Mental health has always been a topic close to the hearts of Jules and Guy Sebastian.
Both Jules and Guy have been dealt devastating blows over the years as people close to them sadly lost their battles against depression.
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In 2008, Jules’ brother Andrew died aged just 35, with the newlywed couple receiving the heartbreaking news four days after their wedding while honeymooning in Rome.
Tragedy struck again a decade later in 2018 when Guy’s close friend and Papa vs Pretty musician Luke Liang was found dead at 28. The loss hit Guy hard, and inspired the ARIA-winning song Choir, which was written in his memory.

Speaking to Who, Jules shares that since grieving the losses, she and Guy are determined that their kids Archer, eight, and Hudson, six, always feel comfortable enough to open up about difficult experiences.
“We don’t shy away from hard conversations in our family. If our boys want to talk about something, they absolutely can and we try and make it a space for them to be able to do that,” she says.
“We’re setting it up now and saying, ‘Hey, you can talk to us about this’ and just talking things through and letting them feel their emotions and creating a moment for them to be and asking them questions and letting them have their emotions and not trying to stop that.”

Jules says that she and Guy are hoping this will lay down the groundwork that Archer and Hudson won’t ever feel like they have to keep their emotions hidden.
“Hopefully that will carry through into their adult life and will continue to have an open relationship like that,” she adds.
“Who knows? Ask me in 10 years. As far as it is now, it’s pretty good, they love a chat and we love a chat and we’ll never stop them from talking. I think it’s really important.”

It’s a subject that the couple are so passionate about that The Sebastian Foundation, founded by Guy and Jules, has recently teamed up with youth mental health program Open Parachute.
The program enlists real teenagers to talk to kids about their personal struggle and aims to help young people deal with the prevalent issue of mental health.
“It teaches them how to deal with things and feelings and emotions,” Jules explains.
“These are not light subjects – it’s depression and anxiety and eating disorders and bullying and some of these things like social media, we didn’t have to deal with as teenagers.”

Jules says the couple’s personal losses was the driving factor behind their decision to partner with the program.
“It’s such a cause that’s close to our hearts and we’ve personally experienced it,” she says.
“We wanted to do something to help. Because we have children, we know that you’ve got to start young. We have to train the brain and teach kids how to deal with things and how to face hard things.”
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