The Playful Psychologist

In this weeks episode of the Playful Psychologist, I explore a question that has come across a lot recently...how long should kids be in therapy for? In this short episode,  I explore this question and break it down, while offering my opinion on whether kids should be in therapy short or long term.

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I explore the link between autism and anxiety and why children with autism are more likely to also be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Anxiety and autism are obviously separate conditions, but they do interact with each other. Children with autism may be more likely to develop anxiety due to neurological differences int he brain, differences in...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I am joined by Sarah from Secure Foundations to discuss how our own childhood experiences impact our parenting. Sarah is the founder of Secure Foundations, a unique support and education service, helping parents and carers find the magic in parenting by overcoming their parenting challenges. Secure Foundations specialises in infant and toddler sle...

Welcome to a brand new season of The Playful Psychologist Podcast! I'm so excited to be back sharing content and interviewing some amazing women for you guys. In this weeks episode, I will be exploring PDA. PDA, or Pathological Demand Avoidance, is a condition associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is a rare behavioural phenotype of ASD that is characterised by an overwhelming or...

In the final episode of Season 5, I am joined by New Zealand author, Trace Moroney. You may know Trace from her famous 'When I'm Feeling' and 'The Things I Love About' series. Trace is a wealth of knowledge on emotional intelligence and resilience, and creates beautifully written books to help children develop these skills. I'm sure most of you have at least one of Tr...

In this week's episode of The Playful Psychologist, I am joined by Natasha Janif and Karina Crutch to explore the serious mental health concerns facing indigenous youth today. Both Natasha and Karina have a wealth of both personal and professional experience on this topic and have generously offered their time and expertise to explore this complex topic with us.   Natasha is an Aboriginal &am...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I am joined by Jamie Williams, who is a  paediatric speech pathologist who focuses not only language and speech, but feeding. In this episode, we explore: What defines a 'fussy' eater and is there a better term to use to describe these children? Is there a difference between a child who is a fussy eater and a child who doesn’t eat certai...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I explore the topic of love languages in children.  There are so many ways to speak your childs love language. It is truly a fascinating thing. Because what works for one child may not work for another so it is always worthwhile trying to determine their love language. Learning the love language of your child can have a big impact on your relation...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jayneen Sanders, who is the author of SO many of the gorgeous books on my IG feed including her brand new series for kids aged 2-6,  Little Big Chats. It was truly fascinating to hear about the inspiration behind Jayneen's books and I hope her story inspires you guys, In this interview, Jayneen answers the f...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I share my top five pieces of advice for new psychologists. Graduating can truly feel like you're being thrown in the 'deep end' and I wanted to share advice that I wish someone had told me when i first graduated! If you would like more information, you can grab a copy of my Student and Graduate Guide here: https://www.theplayfulpsy...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist Podcast I am joined today by Yara Heary from Life After Birth Psychology to explore the topic of value aligned living.  This episode explores: What is value aligned living? What happens if we aren't living in alignment with our values? What if our values are different to our partners? Do our values change once we have children? To learn more a...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I explore the role of a child psychologist, what this entails, and how to choose the right psychologist for your child.  Child psychologists can provide both assessment and therapy for learning difficulties, behavioural concerns, mood disorders, anxiety-related disorders, and developmental disorders. Child psychologists can also provide support an...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I explore the social and emotional milestones that children meet. Please note, I do not advocate for tracking milestones of any kind unless specifically asked to by a health care professional. I do however advocate for parents being well informed to ensure they are able to identify any areas of concern that may arise, to ensure that early interven...

Welcome to a brand new season of The Playful Psychologist podcast! I am so excited to be sharing some new content with you guys and have some great special guests lined up for this season! In this weeks episode, I explore grief and how to explain the death of a loved one to someone who has an intellectual impairment. In this episode, I discuss: How to explain the death of a loved one to your clien...

 In the season finale of The Playful Psychologist, I am joined by Jacquie Ward, from The Brave Space.  Jacquie is a provisional psychologist who works with mothers of children who need a little extra support. In this episode, Jacquie answers questions around ‘sensitive children’ and how parents can best support them. In this episode, Jacquie answers the following questions: What advice do you give...

On this week's episode of The Playful Psychologist, I explore executive functioning skills and how you can help kids develop strong executive functioning skills. This episode is based on a blog post, written for my website,  by Alexandra Finkel from NYC. You can follow @kindmindstherapy for more information on Alexandra and her clinical work. Executive Functioning skills are responsible for h...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I explore anxiety and how it presents across the lifespan, by asking the popular question, can anxiety be cured? This is a question I get asked about a lot. And the short answer for me, is No. Keep in mind that ‘cured’ implies that it will never return, and I don’t believe a person who experiences anxiety in its true form will ever be absolutely f...

  On this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I am joined once again by a friend of mine, who also happens to be one of the BEST speech pathologists I have ever worked with, Sabina Pyne! Sabina has worked as a paediatric speech pathologist since gaining her Masters degree  2015. She uses her drive for working with children to deliver evidence-based, fun and energetic treatment programs. Sab...

In this week's episode of The Playful Psychologist, I explore the differences and similarities between Autism and ADHD. In this episode, the following questions are explored: What is Autism? What is ADHD? How do symptoms overlap? How do they differ? How can you tell the difference between the two? Can you be diagnosed with both Autism and ADHD? To learn more about Autism and ADHD, check out m...

In this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I explore the process of applying for masters programs and preparing for interviews.  I want to start off by saying, this episode is for people WANTING to do a masters degree. I am by no means saying everyone SHOULD apply, but this is a question I get asked often and wanted to answer it for those interested.  This episode will answer the following...

In this week's episode of The Playful Psychologist, I interview my mum, Randa Habelrih, who also happens to be the mother of a young man with autism. This episode aims to show parents of children with disabilities that they are NOT alone in their journeys, but also aims to highlight the impact of poor social opportunities on individuals on the autism spectrum.  In this episode, Randa answers...

On this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I explore ways to make sure psychologists can effectively lay the foundations for successful therapy when treating the signs and symptoms of anxiety. This episode explores: The importance of psychoeducation, especially for children How to deliver effective psychoeducation Why it is important to lay therapeutic foundations prior to trying to implem...

On this weeks episode of The Playful Psychologist, I am joined by a friend of mine, who also happens to be one of the BEST speech pathologists I have ever worked with, Sabina Pyne! Sabina has worked as a paediatric speech pathologist since gaining her Masters degree  2015. She uses her drive for working with children to deliver evidence-based, fun and energetic treatment programs. Sabina understan...

Welcome to Season 4 of The Playful Psychologist Podcast! In this weeks episode, I am joined by Dr Simone Alicia, who is known as The Self-Esteem Doctor. Simone is a Certified Neuro-linguistic Programming Practioner, Member of the Association for Integrative Psychology and Honorary Doctor of Divinity. In psychology, the term self-esteem is used to describe a person's overall subjective sense o...

In the final episode of The Playful Psychologist for this season, I explore the topic of emotional literacy. Emotional literacy is made up of 'the ability to understand your emotions, the ability to listen to others and empathise with their emotions, and the ability to express emotions productively.  The episode explores: Emotional awareness, understanding, expression, regulation, and intelli...