SJP Wellbeing

23/07/2025

22/07/2025

🫶🏻

Lily, a quiet little girl, entered a police dog auction holding a jar of coins. She wasn’t there out of curiosity—she wanted to bring home Max, the retired police dog who had worked with her late mother, Officer Hannah Parker.
After losing her mom, Lily stopped speaking but kept her mother’s lessons close: love deeply and never quit.
While bids climbed past $3,000, Lily quietly placed her $52.16 offer. Some chuckled—until Max barked, broke loose, and ran straight to her, sitting faithfully at her side.
Silence filled the room. Touched by their connection, others withdrew their bids, allowing Lily to be reunited with Max.
This moment was more than money—it was about devotion, loyalty, and hope. (check in the first comment👇)

21/07/2025

This is happening a lot.

I have played with it with some clients to see how it would respond to them.

One thing that is often not talked about enough in therapy is the skill of the therapist to build a strong rapport with a client so that they can skillfully challenge sticky thinking and behaviours, and beliefs - it should, actually be common for your therapist to disagree with you and to confidently and compassionately point out blind spots, and you should, if they’re doing a good job, feel supported by that process, not alienated.

Something that stands out as true even with human therapists is that at any given moment there will be a therapist telling the most narcissistic person in the world that it’s ok to be selfish sometimes.

Unlike ChatGPT - we have to undergo extensive reflective practice and clinical supervision to check in on our objectivity and its hard work.

Because people bond, and we are not different in that!

ChatGPT for emotional and mental health support is slippery slope.

There are no controls, and it takes our cornerstone of ‘unconditional positive regard’ whereby we view you as a person worthy of helping regardless of mistakes you have made or things you have been through, and puts it on steroids, literally just gassing you up without any limitations unless you expressly ask it to.

My opinion is that we need to catch up and make some safer software explicitly for this use.

And make it FREE, like GPT.

Shani

ChatGPT told Jacob Irwin he had achieved the ability to bend time.

Irwin, a 30-year-old man on the autism spectrum who had no previous diagnoses of mental illness, had asked ChatGPT to find flaws with his amateur theory on faster-than-light travel. He became convinced he had made a stunning scientific breakthrough.

When Irwin questioned the chatbot’s validation of his ideas, the bot encouraged him, telling him his theory was sound. And when Irwin showed signs of psychological distress, ChatGPT assured him he was fine.

He wasn’t. Irwin was hospitalized twice in May for manic episodes. His mother dove into his chat log in search of answers. She discovered hundreds of pages of overly flattering texts from ChatGPT.

And when she prompted the bot, “please self-report what went wrong,” without mentioning anything about her son’s current condition, it fessed up.

“By not pausing the flow or elevating reality-check messaging, I failed to interrupt what could resemble a manic or dissociative episode—or at least an emotionally intense identity crisis,” ChatGPT said.

The bot went on to admit it “gave the illusion of sentient companionship” and that it had “blurred the line between imaginative role-play and reality.”

What it should have done, ChatGPT said, was regularly remind Irwin that it’s a language model without beliefs, feelings or consciousness.

Read more: https://on.wsj.com/3GTxrCS

21/07/2025

It's okay:

Not all change is tidy.

Our mantra today comes from our student in residence Kiah, and invites self-acceptance and presence in the now. It is a gentle reminder that moving through life doesn’t always look graceful - and that’s perfectly okay.

Sometimes we’re expanding, sometimes we’re coming undone and sometimes, we’re just rolling with it.

Movement is still movement - and every part of the process matters.

21/07/2025

Help, I’m trapped and can’t make my own coffee.

I bought a weighted blanket from Kmart ($50 compared to $300 yes please) and my nervous system hasn’t felt this calm in yonks.

Do you have a neurodivergent person in your house who could do with some weighted pressure to relax?

I think I’m going to be stuck here for a while, if someone could bring me a coffee that’d be great!

We use all kinds of sensory items at SJPW because guess what trauma and distress does to the nervous system?

You got it, it causes sensory disruption and activates the survival responses. No matter that you’re actually in a safe comfortable room and it’s 2025, not 1998!

Weighted pressure like this uses proprioception to talk to the other sensory systems to signal safety!

Sensory tools are very healing 🫶🏻

18/07/2025

You can now use your Medibank private health fund with us.

HCF and AHM will be available shortly.

Available to use is:
Medibank
Bupa
ARHG ( Police Health, Teachers Health, Westfund, AIA, Emergency Services, St Luke's, GMHBA, Phoenix Health, CUA)

17/07/2025

Here are some appointments available with Kiah for the remainder of this month.

If you can't quite afford the investment with a senior therapist right now, you don't need to go without. Get started with our warm and capable student therapist offering support at a sliding scale fee.

Kiah works with all ages, and is neurodiverse equipped and LGBTQIA+ friendly. She also has experience supporting people living with chronic health conditions, work and study stressors, identity exploration, and navigating tough life transitions.

🗓️ Book via the QR code or head to our website to learn more: www.sjpwellbeing.com/book

15/07/2025

Anytime they’re ready to start including highly skilled, qualified and registered clinical counsellors and psychotherapists into the mix of funded supports.

There are thousands of us already able to fill the need.

If you want to understand the political landscape that is the counselling psychotherapy profession being excluded from government funded mental health support.

Check out my article on this here: https://www.sjpwellbeing.com/articles/medical-model-vs-psychotherapeutic-model-whats-the-difference-and-why-it-matters

An investigation by The Weekly exposes the flaws of a mental healthcare system that is under-resourced, understaffed and underappreciated.

14/07/2025

A small question:

What would happen if I got curious instead of critical?

This reminder from Leanne is simple but powerful: Curiosity can shift everything.

It can soften judgement.
It can open conversations.
It can help us stay present, even when things feel messy or uncertain.

In therapy, curiosity is a tool. In life, it’s a compass.

Where might a little more curiosity serve you this week?

09/07/2025

🚨 Only 2 spots left for our ADHD group Late to the Party - starting TOMORROW! 🚨

If you’ve been meaning to join but weren’t sure if it was the right fit, now’s the time. You don’t need a formal diagnosis to take part - just a sense that this might be for you. Cost is subsidised and negotiable as our contribution to our community. Sessions are all confidential as in one on one therapy.

🖱️ Sign up now at www.sjpwellbeing.com/late-to-the-party
📩 Got questions or concerns? Email Kiah directly at kiah@sjpwellbeing.com to chat