate and emotional email from long-distance truckers who listen to the radio on their extended drives. They will say things like, ‘Your guest really made me understand what my son is going through.’ ” She was also surprised by the subject that received the most response from her listeners. “A series on bad mother anxiety engen-
dered an enormous outpouring from mothers who feel a huge responsibility for their child’s emotional well-being,” she says. Hallward says her ideal guest is “a person who has wrestled with an issue and is courageous and generous enough to share their hard-won wisdom and thoughts with others.” She remembers that at Exeter she was first asked to share her own thoughts while writing a journal in English Instructor Christine Robinson’s class. “Ms. Robinson encouraged us to combine the personal and the academic, as well as the emotional and the intellectual. That had a tremendous influence on me and has influenced the way I interview my guests on Safe Space, as well as the patients in my private practice.” Hallward hopes to expand her reach to a larger National Public Radio audience. “I want to have a broader impact. Radio is my form of public service psychiatry,” she says. You can listen to podcasts of her show at www.safespaceradio.com. —Julie Quinn
FALL 2011
The Exeter Bulletin
37