Blog
I quit social media. As a Psychologist, an Author and a Mum, Here’s What I learned
So I'm done with social media. Whether it's for now or forever, I don't know, but here's what I've learned:A quick recap – I decided to ‘detox’ from social media for 8 weeks. Starting on International Women’s Day, through to Mother’s Day. My aim was to test the...
8 things I did with my 8 weeks off social media
This week I read that people spend an average of 2 hours and 20 minutes on social media per day. These are pre-covid stats, so it’s probably more than that.While I wasn’t actually spending 2 hours a day for my business on social media platforms, I was definitely...
Week 7 of social media detox: Parental Burnout Vs Postnatal Depression
Your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to relax – David AllenFirstly, a wee update on how my detox is going. I’ll write a longer piece as the 8 weeks comes to a close, but at this stage I feel like the writing is on the wall – I’m not...
Week 6 of social media detox: rats, cats, Heart Break High and ageing
You know that question people ask in interviews – where do you see yourself in 5 years (or, gulp, 10 years?). I realized I’ve never asked that of myself when it comes to social media. And yet, for years I would say social media was part of my job, quite a big part of...
Want to write a book but putting it off? Here’s 5 steps to get it done
As I hit week 5 of my social media detox, I thought I’d share my 5 tips for getting a book written AND a bit of fabulous snowballing (when you research one thing and find yourself finding 5 other amazing things):Step 1: Accept that you’re overthinking itI’ve just...
Week 4 social media detox: mental health check in & a 40 day writing challenge
Halfway point check in for this experiment. This post is a little longer. Might want to grab a cuppa Firstly, now that I’m 4 weeks in, I wanted to re-assess myself with the DASS – a screening tool that asks you about symptoms of Depression, Anxiety and Stress in the...
Week 3 social media detox – where do I actually make my money from?
This week I decided to spend some time going under the hood of my business and see where my traffic and sales actually come from. Have you taken the time to test what’s working in terms of the hours and money you put in versus what you’re getting back? My business has...
Week 2 social media detox: The perfect storm of Matrescence, mental health & social media addiction
I’m at the two week mark of my social media pause.Surprisingly I really don’t miss social media all that much, but I’ve been a bit ‘twitchy’ this past week.As I delve further into the book I’m reading on Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport I’m noticing a few rookie...
Week 1 of my social media detox and I’ve already made more money in my business
I’m one week into my social media pause. Here’s some of my insights about how I’m feeling and the HUGE results I’ve seen in my business and finances so far: Last Friday, something seriously freaky happened. I woke up feeling some acceptance and a tiny bit of trust....
An experiment with my mental health, social media & business
So if you’re on social media you may have seen (or not – damn algorithms!) that I’m currently on a break with social media. It’s coming up to 4 years since I started social media for my business and it’s occurred to me that I’ve never actually reviewed it. Does it...
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....