Farm Life Psych with Steph Schmidt

Send us Fan Mail Do you ever feel pulled in so many directions that you’re not quite sure how you want to show up anymore? In this episode, I talk about something I come back to often in workshops and conversations with farmers: values. We hear a lot about identifying our values, but living them can be much harder when life feels busy, uncertain, and full of competing demands. I share why values m...

Send us Fan Mail Ever find yourself wondering if the version of you showing up this week is completely different to the one from two weeks ago? In this episode of Farm Life Psych, I’m talking honestly about hormones, menstrual cycles, and the very real impact they can have on our mood, energy, capacity, relationships, and mental wellbeing. I share a little of my own experience navigating those hea...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wanted to support someone you care about, but found yourself not knowing what to say, what to do, or how to stay in the conversation when things got heavy? In this episode, I’m talking about something that comes up constantly in rural communities and relationships. How do we keep showing up for each other during hard seasons when everyone is already carrying so much?...

Send us Fan Mail Ever had one of those weeks where everything seems to go wrong, and you’re still expected to keep showing up anyway? This week I’m sharing a very real, very unpolished reflection on stress, overwhelm, and the pressure so many of us are carrying right now on the land. After recording this episode three times thanks to technology dramas, I decided to stop aiming for perfect and simp...

Send us Fan Mail Why do we know exactly what needs to change and still feel completely stuck? If you’ve ever had that thought of “if nothing changes, nothing changes” sitting in the back of your mind, but still can’t quite take the step forward, this episode will meet you right there. I talk through why change isn’t just about willpower. It’s about capacity. And when you’re already stretched thin...

Send us Fan Mail Are you feeling stuck in the heaviness of this season and wondering how you’re meant to keep going without pretending everything’s fine? In this episode, I talk honestly about how hard things feel right now. No glossing over it. No “just stay positive.” Instead, I walk through how we can hold space for both the weight of what’s happening AND the strengths we already have in our fa...

Send us Fan Mail Are you feeling like it’s all just a bit too much right now, and you don’t get to press pause? I’m back behind the mic, and if I’m honest, I almost didn’t record this one. Things have felt heavy. A lot like what so many of us are carrying right now on the land. Between the chaos in the world, rising costs, pressure on the farm, and just the everyday juggle, it can feel like there’...

Send us Fan Mail As the headers start rolling and the to-do lists stretch longer than the days, it’s easy to feel stretched thin. In this final episode of From Stress to Strength: Navigating Life on the Land — a series proudly supported by Ski for Life — Steph Schmidt wraps up the 10-part journey with her Top 10 Tips for navigating harvest, end-of-year pressure, and everything in between. From not...

Send us Fan Mail When life feels like it’s out of your control — when the rain won’t come, prices drop, or your energy’s running low — it’s easy to feel stuck. In this episode, Steph explores how to make meaningful choices even when the situation itself can’t be changed. Drawing on her background as a psychologist and her lived experience on the farm, Steph introduces the Noticing Map , a practica...

Send us Fan Mail Ever found yourself lying in bed at 3 a.m., replaying the to-do list, worrying about the weather, or planning tomorrow’s jobs? You’re not alone. In this episode of From Stress to Strength: Navigating Life on the Land , Steph dives into one of the first things we sacrifice when life on the farm gets hectic — sleep . It’s not a luxury or something “soft and fluffy.” It’s fuel. The t...

Send us Fan Mail Parenting is hard at the best of times — add farm stress, exhaustion, or the chaos of harvest, and it can feel near impossible to be the parent you want to be. In this episode of From Stress to Strength: Navigating Life on the Land , Steph shares honest reflections from her own family life alongside practical strategies for staying connected with your kids when everything feels ov...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of From Stress to Strength: Navigating Life on the Land , part of my Farm Life Psych podcast, I’m taking you into the shearing shed — not just for the wool, but for the wisdom. Currently we are navigating the chaos of shearing, a time I love and find exhausting - all at the same time. (Remember, it's all about the AND).  Shearing season is a masterclass in tea...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of From Stress to Strength , Steph explores the idea of capacity —and why shifting the conversation from “mental health” to “how much I’ve got to give” might just change everything. We often talk about stress as something wrong with us, but what if it’s just what happens when the demands placed on us exceed our capacity (or our perceived capacity) to cope? In this...

