Katy Vidler Clinical Psychologist

Katy Vidler Clinical Psychologist Katy is a warm, empathic, experienced Senior Clinical Psychologist working with adults (18+).

Naming your emotions can gently shift how your brain and nervous system responds.🧠 What the science shows:• Putting feel...
27/04/2026

Naming your emotions can gently shift how your brain and nervous system responds.

🧠 What the science shows:

• Putting feelings into words helps regulate them.
When you name what you’re feeling, activity in the brain’s threat system (the amygdala) settles, while prefrontal regions involved in regulation come online.

• Specificity creates clarity.
The more precise you can be (e.g., frustrated, disappointed, overwhelmed), the easier it becomes to understand what you need and how to respond.

• Avoidance often keeps us stuck.
Trying to push feelings away can unintentionally make them louder over time. This is known as experiential avoidance.

• Allowing emotions builds resilience.
Approaches such as Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) show that learning to stay with emotions — with openness rather than struggle — builds psychological flexibility and supports recovery from anxiety and depression.

• When feelings are hard to identify.
If it’s difficult to name what you’re feeling (sometimes called alexithymia), it can make emotional regulation, and therapy, more challenging.

🧩 In practice:
Pause → Name the emotion → Get a little more specific → Allow it to be there → Choose your next step based on your values or what matters to you.

If this is something you’d like support with, you’re welcome to get in touch via www.katyvidler.com

đź“š References

Lieberman, M. D., et al. (2007). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity. Psychological Science.

Torre, J. B., & Lieberman, M. D. (2018). Affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation.

Kashdan, T. B., et al. (2015). Emotion differentiation and mental health. Clinical Psychology Review.

Barrett, L. F., et al. (2001). Emotional granularity and emotion regulation.

Taylor, G. J., et al. (1997). Alexithymia and mental health outcomes.

Hayes, S. C., et al. (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy.

A-Tjak, J. G. L., et al. (2015). ACT meta-analysis. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

Aldao, A., et al. (2010). Emotion regulation strategies and psychopathology. Clinical Psychology Review.

Linehan, M. M. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder.

Is it time for a little self care? Is this what you need today? If not, what calls? May you find a way to give it to you...
26/04/2026

Is it time for a little self care?

Is this what you need today?

If not, what calls?

May you find a way to give it to yourself very soon.

Remember, self care is not selfish, but simply a form of self-responsibility.

In just over a week this wonderful event will be held in Mudgeeraba. For working mums with young children, mothers trans...
24/04/2026

In just over a week this wonderful event will be held in Mudgeeraba. For working mums with young children, mothers transitioning back to work, professionals and interested community members. Check it out at workhers.com.au.

It's the end of the typical work week. If you've been in human made environments all week, how could you connect with na...
23/04/2026

It's the end of the typical work week. If you've been in human made environments all week, how could you connect with nature this weekend?

Shall we talk about The Fawn Response? When survival becomes self-abandonmentIn complex trauma, the fawn response develo...
22/04/2026

Shall we talk about The Fawn Response? When survival becomes self-abandonment

In complex trauma, the fawn response develops when safety depends on keeping others happy.

Over time, the nervous system learns: “If I don’t upset you, I’ll be safe.”

This pattern is adaptive in childhood.

In adulthood, it can quietly shape how we relate.

It may look like:
• Difficulty saying no
• Chronic people-pleasing
• Self-silencing
• Taking responsibility for others’ emotions
• Tolerating poor or unequal treatment
• Anxiety when others are disappointed

This is adaptation — it’s what your system learned to do to stay safe.

From a neurobiological perspective (Polyvagal Theory), fawning reflects a nervous system organised around threat — where appeasement becomes automatic, not chosen.

Psychologically, it aligns with the subjugation schema: “My needs are unsafe, or less important than yours.”

Within Complex PTSD, these patterns sit within self-concept and relationships — particularly around boundaries, voice, and reciprocity.

What helps (evidence-informed):
• Trauma Model Therapy — processing unresolved trauma
• Schema Therapy — addressing subjugation and self-sacrifice patterns
• Internal Family Systems — working with protective “fawning parts”
• Somatic therapies (e.g. Sensorimotor Processing) — supporting nervous system regulation
• Attachment-based therapies — reshaping relational safety

Fawning once served a purpose. But over time, it can come at the cost of your needs, your boundaries, and your sense of self.

Recovery is not just about “stopping people-pleasing.” It’s about building enough internal and relational safety to stay connected to yourself while in relationship with others.

Key references: Walker (2013); Herman (1992); WHO ICD-11 (2022); Hyland et al. (2024); PMC (Schema Therapy; appeasement research); Phoenix Australia; Blue Knot Foundation

Another principle underpinning our work together.
21/04/2026

Another principle underpinning our work together.

New in the clinic, for the adults whose minds prefer to be doing something with their hands during therapy. ...
20/04/2026

New in the clinic, for the adults whose minds prefer to be doing something with their hands during therapy.


Is this one of your values? Living life from our values can help us feel grounded into a purposeful life, and bring some...
20/04/2026

Is this one of your values?

Living life from our values can help us feel grounded into a purposeful life, and bring some contentment, especially when times are hard.

If this is one of your values, I invite you to reflect on how you are interweaving this through your life, and any way it speaks to you at this time, to guide you if needed.


It’s almost the weekend. Here’s your reminder to spend some time in nature and allow it to heal and restore you. ...
16/04/2026

It’s almost the weekend. Here’s your reminder to spend some time in nature and allow it to heal and restore you.

Are you good at this? It's good to remember and know our strengths, especially during difficult times. If this is not on...
15/04/2026

Are you good at this?

It's good to remember and know our strengths, especially during difficult times.

If this is not one of your strengths, but you wish it was, what small step feels possible for you to begin to develop this further?

I invite you to reflect.



In case you need to hear this today.
14/04/2026

In case you need to hear this today.


We're back from leave and the clinic is open. Some new client appointments are available. If you’re feeling drawn to psy...
13/04/2026

We're back from leave and the clinic is open.

Some new client appointments are available. If you’re feeling drawn to psychotherapy at this time, please get in touch through the website at www.katyvidler.com

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67 Railway Street
Mudgeeraba, QLD
4213

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