Emerging Minds Podcast

In this episode, Dr Lyndal Harborne shares her personal and professional insights into holistic pregnancy care and how it benefits both parent and infant mental health. She discusses the importance of taking the time to understand parents’ psychosocial context, and how providing choices can help parents to navigate through pregnancy and beyond. She also explores how having a team of supportive pro...

David Tully is a therapist, supervisor and manager at Relationships Australia, South Australia. In the second episode of this two-part series, David offers ways to help children who have experienced trauma discover new identities built on their stories of protest, resistance and resilience. He also shares some insights from his work with men who perpetrate violence and children who’ve been impacte...

David Tully works with children and families who have been affected by sexual abuse and physical trauma. In the first episode of this two-part series, David shares how trauma-informed processes can help children to overcome the effects of self-blame and secrecy. He also discusses how helping children to understand the contexts of power in which the trauma occurred, is critical in supporting their...

In this episode, we talk with Kathryn Lenton of the Australian Childhood Foundation about working therapeutically with children and families who are living with the impacts of complex developmental trauma.

In this episode, you’ll meet two new members of the Emerging Minds Partnerships and Implementation team: Lou Turner and Nancy Jeffrey. Lou and Nancy will be working with organisations to support the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants, children and families, and promote the needs of First Nations communities. They discuss what is important to them when i...

When talking with children in a therapeutic setting, how do you lessen their likelihood of feeling shame or blame for the problems they’re dealing with? Naming and framing the problem in their own terms can not only lessen children’s sense of shame and blame; it can also create space for their creativity, imagination and agency in responding to the issues they’re facing. In this episode (the third...

In this podcast, you’ll hear from Juli Coffin about the Yawardani Jan-ga (‘horses helping’) program in Broome. Juli discusses how the program connects the healing power of horses with innovative experiential learning. She shares how equine therapy can help to heal trauma, enhance social and emotional wellbeing, nurture leadership, and promote positive relationships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait...

Bec Edser is a Child and Family Partnerships Coordinator at Emerging Minds. She is also the mother of a six-year-old son with neurodiversity. Bec has worked closely with practitioners over the years to develop a team around her child. In this episode, she shares the benefits of establishing a team around the child, along with practical examples of child-centred engagement.

Research shows children like adults to be interested in what they’re into, what they need, and how they respond when things are happening around them (Moore, 2017; Griffiths-Cook & Fenn, 2018). Talking with children about what they enjoy and what they’re good at can create a context for understanding the child’s perspective on the problems they’re facing. Conversations exploring children’s str...

Taking care to describe things in ways that make sense to the child and inviting them to share their understanding of why you’re meeting with them can make a big difference. These practices can enable children to contribute to the conversation and participate fully in your work together. They can also potentially ‘open the door’ to a conversation with the child about the problem they’re facing. In...

In a previous episode , psychologist Penny Sih shared her thoughts about child mental health assessment and engagement and ways to support a child to live their ‘best life’. In this episode, social worker Ali Knight and child and family partners Jess and Emi continue this conversation. They explore child mental health assessment and engagement practices that help families feel more confident and e...

In this episode, we explore the roles of different types of professionals who work with children and families in the child mental health support space.

In the second of this two-part podcast series (listen to part one here ), you’ll continue to hear from Kimberley, Brad and Bec, parents of children who have experienced different chronic childhood physical illnesses. You'll hear how practitioners have been able to support not just the children’s physical conditions, but also the social and emotional wellbeing of these children and their families w...

In the first of this two-part podcast series, Emerging Minds Child and Family Partners Kimberley, Brad and Bec share how they manage their children’s social and emotional wellbeing while dealing with the challenges of chronic physical illness. They describe some of the ways that practitioners have been able to support their children’s mental health throughout the treatment process, and how these s...

In this episode, Emerging Minds Practice Development Manager, Dan Moss joins Senior Cultural Development Officer, Rosie Schellen and Senior Practice Development Officer, Chris Dolman to reflect on what has made the infant and child mental health podcast series so effective over the past four years and 100 episodes. Rosie reflects on Emerging Minds’ collaborative work with Aboriginal and Torres Str...

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Sonia Terhaag about the Building a New Life in Australia study and what it can tell us about the social and emotional wellbeing of children from refugee backgrounds.

What does the evolving nature of sexual and gender identities mean for working with families? Tune into this episode with Dr Priscilla Dunk-West to explore this question and learn about shifts you can make in your practice and organisation to become more inclusive of rainbow families. Priscilla is a sociologist and social worker and has worked in academia in both Australia and England. She practic...

In this episode, Dr Kathryn Hopps, a researcher and educator, reflects on ways in which families can support children through school transitions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kathryn also draws on her expertise in primary and high-school transitions to provide practical advice for parents and carers.

Dr Andrew Leech is a GP based in Perth with an interest in child physical and mental health. Andrew has an advisory role within the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and Emerging Minds. He works as an educator for medical students and GP registrars and is the host and creator of the Kids Health Network podcast. In this episode, Andrew joins us for a conversation about child...

Dr Angie Willcocks is a psychologist with a rich history of supporting mothers throughout the fertility, pregnancy and postnatal periods. Angie has developed a practice approach that focuses on a holistic understanding of all of the domains of a woman’s life – not only those that are connected to her baby. In this episode, Angie describes her assessment and formulation strategies, which support mo...

In this second episode in our two-part series, clinical psychologist Penny Sih expands upon her description of the ‘best life’ approach: a way of engaging positively with children by discussing the relationships, routines and activities that sustain and energise them.

Penny Sih is a clinical psychologist who has spent 17 years working with children, teens and their families. During that time, Penny has developed engagement processes with children that focus on an understanding of their ‘best life’. In this episode, Penny shares how the ‘best life’ approach can help practitioners to better understand the ‘whole child’ and the problems that affect them; and enabl...

Dr Gill Murphy is a lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the Western Sydney University. She has worked as a mental health nurse for twenty years, with experience in forensic, in-patient, community and emergency mental health services.  Her engagement with mental health research led her to found the Childhood Parental Death Ambassador Program. As founder of the Childhood Parental Deat...

Children and young people have historically been seen as passive and incapable of participating in the decisions that affect their lives. But as society has become more aware of child’s rights and the importance of inclusive citizenship, opportunities have arisen for children to become involved and considered in decision-making processes.  Dr Ben Lohmeyer is a writer, researcher and lecturer in so...

In this episode of the Emerging Minds podcast, Bill Wilson and Chris Dolman discuss how working within a narrative therapy framework can support connections and resilience for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.