The Family Room: Counselling & Therapy

19/01/2026

With school just around the corner, you or your child (or both of you!) may be feeling some trepidation about the first few days or weeks back. There are often lots of new things ahead — a new teacher, new classmates, a new schedule, perhaps even a new school, or being new to school altogether.

Change always brings some stress — even when it’s positive change. Here are a few gentle ideas that may suit you and your child and help ease those butterflies a little. Of course, there’s no “one size fits all”. You know your child best, and every child and circumstance is different.

Idea 1: Normalise their anxiety
Let them know that most children will be feeling a little nervous. You might share a story about a time you joined a new group, felt a bit jittery, and used a strategy that helped you get through it successfully.

Idea 2: Help them understand body signals
When we feel nervous, our bodies often let us know — butterflies, wobbly legs, tears. These are cues that it’s time to do something to help calm our bodies. That might be “take 5” breathing, naming 10 things we can see around us, or doing something physically active to use up some of their nervous energy.

Idea 3: Remind them of past bravery
Talk about times in the past when they felt nervous about a safe and healthy activity but did it anyway. We can only be brave if we’re a little nervous first! Photos of them being brave can help reinforce this and support them to see themselves as someone who is brave.

Idea 4: Create a ‘brave goodbye’ routine
You might come up with a fun handshake and a rhyme to inject some playfulness into the goodbye. Practise it together ahead of time.

Idea 5: Use stories to reinforce connection
Read books that show how love travels over distance and time, helping children understand that even when they’re at school and you’re elsewhere, you’re still connected. Beautiful examples include The Invisible String, The Kissing Hand, and Loving Lappy Little Boat. If you don’t have a copy, you can often find readings on YouTube.

Idea 6: Balance validation with confidence
While it’s important to validate their feelings, it’s equally important to show — through your words and body language — that you’re confident in their ability to cope and that they’ll be safe at school with their teacher. Try not to make going to school a big event, but don’t minimise their feelings either. It’s a fine balancing act.

Wishing you and your child all the very best for the first day back.
Deep breaths. You’ve got this. 💛

Yours in kindness,
Rachael Lovett (Psychologist, Teacher, Guidance Counsellor)

14/01/2026

New year, same old you?

Have you set any New Year’s resolutions?

By mid-January, motivation starts to drop off, and around 80% of people quit their resolutions by February.

One option is to conclude that change is impossible, life is unfair, and to double down on chocolate, alcohol, or doom-scrolling.

You could even do all three at once!

Another option is to pause and apply what psychology has taught us about how people actually create new habits and make lasting change. This takes a bit of effort in the short term, but it can make life significantly better in the long term.

Step one is clarity.

What do you really want to change?
Is this a change you genuinely want to make?
Are there other changes that matter more to you—but might also feel scarier?

Often, one part of us wants to change, while another part doesn’t. If you try to bully or shame the part of you that doesn’t want to change, you’ll end up in a constant internal arm-wrestle—and eventually run out of steam.

If your resolution is too vague, the part of you that doesn’t want to change will have plenty of wriggle room to escape. If it’s too big or too extreme, you’re more likely to feel overwhelmed or too busy to continue.

Step two is having a plan.
What exactly is the new behaviour you’re going to do?
When will you start?
How often will you do it?
Do you have the skills, knowledge, and resources to do this consistently?

As the saying goes: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Sometimes you can work this out on your own. Sometimes you need help. This is where a psychologist or counsellor can make a real difference.

The biggest tip I can give you is this: success rarely comes from your first plan or your first attempt.

When you miss the target, be curious—not judgmental.
What got in the way?
What did I feel, think, or do that made this harder?
You can use this information to revise and improve your plan next time.

Falling short isn’t failure—it’s part of the change process. When you fall off the horse, dust yourself off, reflect on what went wrong, learn from it, and get back on.
(Unless you break your neck when you fall off. That’s why I’ve been too scared to ride a horse.)

People often reach out to us when they’re struggling, suffering, or feeling completely stuck—and that’s an important part of our work. Positive psychology is another part of what we do: helping people clarify their goals and build richer, happier, more meaningful lives.
That’s what New Year’s resolutions are usually aiming for.

With the support of one of our therapists, you can identify the changes that will genuinely improve your life—and work through the resistance, hurdles, and self-sabotage that may have held you back in the past.

This time of year is one of the best times to book therapy.
Our schedules are as open as they get. If you’d like regular appointments—especially before- or after-school sessions—now is the time to book ahead. You can schedule sessions weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on where you are in your change process.

