BJ Guenther chose her career in psychology because she excelled at it in school and found it fascinating. It wasn’t until later she learned the difference she could make in people’s lives. In graduate school, she realized she had the skills to connect with people and help them.

Joining The University of Alabama’s Counseling Center in 2002, Guenther now spends her days helping students with stress and other mental health problems and her nights planning her radio show, “Brain Matters.”

“Brain Matters” is broadcast on 90.7 The Capstone and deals with matters on mental health, stress and similar topics. Hosted by Guenther, the show first started in January 2013 and ran for 15 weeks. Guenther discussed various mental health topics, including suicide, sleeping problems and depression before the show took a hiatus in April.

The radio program is now back, broadcasting regularly on its Tuesday 6 p.m. time slot.

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“I think a lot of people don’t talk to people about what they’re feeling or what they’re thinking,” Guenther said. “I hope some of the topics we choose to talk about will give people ideas to get themselves help or talk about what is going on in their lives. I remember back in the spring, I thought we had a riveting show about suicide. I’m hoping people heard that show and were able to reach out.”

Guenther said her goal for “Brain Matters” was to get people to talk about their feelings and even get help from the counseling center if they need it. Guenther said she hopes that hearing her voice would make people feel more comfortable opening up to counselors.

“A lot of people are still embarrassed about trying to seek counseling, and I’m trying to break that wall down,” Guenther said.

Natalie Beck, one of Guenther’s producers on the show, said “Brain Matters” is one of few mental health radio shows. In the beginning, Guenther talked with other mental health radio hosts and gathered ideas before she launched her own program.

“We’re trying to have casual conversations about these issues that are somewhat taboo. Mental health is not spoken about a lot, and it’s not spoken about in a very positive light when it is spoken about,” Beck said. “We’re trying to normalize it, humanize it. It’s important to have a conversation about those issues in a dialogue.”

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While “Brain Matters” currently lacks an option for listeners to call in to ask questions, Guenther intends to transition the show to a call-in format sometime during the semester. For now, she said she is content with the guests in her upcoming shows, including the director of Hand in Paw for a segment about pet therapy.

Guenther and her team come up with topics for shows at the beginning of the semester, and Guenther ultimately decides on the topics for the show before she searches for guests based on those topics.

“I know someone who can make a connection for me, but it takes willingness to ask that person, ‘Will you help me get in contact with this person?’” Guenther said.

Beck and her sister function as co-producers on the show. While Guenther is the voice on the air, they perform many of the background tasks for the show.

“BJ is the one that’s the voice. She’s the personality, and she’s on air. My sister and I are on the sound board. We coordinate the songs, commercial breaks and all that good stuff you never see people doing,” Beck said.

One of the main things Guenther said she hopes to accomplish with “Brain Matters” is breaking down the stigma and stereotypes people have associated with mental illness. She said she hates the term crazy and the belief that only crazy people visit counseling centers.

“That is such a myth, and the only thing I can say to counteract that is there are about 19 therapists here. We see five or six students a day, so you multiply five or six by 19 times five. That’s a week, and that’s how many students we’re seeing,” Guenther said.

“Brain Matters” has helped Beck to stay updated in the mental health field. Beck said creating questions to ask guests on the show has helped her gain more relevant knowledge on a variety of issues.

For Guenther, getting people to take mental health seriously and talk about it openly have been some of her main goals for “Brain Matters.”

“I’m confident that if I could get someone to buy into the counseling setting, it would be successful,” Guenther said.

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