supporting families – Dr M’s thoughts

Parents Matter Too

Psychological support for parents navigating neurodiversity Parents Matter Too — a weekly therapeutic reflection supporting parents of neurodiverse children. Week 3: Living in Constant Advocacy Mode — The Psychological Cost of Always Being the Strong One When Parenting Becomes Negotiation For many parents, there is a quiet turning point after diagnosis. Parenting begins to feelContinue reading “Parents Matter Too”

Parents Matter Too

Psychological support for parents navigating neurodiversity Parents Matter Too — a weekly therapeutic reflection supporting parents of neurodiverse children. Week 2: Diagnosis Shock — When Relief and Grief Collide The Moment Everything Shifts Parents often describe the moment of diagnosis as surreal. They may have been waiting months — sometimes years — for clarity. ThereContinue reading “Parents Matter Too”

Parents Matter Too

Psychological support for parents navigating neurodiversity Parents Matter Too — a weekly therapeutic reflection supporting parents of neurodiverse children. Week 1: When Parents Are Expected to Cope There is a moment many parents describe, often quietly, sometimes with tears, sometimes with a deep sigh. It is the moment when their child’s neurodiversity comes into focusContinue reading “Parents Matter Too”

Trauma-Informed Awareness in the Workplace: Language, Policy, and the Culture of Care

Introduction Workplaces, like people, hold stories. Within every organisation are individuals who carry experiences of stress, loss, and sometimes trauma — experiences that may be invisible but deeply shape how they perceive safety, trust, and belonging. Trauma-informed awareness in the workplace invites us to look beneath behaviour and performance, to recognise that what appears asContinue reading “Trauma-Informed Awareness in the Workplace: Language, Policy, and the Culture of Care”

Creating Safe Spaces: Environment, Policy, and Practitioner Wellbeing in Trauma-Informed Practice

Creating safe spaces is at the heart of trauma-informed practice. This reflection explores how safety is built through the quiet art of noticing without judgement — in our environments, our policies, and our relationships. It reminds us that safety begins in the small moments, shaped by the calm, compassionate presence of practitioners who hold spaceContinue reading “Creating Safe Spaces: Environment, Policy, and Practitioner Wellbeing in Trauma-Informed Practice”

Title: Play as Healing: Harnessing the Prepared Environment to Support Young Children Who Have Experienced Trauma

Introduction In recent years, the field of early childhood education has recognised more fully the prevalence and profound impact of trauma on young children’s development. Children exposed to adverse experiences—such as abuse, neglect, loss, impacts from covid, war or displacement—are at risk of disruptions in regulation, attachment, executive functioning and learning (Maynard 2019). Within thisContinue reading “Title: Play as Healing: Harnessing the Prepared Environment to Support Young Children Who Have Experienced Trauma”

“Energy Vampires”: Who’s Draining You and Why It Matters for Your Mental Health

Often we don’t realise how much emotional weight we are carrying until we finally speak it out loud. Clients often come in describing exhaustion, burnout, irritability — but without a clear reason why. Their work might be manageable. Their sleep, sufficient. Yet they feel chronically depleted. As part of a session we trace this feelingContinue reading ““Energy Vampires”: Who’s Draining You and Why It Matters for Your Mental Health”