And if you’ve already been seeing your therapist for a while, your next session could be a great opportunity to zoom out, look at the bigger picture, and set meaningful goals for the year ahead.

18/12/2025

Our office will be closed on the 24th, 25th, 26th of December 2025 and the 1st of January 2026.

Our admin team will be taking some time off over the Christmas / New Year period, so I will be dusting off my amateur admin skills to fill in for the professionals.

Here is the current availability of our psychologists and counsellors:

Dee Pakendorf (Counsellor, Couples & Family Therapist)
Appointments available from Monday, 22nd of December 2025

Chad McCormick (Psychologist)
Appointments available from Saturday, 27th of December 2025.
(I have just opened the 27th, 29th and 30th of December 2025).

Jackie Batrachenko (Psychologist)
Appointments available from Tuesday, 13th of January 2026

Rachael Lovett (Psychologist)
Appointments available from Tuesday, 20th of January 2026

Kirsten Schmitt (Psychologist)
Appointments available from Thursday, 29th of January 2026
(Kirsten will start working an extra day, Mondays, beginning Monday, the 2nd of February 2026)

Kelly Worrell (Clinical Psychologist)
Appointments available from Friday, 13th of February 2026 (if you dare).

I hope you have a fun, safe, happy and stress-free Christmas. If you manage to do this, please tell me your secret. Merry Christmas!

Cheers, Chad.

09/11/2025

We are lucky to have Dee join our team. She works on Mondays, Thursday evenings, and one Saturday each month. Call or message us to book an appointment, or visit our website for more information about Dee.

04/10/2025

The Family Room are on the move. We are now at our new premises: Unit 37 (upstairs) 120 Bloomfield Street (Cleveland House). We are very grateful to our previous landlords who have looked after us so well. It is sad to say goodbye to the place where we began our journey but exciting to be growing (just a little). Your next session will be at our new premises. See you soon.

21/06/2025

20/06/2025

So many professionals are wondering why this is happening - and to what end? They read and write sooner - then what? Unfortunately it doesn’t make them smarter or more creative problem solvers. It doesn’t enhance social skills when we are pushing them to achieve curriculum standards before their neurological wiring is ready. It’s not teachers or schools making these changes and trying to push down formal education. It’s coming from the top - from people who are well meaning but don’t really understand how learning works. It needs to be fun. It needs to be engaging. It needs to be play based. Because we learn when we are having fun; feel safe and when we can try all sorts of ways of doing things without worrying we are going to get things wrong and be marked on it. Let’s follow Finland! They know what they’re doing. No wonder our kids are more stressed than ever and school “can’t” is on the rise. God bless our teachers and schools that have the enormous task of needing to do what they are mandated to do whilst keeping our children’s mental health in tact.

As one of Australia’s leading parenting educators I regularly travel the length and breadth of this country including cities, remote communities, rural communities and of course the digital world. Everywhere ...

04/03/2025

How to help our children with disabilities feel as secure as possible during Cyclone Alfred. Stay safe everyone. You've got this. We are thinking of you all. ###

Natural disaster preparation is important for kids and teens with disability or other additional needs. Start by organising information and an emergency bag.

04/03/2025

A child friendly resource to help our children understand the impending weather event.

https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/our-work/birdies-tree-natural-disaster-recovery/birdies-tree-storybooks/birdie-and-the-cyclone?fbclid=IwY2xjawI0TP9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbR3D94gbO9hc6Tbwt4ajeD0kolJJqlQIWdLBg31pbTBG01b6WPmyaPesA_aem_Tab14TqnYRU5-89n4po-kg

Storybooks, videos and resources to help young children and their families cope with cyclones.

07/12/2024

I'm excited to share that Emma Bray (Speech Pathologist) and I (Psychologist and Teacher) are teaming together in March next year to provide a workshop for educators about supporting children's transition to prep. "From Little School to Big School" will be a day of practical strategies, resource sharing and theory to help us better understand this beautiful age and how to scaffold and respond accordingly. We will unpack language and early literacy development; attachment and separation anxiety; brain education; making friends and socialisation; helping our children with their big feelings; building resilience and independence and understanding the role of allied health professionals. We are aiming to keep it practical so that you walk away with a tool kit of strategies with the underpinning theory as to why they work. Look forward to seeing you there! Please feel free to share.

10/09/2024

Congratulations on our Provisional Psycholgist Jackie for passing the huge National Psychology Exam! We are so proud of you!!!