First Steps Psychology

01/09/2026

🌿 Meet Tiby, our Occupational Therapist!

We’re very excited to welcome Tiby to the First Steps Psychology team — and she currently has some availability for new clients.

Tiby loves working with preschool and primary-aged children and their families, helping children build confidence, independence and participation in the everyday activities that are meaningful to them.

She particularly enjoys supporting children with:

🌱 Fine and gross motor skills
✏️ Handwriting
🌿 Sensory processing and sensory needs
🧠 Building self-awareness and understanding what helps them feel comfortable and regulated
🤍 Parent coaching and practical strategies for everyday life

Tiby brings a warm, child-centred and neuroaffirming approach, taking the time to understand each child’s individual strengths, interests and preferences.

Outside of work, Tiby enjoys reading, travelling and staying active.

Tiby currently has some capacity for new OT clients. If you think she might be a good fit for your child, please get in touch with our team to find out more. 🌿

26/08/2026

We’re incredibly proud to share the work of Kintara Phillips, one of our provisional psychologists at First Steps Psychology, who will be presenting her research for the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc. 💜

Kintara’s research explores "why ADHD in girls continues to be missed", drawing on the lived experiences of female teachers who were diagnosed with ADHD after the age of 30.

Her research highlights how ADHD can be masked by things like "compliance, high achievement and a strong desire to meet expectations" meaning girls can appear to be coping well while experiencing significant challenges internally.

Kintara brings a particularly valuable perspective to this work. Before becoming a psychologist, she spent more than 25 years as a secondary teacher, and her work now combines her experience in education with her passion for neuroaffirming psychological practice.

We love seeing important research like this contributing to a better understanding of the many different ways ADHD can present and hopefully helping more girls (and boys) to be recognised and supported earlier.

Congratulations Kintara! We’re very proud to have you as part of the First Steps team. 💜

"Why ADHD in Girls Is Still Missed"
📅 Wednesday 16 September 2026
⏰ 7–8pm AEST
💻 Online

https://www.facebook.com/100063791460426/posts/1641334411336259/?rdid=mSOTbx0z9Qw6Z3Hu #

ADHD in girls continues to be under-identified, with many women receiving a diagnosis only in adulthood; raising critical questions about what is being missed, and why.

This presentation explores lived experiences of women diagnosed after age 30, including the role of masking, high achievement and overlooked internal challenges - and what this means for earlier, more accurate recognition.

Register here: https://ow.ly/8zGf50Zoayo

23/08/2026

🌿 We’re growing at First Steps Psychology!

We’re very excited to share that we are now offering Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology alongside our psychology services, and to welcome two new practitioners to the First Steps team — Tiby, Occupational Therapist, and Annaleise, Speech Pathologist.

💬 Meet Annaleise – Speech Pathologist

Annaleise has experience supporting children and adolescents across private practice and educational settings. She takes a neuroaffirming, holistic approach and is passionate about helping children build confidence, communication and connection at home, school and beyond.

She has a special interest in language development, early intervention and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and values working collaboratively with children and their families to achieve meaningful outcomes.

Annaleise holds a Bachelor of Health Science and Master of Speech Pathology and is registered with Speech Pathology Australia.

Outside of work, Annaleise enjoys keeping active and exploring with her two young children and her pup, Pip. 🐶

🌱 Meet Tiby – Occupational Therapist

We’re also very excited to welcome Tiby to the team! We’ll be introducing Tiby properly very soon once we have her photo and bio to share.

Appointments for Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy are now available from Mid-September.

01/08/2026

We’ve got some exciting news to share! 🌿

First Steps Psychology will soon be moving to its very own beautiful new property in Hastings.

While our location will be changing, everything you love about First Steps will be coming with us. Our goats, chickens, guinea pigs and nature-based therapy experiences will all be making the move, with even more space to learn, grow and connect.

This new space will allow us to continue supporting children, teens and adults in a calm, welcoming environment, while creating room for our practice to grow and welcome even more families in the years ahead.

We don’t have a move date just yet, but we’ll be sure to keep everyone updated and let you know as soon as we do. Until then, it’s business as usual while we prepare for this exciting next chapter.

19/07/2026

Oreos bringing a bit of extra bounce to your Sunday afternoon in preparation for another week of fun at First Steps.

13/07/2026

The biggest shift isn't becoming a stricter parent.
It's learning to work with your child's brain instead of against it.

Many parents come to us feeling exhausted.

They've tried consequences.
Reward charts.
Taking things away.
Being firmer.
Being calmer.
More routine.
Less routine.

They're doing their best.

The problem is that many parenting strategies assume the behaviour is a choice.

But what if it isn't?

What if your child wants to get ready for school, but their executive functioning makes getting started feel impossible?

What if the meltdown isn't defiance, but an overwhelmed nervous system?

What if the arguing isn't about being disrespectful, but a brain that struggles to shift gears and cope with unexpected change?

When we understand how the brain works, we stop asking:

"How do I make this behaviour stop?"

…and start asking:

"What does my child need to be successful?"

That doesn't mean there are no boundaries.

It means our strategies change.

Instead of relying on punishment to teach a skill that isn't there yet, we build the skill.

Instead of seeing behaviour as something to control, we see it as communication.

When we work with a child's brain rather than constantly trying to push against it, families often notice something remarkable:

Less conflict.
More connection.
And children who feel understood enough to grow.

💚 At First Steps Psychology, we believe understanding the brain is often the first step toward meaningful change.

13/05/2026

A little behind-the-scenes at First Steps Psychology 🌿

Today we had a team training day and took the opportunity to grab some updated team photos while we were all together ☀️

A huge thank you to two of our wonderful practitioners (Sam and Kintara) who shared their knowledge with the team today.

Feeling very grateful for this supportive, thoughtful team and the warm, neuroaffirming space we continue to build together here in Bittern 💚

(And of course the goats insisted on being included 🐐)

12/04/2026

We’ve had a few last-minute openings this week for assessments at First Steps Psychology.

If you’ve been thinking about booking an assessment now is a great opportunity to secure a spot sooner.

Feel free to reach out via message or contact us to book in 🙂

Psychology service where people are recognised, supported and celebrated.

08/04/2026

School Holiday Program 🌱
While building veggie gardens, we talked about how different plants need different conditions to thrive and how the same is true for people.
There’s no “one right way” to grow.
We explored how to recognise our own needs, what supports us best, and how to respond when things aren’t going well 💚

22/02/2026

We added something new this weekend… a Wishing Post.

For brave wishes, tiny hopes, and “I can do hard things” moments.

Kids (and grown-ups) are welcome to add one.