Angelbird Therapy

23/07/2025

Making space for one of my greatest passions...groups! Groups can be even more effective than individual and parent- child therapy, especially for the neurodiverse bunch that I have the pleasure of working with. Why? Because the space is neuro- affirming, non- judgmental and focuses on sensory regulation and social skills in the least threatening way possible. Anxiety hills (or mountains) can be climbed and relief, confidence and self-worth found on the other side! In the next few months there will be girls groups and mums circles happening, so stay tuned!

10/02/2025

I attended the rally to support gender affirming healthcare for our trans kids on Saturday morning in Brisbane. It was a heartwarming gathering with a number of powerful and inspiring speakers. We heard from parents of trans youth with positive experiences of the Brisbane Gender Clinic and support groups including Open Doors Youth Health Service.

08/02/2025

https://transjustice.org.au/ban/

‘Tim Nicholls, Reverse the ban’ All young people deserve the healthcare they need to grow up healthy, happy, and with the freedom to be themselves. That’s why it’s so disgusting that the Queensland Government has just banned hormone therapies for trans youth in Queensland. Gender affirming c...

06/02/2025

04/02/2025

30/01/2025

🏳️‍⚧️ standing with my transgender clients and community 🏳️‍⚧️ this blanket decision puts vulnerable young people’s mental health further at risk!

Open Doors Youth Service (ODYS) are deeply concerned by the Queensland Government’s decision to halt the provision of gender affirming medical care for young people. This decision denies young people timely access to critical, evidence-based health care, which is proven to improve mental health outcomes and reduce suicidality.

Research shows that trans and gender diverse young people are 15 times more likely to attempt su***de than their cis-gendered counterparts. There are 491 young people on the waitlist for the Queensland Children’s Gender Clinic who will not be able to access care. That’s 491 young lives we could lose in the next 12 months.

Today ODYS has written to the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services, the Hon. Tim Nicholls MP inviting him to visit ODYS to meet with the trans community. We have also requested an urgent meeting with the Minister to better understand the Queensland Government’s Independent Review into Puberty Blockers and to seek for ODYS to be an active participant.

We call for the review to be grounded in evidence and compassion, as the outcome will have a lasting impact on so many of our young people and their families. That is why we are urging the Queensland Government to consult with organisations like ours as part of the review, to ensure the voices of trans and gender diverse young people are represented and heard. It is their needs that must be prioritised in shaping best-practice care models.

28/10/2024

OT week final post - celebrating success for a teen client 🎉 🙌🏽

I’ve been seeing a 15 year old young woman for about a year, who has (had a late) diagnosis of ASD, ADHD and anxiety. She also has a history of self harm, including trichotillomania (hair pulling). This young person presented as calm and compliant in primary school, but internally she was fighting a sensory overwhelm battle. Her mother noticed she would come home with nail marks in her legs and knew that her daughter was in distress. After a period of decline she ended up engaging in school of distance education, and has returned to mainstream school this year.

The young person has dissociation (extreme nervous system distress) during science lessons, and required frequent breaks from sensory overwhelm and social interactions at school. A few months ago she experienced a depressive episode and dissociation that resulted in the pulling out of all her eyelashes.

It was not easy to see this beautiful young woman so sad and distressed. She found it really difficult to engage in cognitive strategies and any breathing or relaxation techniques.

Instead we went back to her passion: Japan 🇯🇵
Our sessions focused on how we could incorporate more Japanese into her week; by teaching younger students, engaging with anime and giving the encouragement that she could still keep a trip to Japan in sight.

I wrote to the school and asked for her inclusion into the younger classes, and within a few weeks her mood had lifted. She presented brighter again, and hopeful.

She has now turned to her other passion: basketball 🏀 and is playing several times a week. She even went on a basketball camp recently and has dreams of playing basketball in Japan!

I love this example of how meaningful occupation can be the right fit at the right time. Sometimes the ‘shoulds’- like school, breath work, meditation, CBT or psychotherapy are NOT helpful! For this young person meaningful occupation provided an opportunity to dream again 💫

(I will add - she spontaneously tried ‘breathing’ when lying down with her assistance dog, and they breathed together. Also an example of her developmental age and stage, and teens needing to make their own choices, rather than be told!)

23/10/2024

OT Week Fun Facts! 🧠♟️

We Occupational Therapists obviously love engaging our clients in meaningful activities. Whatever the task is, behind that attentive, present face of the OT 🤓 is a mind busy with observing, comparing, remembering, analysing and adapting!

Adapting a task - or up grading and down grading, as it is also known - is a key part of a therapeutic process that often involves providing scaffolding or assistance within a task to find the ‘just right’ balance to match the individual’s goals. This could include verbal and non verbal communication, physical help, visual support etc.

As the client meets the demand of the task, they can enter the flow state, feeling a sense of achievement, mastery, pleasure, confidence, calm, self esteem and self worth.

Additionally, we are always using the individual interests to assess, weave in goals and possibly transition between harder tasks.

Here’s an example:

Chess is a popular choice with lots of kids. There is much to learn and observe about the game - names of the pieces, (auditory memory) how the pieces move (spatial skills), strategy, coping with loss, sportsmanship, turn taking (social skills), memory and focus (executive function) , emotional response (shame, anxiety, resilience). Chess has been played for around 1500 years, and contains archetypes that represent the monarchy and the masculine and feminine (psychotherapeutic aspect).

Adapting the task might include letting them win, or pushing back harder to see how they cope with loss. It might include suggestions to be more flexible in play, create stronger boundaries, challenge rigid thinking or dominating play, or helping them to be more imaginative. There might be a focus on the feelings that come up when playing chess, or it might involve playing with a parent to see all of the above as well!!

There are so many examples of what happens in any activity. Let me know if you have a question or comment below 👇

📷 www.littlelearnerstoys.com