Signposts for Living with Dr Kirsten Hunter

QUICK CHAT: Protect your child from adult information. This is an issue that we all face when parenting our children. How much information is appropriate for our child? It sounds so simple, but so often our children are exposed to, and left to deal with adult information.  Let's chat about it for a moment...

Losing your baby after birth (CDH), you're not alone. Special Guest: Carmel Chesterfield I had never heard of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH), nor had this kind of in-depth conversation about losing a baby after birth. Carmel generously opened her world and my knowledge to these two painful experiences.  Carmel is one of those people that finds a way through, she is also a communicator....

Quick Chat: Parents who say 'It's easier if I just do it!' Every parent has said these words to themselves 'It's easier if I just do it!' and then preceeded to do the job that their child should really be doing. I certainly have done this countless times and continue to (may I add). BUT... what are we truly doing here? What are we teaching our kids? What habits are we...

The Psychology of Town Planning. Special Guest: Jacob Hart There is a very human part to town planning if you think about it. What do we as individuals and as a community need to live and thrive physically and psychologically? It really is the process of creating our modern habitat if you think about it. I found it fascinating to hear from a professional about all of the behind the scenes action t...

Quick Chat: How to do you stop sibling conflict? This is a highly relatable topic - How many families struggle with their children or teenagers fighting or squabbling? How horrible is it for parents to constantly be refereeing and breaking them up? Living with this conflict can hijack the family's happiness. So how do you turn this around.  Firstly the saying 'That's what siblings d...

Podcast: Listening & Conversation a dying art amongst teenagers. Special Guest Mia Patterson Mia Patterson is one of those educators that creates a meaningful and personal relationship with her students. While she is a Vice Principal at her High School, she remains grounded and able to be messy and accessible with her students. This is definitely part of her charm. Mia returns for another valu...

Podcast: Why Separation Anxiety in Children is over-diagnosed. Co-presenter Kristen Coggan What is Separation Anxiety? It's pretty fascinating that we think we know what this diagnosis is but most of us actually don't. Come and join Kristen and I as we explore this diagnosis and the challenges that families experience. 

Quick Chat: My child is addicted to technology I have heard parents say this sentence so many times in session. My response is that this is not actually a surprise as technology (gaming and social media etc) is designed to be addictive. The question is what to do as parents. 'How do we navigate what is perhaps our biggest challenge in our current parenting era.' Let's explore this t...

Podcast: My story of Chronic Fatigue. Special Guest Courtney O'Leary This was a long time anticipated podcast. I've always wanted to sit down with Courtney and hear her story of Chronic Fatigue. Who knew we would be serenaded by cicadas (sorry about that!) When you listen to this podcast you will truly understand why I value Courtney so much. She has the kindest heart. She is walking int...

QUICK CHAT: Does it benefit my child to have a pet? It is a profound thing to see the benefits of pets for children. There's a whole field of research on companion therapy that backs this up. This is a quick break down of how having a pet can benefit your child. And yes - of course this does depend on you choosing the right pet for your child and your home.  This is a simple but special topic...

Podcast: Who cleans the toilet at your house? Co-Presenter Kristen Coggan. Who does what in your house? Honestly, truly, how are domestic roles shared or not shared? How much does your gender play a role in what you do?  This is such a fascinating question, and one that we often overlook. Yes, we may have gender ideals, but are we practicing what we preach? Jump on board as we explore the truths o...

Cate is one of those passionate people that you energise from. So the world benefited when she decided that career counselling was to be her own career passion. Cate looks to the person, and walks alongside them as they find a career that matches who they are, and what they want.  We spend such an enormous slice of our life at work. How critical it is then to pick the right career path. But yet, w...

QUICK CHAT: Strategies to deal with ADHD at home and in the workplace This is a conversation that I have so often in session that I thought it would be worth chatting about here. Life can be so much more manageable for people with ADHD when they really figure out how their brains work, and how to work with their brains.  If anyone has any extra learnt skills and strategies that they want to share,...