Send us Fan Mail When the stress is high, our relationships often take the biggest hit — especially on the farm, where family and business are deeply intertwined. In this episode, join Steph Schmidt as she explores how stress impacts our relationships and shares practical strategies to reconnect and repair, even in tough seasons. Whether it's with your partner, parents, kids, or co-workers, t...

Send us Fan Mail Our minds are meaning-making machines — but sometimes, they trap us in loops of self-criticism, worst-case scenarios, and unhelpful comparisons. In this episode, Steph unpacks the most common thinking traps we all fall into, especially when stress levels are high and life on the land feels overwhelming. You’ll learn: Why thinking traps are normal (and not a sign that something&apo...

Send us Fan Mail When the pressure builds and it feels like everything is too much, what can you actually do to get through that moment? In this episode of From Stress to Strength , join Steph Schmidt - psychologist and farmer - as she shares practical, body-based strategies to help you ride the emotional waves of tough seasons—without getting smashed underneath them. Whether you're standing...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to From Stress to Strength , a special podcast series by Farm Life Psych with Steph Schmidt , proudly supported by Ski for Life . Join Steph Schmidt, a psychologist, farmer and mum as she explores strategies to help navigate the challenges (and the joys) of farming life. In this first episode, Steph sets the scene for the season ahead—sharing why this podcast series was cr...

Send us Fan Mail In this bite-sized Cultivate episode, join me, Steph Schmidt, a psychologist, farmer, and mum of 3. I explore the power of movement—not as punishment or pressure, but as permission to shift stress and reconnect with your body.  Whether you're shearing sheep, feeding out hay, or stuck in a tractor cab for 14 hours, this episode helps you rethink movement in a way that works fo...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Cultivate mini-series — bite-sized episodes from Farm Life Psych with Steph Schmidt that plant small seeds of change to support your mental health and wellbeing through the ups and downs of life on the land. In this first episode, we’re talking about sleep — or the lack of it. Whether you’re out in the paddock working long hours or at home juggling everything else,...

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode of Farm Life Psych with Steph Schmidt , Steph returns after a break to share a powerful yet simple idea she’s leaning into right now— finding the AND . Join farmer and psychologist (and mum of 3 amazing boys), Steph Schmidt, as she shares practical, paddock-tested strategies to navigate life on the land. Life on the land is full of challenges—especially with t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we dive into the Circle of Control , a simple yet powerful framework for managing stress and uncertainty—especially relevant in tough seasons like drought and floods. When so much in farming is outside of our control, how do we shift our energy toward what we can influence? I explore: How to use the Circle of Control to navigate uncertainty. Managing difficult dec...

Send us Fan Mail It’s been a long, hot minute since I last recorded Farm Life Psych, but we’re here now. In this episode, I’m checking in—not just with myself, but with you too. If you’ve been feeling the weight of dry conditions, long harvests, or just the constant juggle of farm, family, and life, this episode is for you. I’ll share some of the struggles and lessons from the past few months, as...

Send us Fan Mail Join Steph Schmidt: Farmer, Psychologist, Farm wief and Mum based in South Australia. In this episode, Steph navigates through the ups and downs of farm life while offering valuable advice on mental well-being. She shares a "Find Your Feet" grounding techniques and tackle an "Ask Steph" question regarding managing the stress of working with farmers during a dro...

Send us Fan Mail Following on from the mini-sode of Episode 11 - this week we explore the things that get us stuck. Exploring Catalysts and Kryptonites in Farm Life Psych In this episode of Farm Life Psych, host Steph Schmidt, a farmer, psychologist, farm wife, and mum, explores the idea of "kryptonites" - those little things that get us stuck. She shares her own experiences of feeling s...

Send us Fan Mail Finding Your Catalyst: Enhancing Well-being Amidst the Farm Life JuggleIn this episode of Farm Life Psych, host Steph Schmidt, a farmer, psychologist, farm wife, and mother, introduces the concept of 'mini sodes' in the spirit of Bluey. She explores strategies to help navigate the challenges of farm life and tough times, focusing on identifying personal catalysts for imp...