Sunny Psychology

13/08/2025

🐾💛One Paw Forward for Mental Health! 💛🐾

This October, Naia (therapy dog-in training) and I are joining the Black Dog Institute One Foot Forward in October for Mental Health campaign to raise money and awareness for mental health support across Australia.

We’ll be walking 150 km together. I’ll be breaking a sweat, and Naia will be spreading smiles (and wiggling her fluffy bum 😉) along the way. Every step we take helps fund vital research, education, and services for Australians doing it tough.

If you’d like to cheer us on, join the team, or donate, you can check out our page below.

Let’s put one foot (and one paw!) forward for a mentally healthier Australia 🐶👟🇦🇺

Together, we can help create better mental health for all.

04/07/2025

This is for survivors. For parents. And for those who still minimise.

In light of recent news about sexual abuse in childcare centres, I need to say this clearly: THIS IS NOT RARE; HE JUST GOT CAUGHT.

As a psychologist with over 15 years of experience in child sexual abuse and trauma recovery, I see and hear the consequences every single day in my practice, from toddlers who can’t sleep, to adults who still flinch at being touched.

In Australia alone, one report of sexual misconduct in a daycare is made EVERY SINGLE DAY. And that’s only what gets noticed. That’s only what gets reported.
Babies and toddlers have no language for abuse. They are the easiest targets.

These reports rarely make headlines. Daycare centres rebrand. Parents often aren’t even told. This has been happening, quietly and consistently, for decades.

And then we hear things like: "Children are so resilient." No. Not like this.

The overusage of the word 'resilience' allows for a cover up of the consistent systemic failings of adults, caregivers, and institutions (from child care centres, to church camps and hopsitals). Yes, resilience is real, but it’s not a get-out-of-jail-free card for our collective failure. It’s not a shield. It’s not healing.
Often, it’s a mask for hypervigilance, dissociation, or learned compliance.

Let’s stop using the word "resilience" as a bandaid on a gunshot wound.

Children don’t need to be more resilient. They need to be safe 🤍.

For mental health resources, please check out the highlights at the top of this page.

22/02/2025

Please meet and welcome therapy-dog-in-training: Miss Naia🌸!

Naia is a black-tri Australian Shepherd puppy who is still in training. She has some big boots to fill after her big brother stole so many hearts for so many years, but this girl is as confident as it comes and I'm so excited for her to meet clients (hopefully) later this year 🤗.

True to her breed, Naia has lots of energy, she's a cuddler with those she knows and quite intelligent. She has her own Instagram account to share her word journey with you. Have a look over on her account to see how she's up to 50+ words so far 💬!

Stay tuned for updates on her training :).

01/03/2022

FLOODS 🌧☔️

After a disaster, of any kind, we need to reset. The body and mind can be in a type of shock for over 72 hours and in the meantime the world just does not seem real. In those hours, please stay close to loved ones, keep as much of a routine as possible (e.g. walk the dog, make lunchboxes even if the kids don't go to school and go to bed at a regular time) and refrain from substance use (alcohol or otherwise) or making any big decisions (getting a tattoo, moving overseas, those kind of big decisions). When you come out of this shock, reality sets in and steps needs to be taken.

Advice on how to recover from a flood can be found here:
https://psychology.org.au/for-the-public/psychology-topics/disasters/floods/recovering-from-floods

If you are triggered from previous floods, please reach out to a/your therapist. It is very common for past traumas to resurface when such big events happen. in case you need immediate support these organisations may be of help: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/national-help-lines-and-websites.

05/09/2021

...and step-, fur- and yearning dad 💙.

26/07/2021

BIG EMOTIONS 😭😤😖
Generation Mindful is one of those pages you want to favourite, if you are a parent and/or are working with children :). They have lots of resources, divided into age groups and they have a great weekly newsletter. An article they just published yesterday talks about remaining calm when your child isn't.
Their tips are:

1. (PBS) Pause. Breath. Start again.
2. This too shall pass.
3. Misbehaviour is an unmet need.
4. All emotions are sacred.
5. My goal is to connect, not be right or control.
6. I am allowed to set boundaries and my child is allowed to feel their feelings about them.
7. My child’s behaviour is not my report card.
8. My triggers are mine. They are separate from my child.
9. I love myself. I am enough.
There is more to it, of course, so have a read of the full article here: https://genmindful.com/blogs/mindful-moments/9-mantras-i-use-when-low-on-patience-with-my-kids?utm_campaign=July%2025%20Newsletter%20-%20content%20patience%20low%20%28V8FQkL%29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Opened%20in%20the%20last%20180%20days&_kx=BtjSsBV-LfWQXSglKv8wa9GIJObz3m5ECoU1He3OMV-33GXugzrfQKFcTtLzv7Ir.JKd5ug

22/07/2021

Below you can find passages from an interesting article from Australian Clinical and Forensic Psychologist Dr Ahona Guha, who specialised in trauma. She shines a light on the different impacts the response to COVID-19 has had on our human psyche.

Here are a few excerpts:
"The pandemic bared a range of subtler cracks, the weaknesses and papered-over fissures in the collective Western human psyche. There has never been more discussion about, and attention paid to, mental health than during the pandemic, and referrals to psychologists and mental health services have soared."

And:

"When we feel out of control, we turn, as children do, to a greater authority for answers and resolution. We look to gods, our parents, or parental substitutes, like the state premiers. When no clear answers are forthcoming, we turn on the disappointing and thus hated authority with anguish. We blame (everyone else), we resort to bargains (if I wash my hands, I will stay safe), and we think in black and white terms (you are either for these measures, or against public health). "

Find the whole article here: https://www.abc.net.au/religion/covid-and-the-fragility-of-the-western-psyche-ahona-guha/13463388?fbclid=IwAR1SYWQ-h5Poo98ZH08zgwGbXBSq1-BLl71T0egV4VPvmiN8unvzGoKjPTE