Joyful Being

27/05/2026

Are you carrying the invisible mental load of everyone’s needs while barely having space for your own?

Are you feeling touched out, overwhelmed, anxious, overstimulated, or like you’re somehow “getting parenting wrong”…

You are not the only one. And you do not have to keep carrying it all alone.

This is your sign to book in with Melissah.

Melissah offers perinatal mental health support that is honest, trauma-informed, neuroaffirming, and grounded in the reality that parenting can feel really hard sometimes.

Melissah has increased her hours and has current availability on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Please email [email protected] or fill in the enquiry form on our website. Parenting is hard and you deserve support 🤍

18/05/2026

Two babies on brown couches… and now somehow we are both sitting on a brown couch together as adults supporting parents through one of life’s biggest transitions🤎

Before perinatal work, Melissah and I both worked as child psychologists — and honestly, that experience feels incredibly valuable in this space.

We’ve had the privilege of seeing the impact of longer-term patterns. How early relationships, nervous systems, emotional support, overwhelm, and family stress can shape a child and the family system over time.

It’s why we feel so passionate about proactive, preventative support for parents.

Perinatal support matters deeply — because when you support a parent, you support a whole future family system. It’s truly the best job and we are so grateful to have the opportunity to make meaningful change ✨

11/05/2026

Sadness is not trauma!

Clinical words like trauma have very specific meanings, and I think social media is starting to pathologise normal human emotion in ways that are making parents terrified of being imperfect.

Please know that a tough Monday night where you might have lost your patience does not equal lifelong trauma for your child.

In these moments your child does not need your perfection.
They need your repair. An acknowledgement of what they are feeling and an apology if you overreacted.

A hard moment will not become the whole story of their childhood.

09/05/2026

Mother’s Day can feel incredibly hard when you are carrying the grief of pregnancy loss, baby loss, infertility, or the ache of the child you hoped would be here. Just a normal day is hard enough.

If Mother’s Day hurts, you are not doing it wrong. I know personally how painful this day can be. If I could go back in time and talk to me when I was suffering I would say:

You are allowed to survive it quietly.
You are allowed to rest.
You are allowed to cry.
You are allowed to protect your heart today.

And if the grief feels too heavy to hold alone, the Red Nose Australia Grief and Loss Support Line (1300 308 307) is available 24/7 and might be what you need to feel held and supported by people who understand.

Please be gentle with yourself 🤍

09/05/2026

08/05/2026

I’m going to say something deeply hypocritical as a psychologist on Instagram:

Please don’t follow parenting advice on Instagram too closely.

Some of it has parents trying to sound like emotionally regulated meditation apps while raising children in actual real life.

Perfectly calm voices.
Perfectly regulated responses.
Perfect therapy-script parenting in the middle of very human moments that are actually really hard. Without ever feeling anything but calm.

Real life is actually messy.
Parenting is triggering.
And humans have feelings.

Your child does not need you to be a perfectly calm parent.
They need a real one. Showing them how to live in the mess of life.

The work isn’t never getting overwhelmed. That is an impossible expectation.
The work is learning more about yourself, understanding your feelings, and repairing with kindness when things get messy.

I wish people would aim for healthy parenting vs perfect parenting ❤️

05/05/2026

Turns out my VA, Mel, used to do admin support for my husband… who is an electrician ⚡️

This was not a crossover I saw coming!

04/05/2026

Work dinner on the weekend with Melissah (our psychologist) and Mel (our virtual admin). Random fact….. I have worked with Mel now for almost two years and have never actually met her in person!

We went out for Italian and all ordered the same thing — which felt oddly symbolic in the best way. An easy alignment.

We shared dessert, laughed a lot, and I had one of those quiet moments of appreciation for the kind of team dynamic that is so genuine and supportive.

I was very intentional when building this team. It’s not just about their skills it’s their ability to connect joyfully that makes them special ❤️

And I will update you tomorrow on the realisation we uncovered that shows the world is smaller than expected ✨

01/04/2026

Most screening tools in the perinatal period focus on external symptoms:

Low energy
Not coping
Withdrawal
Flat mood

But they don’t ask enough about capacity:

Can you start tasks when your brain says no?
Can you organise multiple steps while sleep deprived?
Can you follow through consistently or does your capacity fluctuate greatly?

So what gets measured is what’s visible.
Not what’s driving it all.

And there’s another layer:

A lot of women are seen as “capable”
because they have a degree, a career, or they’ve coped well before.

So the deeper questions don’t get asked.

High masking doesn’t equal high capacity.

So some parents are told they’re depressed…
when their brain may actually be struggling with
initiation
organisation
follow through

Same presentation.
Different driver.

And if we don’t get curious about capacity,
we risk missing the support that would actually help

Importantly I need to point out that this is general information, not a diagnosis.

Just something to consider if you’ve been wondering
“what’s actually going on for me?”

26/03/2026

ADHD isn’t a lack of capacity.
It’s a fluctuating capacity nervous system.

For a lot of women, it looks like:

All in.
Focused.
Capable.
Getting it done.

…until suddenly—

Nothing.
Stuck.
Avoidant.
Overwhelmed by things that “should be easy.”

It’s not inconsistency in effort.
It’s inconsistency in access.

And that difference matters.

Because many women have spent years supported by external scaffolding:
• deadlines
• structure
• routine
• accountability

Then postpartum hits—

And those external supports fall away,
while the demand for steady, regulated, consistent output skyrockets.

Babies and kids don’t run on urgency or last-minute pressure.
They need presence.
Repetition.
Consistency.

Exactly the things a fluctuating capacity nervous system can struggle to sustain. And if you are sustaining it, at what internal cost?

So what used to work for you… stops working.

And it can feel like:
“Why am I suddenly not coping when I used to be so capable?”

But this isn’t new.
It’s just more visible now. Postpartum can expose it.

You’re not failing.
Your scaffolding changed.

I’m going to break this down more in future posts —
because this is where ADHD gets missed in women.