ARTICLES

We often talk about mothers that we hold in awe using descriptions such as “selfless”, “putting their family first”, “self-sacrificing” “price of motherhood” and all those nice warm and fuzzy words. I am sure you have heard of those mums who seem to ‘do it all’. We look on in awe at women who bring…

In the past decade there has been a huge increase in public awareness of autism. While this growth in general knowledge about autism is long overdue, it has coincided with the spread of much misinformation about this developmental disorder, as well, leading to further stigma and confusion. Below, I answer common questions about autism. What…

Anxiety: we all have it. In small doses, anxiety protects us and keeps us safe, whether by making sure we meet a deadline at work or look both ways before stepping into traffic. However, when anxiety starts to negatively impact our day-to-day lives and prevents us from doing things that we need or want to…

You’re laying in bed awake at night, but try as you might, you just can’t switch off. So you start doing the maths: “If I fall asleep now, I’ll still get six hours…” At some point, most of us come up against sleepless nights, and for some this can spiral into high levels of frustration…

Jacqui Marquis-Conder, Psychologist at Sunshine Coast Perinatal Centre, and Mother of 2 exuberant young children I remember when my son was born I was so excited to show him all the beautiful, handmade and wooden toys I had accumulated for him.  But when we got home, and I showed him around his beautiful nursery and…

One of the most challenging aspects of parenting is managing conflict between siblings. Although frustrating, some discord between siblings is normal and is, in fact, one of the ways in which children learn to negotiate conflict and to tolerate frustration. So why do siblings argue? Your children’s individual temperaments, stages of development, a child’s illness…

For many of us, the reason we embark on the journey of motherhood is because we have a positive vision of what it will entail. We picture in our mind’s eye rocking our baby to sleep, gazing lovingly into his eyes, picnics at the park, baby giggles. If we didn’t have such joyous images in…

Wouldn’t it be lovely if all you needed was a hot cuppa tea, and all would be good in the world?  Mums who are suffering from depression and/or anxiety after the birth of their baby are often told to ‘cheer up and get over it’, and that all new mums ‘feel like this’. We know…

Ah, reward charts: also known as sticker charts, star charts or behaviour charts. When I suggest using a reward chart, parents typically tell me that they have done this before and that, perhaps, it lasted for a little while and then stopped working, or that it never worked in the first place. As with many…

Smartphones are a fact of life, and they have certainly made many things easier. I mean, when is the last time you had to ring a business to enquire about trading hours or to ask for directions? Unfortunately, this convenience has come with a price for many of us – compulsively checking our phones. We…