Dr Emma Black, Clinical Psychologist

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Hyde Park, QLD
Dr Emma Black, Clinical Psychologist

Dr Emma Black offers clinical psychology services to support women and young women to improve their lives.

29/01/2026

Anxiety lives in the body as much as your mind.
Working with your nervous system can help create calm when thoughts feel overwhelming. These practical tools help your body to settle when it's signalling danger.

If anxiety is persistent or intense, professional support can make a difference.

27/01/2026

Me at work every day...

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BrhkQHQ3S/

26/01/2026

Motherhood is deeply meaningful with joyful times, and can be draining or exhausting at other times.

Postnatal support is about helping women feel understood, supported, and steady when life has drastically changed.

Sometimes, this support is practical help. Someone to help with meals, housework, or watching baby so you can have a rest. Other times, it's listening without judgement and acknowledging the challenges.

Care should meet you where you are, without judgment or pressure to hold it all together or be loving every minute with baby.

Everyone does the best they can, and sometimes your 'best' looks different from day to day. The sleep deprivation and caregiving demands can really change the game from day to day. One day you're doing well, and the next it's a significant effort to get dressed or out the door. It's always changing, so your support needs change, too.

Kind wishes,

Emma

23/01/2026

Being hard on yourself can feel motivating, but it often creates further stress.

Self-compassion can help prevent negative emotions from growing further or spiralling, as well as grounding you in what is - and reminding yourself of the things that help you cope.

There are many ways to practice self-compassion.
Visualising it.
Thinking kind words towards yourself.
Speaking kind words towards yourself aloud.
Protecting yourself from a threat.
Soothing yourself when distressed.
Holding yourself.
Sending yourself kind energy.
Accepting yourself and your pain.

Kindness changes how you cope.

20/01/2026

When it's one of those days...

17/01/2026

Pregnancy is a time of flux, change, and growth. It can cause significant demands on your body, mind, and emotions. This may happen even when things are going 'well'.

Anxiety is often a signal that your system is overloaded, not that you’re doing something wrong.

What can be overlooked is that sometimes pregnancy itself can be a stressor.
- An unintended pregnancy can cause stress and anxiety.
- Pregnancy after loss often has significant worry about the pregnancy going well, and making it to the end safely. These worries, however, can also be present even without past loss.
- Pregnancy scares or frights cause acute fear.
- Coping with complications (such as hyperemesis, gestational diabetes, and more) can be stressful.
- There can be worry about labour and birth, and how these will go.

Sometimes these worries flare brightly and then recede. Sometimes, these concerns persist, or are intense.
If this feels familiar, professional support can help. Seeing a trusted GP is always a great place to start.

Kind wishes,

Emma

14/01/2026

Many women are used to being highly independent. After having a baby, it’s easy to fall into the trap of wanting to keep this up, and do everything on your own.

Often, this is not achievable. Feeding takes hours each day. Baby care takes up a lot of the day and night. Throw in connecting with your baby and other people too, along with trying to do the housework… It’s too much, and we haven’t even started talking about meeting your own needs.

The adjustment to motherhood is a huge one, and shouldering everything on your own can create its’ own challenges. Some days can feel hard.

This is a time when turning to your personal supports can make all the difference. Sharing your feelings with a trusted person, and being emotionally supported, can help you get through a tough day, and show up again as a parent the next day. Talk to someone you feel safe with.

Communicating with your partner (if you have one) about your needs, and negotiating the load (housework and caregiving) and leisure time for both of you can help with the harder days, and in general.

Accepting offers of help from friends, family, and trusted supports may be foreign, but leaning into this can make life easier and take you towards your village of support. People offer because they care, and want to help. Let them.

Sometimes, ‘support’ can also look like making practical changes to your life. Getting groceries delivered. Getting a cleaner (if this is financially feasible). Doing appointments from home, or asking people to visit you on the days you just can’t get out the door. These can be ways of practically supporting yourself through some of the challenges.

Kind wishes,

Emma

09/01/2026

Having a baby brings multiple adjustments, challenges, adjustments, and sometimes stresses.
Stress relief doesn’t have to look one specific way. Some days your nervous system needs stillness, and other days it needs movement to release tension.
Try listening to your body and creating a useful time out to recharge, or gently moving it to help refocus and reset.
Each day is different, and your needs can be different, too.

Kind wishes,

Emma

06/01/2026

Motherhood can stretch even the most capable mothers at times. Everybody has days where they are just trying to get by.

Coping statements to help get through the harder days can be grounding. If you've had a baby, this free download gives some brief coping skills to help you get by another minute, another hour, or more...

Available here: https://townsvillepsychologist.com.au/offerings/

Kind wishes,

Emma

05/01/2026

When it comes to premenstrual symptoms, these exist on a spectrum. Some women have none. Some have mild symptoms. Others can really notice a change right before their period arrives.

And then there’s premenstrual dysphoria. Where the symptoms really hit hard and can be disabling. These often start around a week before your period is due, and relieve within a few days of your period starting.

Premenstrual dysphoria is not about being cranky or snappy, though. For sure, the rage can hit, and there can be wild mood swings or conflict with other people. However, it can present as feeling depressed or hopeless; feeling anxious or uptight; or feeling overwhelmed. It can be harder to concentrate, or to care about your usual activities like seeing friends or going to work.

There are often physical symptoms too, like sore breasts, bloating, weight gain, joint pain, or muscle pain. Feeling lethargic and tired. Changes to your sleep. There can also be wild food cravings or overeating happening.

When this happens for a third of each month (or so), it gets tiring. Frustrating. Distressing. Hard to function.

If you notice that you have cyclical symptoms like the above, make sure to talk to your GP about it. There are treatment options, and ideally life can settle into a gentler rhythm.

Kind wishes,

Emma

03/01/2026

The jealousy is real...

30/12/2025

Stress and anxiety are very physical. As such, changing what your body is doing may help you cope with them.

Address

Level 1, Clinical Practice Building, 1 James Cook Drive
Hyde Park, QLD
4811

Telephone

+61747814495

Website

http://www.townsvillepsychologist.com.au/

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About

Dr. Emma Black earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Deakin University in Melbourne. Her doctoral thesis explored the relationships between self-injury, disordered eating, and personality traits. Emma has worked both clinically and in research; this has cemented the importance of relying on science to inform her clinical work and discussions with clients. Emma has worked in a variety of settings, including trauma services, public mental health, hospital, education, and private practice. She has experience working with individuals and facilitating group sessions. Emma’s first professional role involved working for a sexual assault service for several years, which started Emma’s passion, interest, and commitment to supporting women.

Dr. Emma Black is a registered psychologist and endorsed as a Clinical Psychologist. Emma is a member of the Australian Psychological Society, and a fellow of the College of Clinical Psychology. Emma is also an approved supervising psychologist by the Psychology Board of Australia and can supervise all intern pathways as well as clinical registrars.