Blog
Rest and not Reinventing the Wheel – Even Disney does it
Confession time: I have a LONG history of choosing the more difficult option when the ‘easy’ option would probably get me the same (or better results): Being convinced to write a PhD thesis that was 600 pages instead of the typical 150 (in my defence one of my markers...
Babies seeing ghosts, teen dating & elders with depression: How NOT to position yourself as an expert
Giving your time to provide a quote for media is an easy way to gain some visibility and position yourself as an expert. From my 5 or so years experience I've definitely learned some interesting lessons in how the word of media works. The advice I give all my new...
A lesson in failing from Bower birds and Stephen Fry
I’m not much of a birder, but I do love watching birds of paradise with their glorious feathers and hilarious dance moves. So I watched Dancing with the birds on Netflix, narrated by Stephen Fry. Male black sickle bills can go a lifetime without ever seeing a female,...
Methadone, Chess and Six Feet Under: A tale of Upper Limit Problems
“I don’t belong here and neither do you” the client across from me says with a smirk Don’t you hate it when psychopaths are eerily precise in their observations? In 2012 I left a contract job I was unhappy with & ended up unemployed for 5 months. I don’t talk...
Ever walked into a room full of people and just gone “fark, I don’t belong here?” To be fair, I’d already walked in and paid for a ticket. 6 or more hours ago. I just hadn’t been kicked out yet. I was visiting a tourist attraction that may or not have the same name as...
Pre-sale is open for: More Than a Healthy Baby: finding Strength & Growth After Birth Trauma
Woo hoo! As of today, my first book, More than a Healthy Baby, is available for pre-sale. If you head to Booktopia you can grab a copy for 30% off the RRP (until December 8th). If you didn't already know, birth trauma impacts at least 1 in 3 birthing people. More if...
More Than a Healthy Baby Cover Reveal!
After a nervous wait for a covid-19 delayed package, from my publisher, the kind press, the first proof of my first book has arrived in my hands. More Than a Healthy Baby: finding Strength Growth After Birth Trauma is 362 grams and beautiful. Printed in Australia. The...
Can You Fail at Hypnobirthing?
When I first met one of my gorgeous mum friends, we talked about our babies and our births. When she learned I was a Hypnobirthing Australia practitioner she had a look of wistfulness mixed with a flash of disappointment. She explained that she’d completed...
The Impact of birth trauma on partners
Witnessing a traumatic event, like watching your partner experience a stressful or difficult birth can create a mixture of mind-body reactions. An all too common occurrence for people who witness a traumatic event is this sense of martyr syndrome: “I wasn’t the one...
36 weeks pregnant? Time for a hot oxytocin date!
36 weeks pregnant? Time for a hot oxytocin date! Quite literally, dates (as in the fruit) have an oxytocin effect on the uterus. Some recent research using randomised control trials found that women who eat 6 dates a day from 36 weeks of pregnancy right...
Four Things your Partner can do to support you in Labour
Four Things your Partner can do to support you in Labour Partners often feel like they don’t have a role in the birth space. Male partners in particular may have had limited positive associations with birth. Many dads in the 70s and 80s still were not...
Got Mum Guilt? Here’s What Helps
Got Mum Guilt? Here's What Helps With my daughter going off to her first day at daycare this week, I thought it was timely to talk about mum guilt. For many of us, it starts pretty early in pregnancy. Maybe your guilt first crept in after getting pregnant...
Hypnobirthing as an Alternative to Synthetic Pain Relief for Induced Labour
Hypnobirthing as an Alternative to Synthetic Pain Relief for Induced Labour Inducing labour with synthetic drugs is never ideal. For me, induction wasn’t something that was my first choice, but once I got past 41 weeks, and a diagnosis of gestational...
How to cope with Morning Sickness and Hyperemesis Gravidarum
How to cope with Morning Sickness and Hyperemesis Gravidarum At the peak of my Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG; ‘severe morning sickness’) I’d vomited 10 times that day. I hid the Very Hungry Caterpillar book from my daughter because I couldn’t look at all...
The Least Traumatic Birth Possible
The Least Traumatic Birth Possible I am sitting writing this while my toddler and I have colds. Miss Toddler is also teething, so it’s a bit of a drooly, snotty mess and I’m watching old episodes of Home and Away the Early Years (don’t judge!) on Youtube....
Coping in pregnancy (without wine and coffee)
Coping in pregnancy (without wine and coffee) Today is a two decaf kind of day. Which means I get a moment of tricking my brain into waking up, but then I’m back where I started. It’s been a rough few days. Everyone in my house has green-snot level colds....
How daily practise of character strengths improves your happiness
How daily practise of character strengths improves your happiness Years from now, when you're an octogenarian lying on your deathbed, surrounded by your family and reflecting on your life, what will have contributed to your daily happiness? Many people go...
Children’s understanding of death
Children's understanding of death When families experience death, they often have lots of questions about how to handle the subject and what sort of conversations and activities are appropriate for children. It's always a good idea to use the ‘D’ words -...
The 76 year old feminist book worth reading this Easter
The 76 year old feminist book worth reading this Easter How is this for brilliant Easter holiday reading? A powerful, feminist book for children. A book written 76 years ago by a white man from the deep south of the USA. When I’m stuck on a writing...
Psychologist comment for dolly magazine dating article
Psychologist comment for dolly magazine dating article In the April edition of Dolly magazine I provided some hints for coping with nerves and finding things to talk about on dates.
Reading too much into snooping
Reading too much into snooping LORELAI: Hey, what happened to our books? SOOKIE: What do you mean? LORELAI: All our beautiful, leather-bound books. Jonathon Swift, Edith Wharton, Charles Dickens. A lot of them are gone. SOOKIE: The guests must have swiped...
Parenting Multiples: Should you keep twins in the same class?
Parenting Multiples: Should you keep twins in the same class? March 8-15 is Multiple Birth Awareness Week. A common question for parents of school-aged children is should you keep twins in the same class? Parents of multiples are often unsure of what to do...
Self-injury awareness day: a coping plan for self-injury cravings
Self-injury awareness day: a coping plan for self-injury cravings March 1 is self-injury awareness day. Generally speaking, people’s awareness of self-injury is pretty good but what’s lacking is action. People who engage in self-injury get so overwhelmed...
Selling Anxiety: The Construction of Psychological disorders
Selling Anxiety: The Construction of Psychological disorders Consumer anxiety results in sales. At the ground level, we have cleaning products - what sort of mother are you to expose your child to germs? Your child could die, you know, but if you buy this...
The Ego of the Freelance Writer
The Ego of the Freelance Writer As any freelance writer knows, the pathway to getting published is full of developmental milestones and learning curves about your own ego. Only the other week I was shocked to learn that a picture book can takes 3 years to...