Podcast - The psychology of tattoos. Co-Presenter Kristen Coggan What do tattoos mean to you? - Self expression, artwork, sense of belonging, warding off people, a desire to be unique, or a desire to belong. What about tattoo regret? There's a fair bit of that around. Is it a big deal to commit to a tattoo, for some it's huge, for others it's 'whatever'.  How do we find th...

Podcast: Behind the Covid Medical Frontline - A Time to Reflect. Special Guest Sally H. This podcast blew me away. Sally is one of those quiet achievers. She is unassuming and a salt of the earth kind of person. She was also one of the integral players in Australian Health navigating the Pandemic wave that hit our shores.  Sally balanced the importance of her overwhelming job, with the challenge o...

QUICK CHAT: ADHD in the workplace. Do you know about the honeymoon period? ADHD with my adult clients is all about self awareness and strategies to work with our brain make-up. How we function in the workplace is no exception. I really enjoy this area as it is so meaningful and can be life-changing for people grappling with their ADHD brains.  Let's talk about our honeymoon period when we hav...

Podcast: Can you live for too long? Co-presenter Kirsten Coggan 'Don't wish that for me!' This is what an elderly lady I know says when people say to her 'You could live till you're 100.' This is an interesting issue that strangely comes up in psychology sessions. I enjoyed discusing this question of 'Can you live for too long?' with Kristen in our usual way...

Podcast. Workplace Manslaughter - My Personal Story. Special Guest Lana Cormie Lana and I pushed through some technical hitches (sorry about the music going dodgy and the abrupt ending!) to bring this incredibly important podcast to you.  I had never heard about Workplace Manslaughter or Industrial Manslaughter until very recently. Sadly, I'm sure there was a time that Lana hadn't heard...

QUICK CHAT: Our children and their chores, their sense of ownership is important. I didn't know whether to go with this topic, because it felt like such a small nuance issue. But then I realised that in session, this comes up all the time, and parents have implimented this approach and had great outcome. So I'm eager to share.  What are your thoughts? What do you think of the role of own...

Podcast: The confusion around Separation Anxiety. When your child doesn't want to separate from from you at school drop off (as an example), is this due to it being their preference, a fear or a phobia? We talk about Separation Anxiety, but do we really now what we are talking about? Or are we all confused? I'm afraid that this is an area where Pop Psychology has taken most of us off tra...

Podcast: The Psychology of Painting. Special Guest Catherine Ketton Painting is definitely one of our creative outlets where we can both challenge and lose ourselves.  Beautiful Catherine Ketton is my mentor in the oil painting world, so I thought I would ask her along to hear about her process and her personal experience of oil painting.  I love the complexity of oil painting and the depth of fin...

Podcast. Elite sport for kids; Pros and Cons. My Synchronised Swimming experience. Special Guest Sally Johnstone. Sally is one of those lovely humble people. So when by chance I happened to discover that in her past life she was an elite Synchonised Swimmer I was intrigued and had to ask her along to do a podcast. I am so glad that I did. Because her story opened up to an intriguing can of worms w...

Podcast: How do we work out healthy boundaries at work? Co-presenter Kristen Coggan. There seems to be no rule book with this one. How do we balance the importance of relationship building in the workplace, and the need to support mental health, with a boundary of some sort to keep our workplace professional.  As usual, Kristen and I threw this question at the wall to see how it would fall. We wer...

QUICK CHAT: Am I grieving properly? Does it surprise you that this is a frequently asked question in session. Grief can be daunting and exhausting. We can experience a big dose of the deepest heartache. So I guess it's no surprise that we often look for reassurance about how we are grieving.  I hope this podcast is helpful for those facing grief in some way or another.  Take care. 

Podcast: Have you felt the hurt of Critical Humour? Critical Humour is a sly fox. Have you ever had anyone say something that is truly hurtful, yet they say 'I'm only joking!', or 'can't you take a joke.' How do you navigate this? What is going wrong? Do you have the right to feel hurt even though they are supposedly only joking?  Let's talk about this tricky top...