Better Being Me

✨ In This Episode

Hello,

Writer, maker and mum Sarah Harney spent twenty years in GP rooms, counselling chairs and psychologists' offices being told she was just anxious — and then a psychiatrist told her she'd achieved too much, and was too articulate and too clever, to have ADHD. This one's for every woman who's ever been dismissed for knowing the language a bit too well. We talk about the anxiety that turned out to be a top layer rather than a personality, what changed once she could finally stay in a hard conversation, and mothering a little one who doesn't fit the "just get on with it" script.

🧠 What We Talk About

- ~03:10 Finishing art therapy training at midnight, a market-stall idea and a puzzle table — and why the dithering, not the doing, is what wears us out
- ~10:25 The friend on the couch, the galley kitchen and every single cupboard door open: the first seed of an ADHD question
- ~16:10 The 50-minute psychiatry appointment that ended in "you've achieved too much to be ADHD" — and twenty years of "drink water, go for walks, try harder"
- ~20:50 Why early motherhood was the least anxious Sarah had ever been, and what came apart when work, childcare and deadlines came back
- ~30:35 Anxiety as a giant top layer, not an identity — and the cafe moment where she asked for what she needed and thought, "who am I?"
- ~45:30 Parenting without asking permission: sharing your barriers with your kids, and the day Joanne said "I didn't say he was sick, I said he was done"

💬 Memorable Moments

"It's almost like I accidentally therapy-speaked myself into being dismissed." — Sarah Harney

"Now I'm like, of course, baby girl. It's okay. And it's not your fault that you didn't know." — Sarah Harney

"That wasn't actually who I am or who I was. It was just this giant top layer." — Sarah Harney

📚 Resources + Mentions

- Sarah's card deck — Seed & Ember Cards: https://sarahharney.com
- PDA — pathological demand avoidance (many now prefer "persistent drive for autonomy") and declarative language
- Joanne's parenting-bag tip: talc powder gets sand and dirt off little hands better than a wet wipe

Sarah Harney
Sarah is a writer, creative coach, maker and mum living on Kaurna Land on the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. She's newly trained in art therapy facilitation, makes the Seed & Ember card deck, and brings art, activism and a decent dose of play to everything she touches.

Guest Instagram: @sarah.seedandember — https://www.instagram.com/sarah.seedandember/
Guest Website: https://sarahharney.com

🎧 Listen + Subscribe

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-being-me/id1516970986
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4RLYE5TA3ZsCtuAF8otRQ0

📲 Connect With Us

Instagram: @betterbeingme_bbme
Website: https://betterbeingme.com.au
BBMe Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FwjxRf5Km/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-being-me/id1516970986

✍️ Something to Sit With

- Which label has been sitting on top of you for years — anxious, too much, scattered — and what might be underneath it?
- Whose permission are you still waiting for before you call a day what it is?

🧩 Ready to understand how your brain actually works?

The ND Life Alignment Quiz takes about 10 minutes and gives you a personalised picture of where you are right now — across the areas that matter most for neurodivergent women.

Take the quiz → https://go.betterbeingme.com.au/ndquiz-landing

Go forth, be awesome. — Joanne

✨ In This Episode

Hello — this one is for every woman who built a life on being organised and never asked why. Linja Reid worked out she was ADHD in her late 30s, after her son's diagnosis, a misdiagnosis maze, and one question from her psychologist that undid the whole story: but why are you organised? We talk about what changes when you finally have the answer — at home, in her bookkeeping business, and in how she talks to her kids about their brains.

🧠 What We Talk About

- The parent-teacher interview that started everything — a chaotic desk, five lost lunchboxes in a week, and a son who suddenly made sense (approx. 06:00)

- "But why are you organised?" — the screening question that turned Linja's super-competence into recognition (approx. 09:00)

- The misdiagnosis maze: long COVID, Hashimoto's, POTS — and the exhaustion that was ADHD burnout all along (approx. 15:00)

- Her daughter's assessment being dismissed — "shows zero signs" — and what masking at nine years old actually looks like (approx. 29:00)

- Burning down the BAS-agent box: building a bookkeeping practice where clients brain-dump first, regulate second, and do the numbers together — without shame (approx. 32:00)

- Melatonin, capacity, and teaching two ten-year-olds to understand their own regulation (approx. 48:00)

💬 Memorable Moments

"I'd spent most of my adult life going, why does this seem so hard for me? Everybody else just seems to be able to do this stuff really easily." — Linja

"And so I said yes. And she said, but why are you organised?" — Linja

"The biggest surprise I had was the compassion. Yeah, life is harder for you. But you've still been able to get where you are." — Linja

📚 Resources + Mentions

Linja Reid — After her ADHD diagnosis in her late 30s, Linja started seeing her life — and her business — through a completely different lens. What had felt like personal failure was unmet support. As the founder of The Connected Bookkeeper and a registered BAS Agent, she now helps overwhelmed women in business understand their numbers without shame — built on compassion, nervous-system safety, and systems that work for real brains.

Guest Instagram: @theconnectedbookkeeper

Guest Website: https://www.theconnectedbookkeeper.com.au

Also mentioned: Zones of Regulation (the school curriculum Linja's kids use).

🎧 Listen + Subscribe

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-being-me/id1516970986

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4RLYE5TA3ZsCtuAF8otRQ0

📲 Connect With Us

Instagram: @betterbeingme_bbme

Website: https://betterbeingme.com.au

BBMe Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FwjxRf5Km/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-being-me/id1516970986

✍️ Something to Sit With

Where in your life are you "organised" — and what would happen if the calendar, the lists, and the systems disappeared for a week? Notice whether your organisation is preference, or scaffolding holding the whole thing up.

Linja said the biggest surprise of diagnosis was compassion for herself. If you knew the answer — whatever it turned out to be — what would you stop blaming yourself for?

🧩 Ready to understand how your brain actually works?

The ND Life Alignment Quiz takes about 10 minutes and gives you a personalised picture of where you are right now — across the areas that matter most for neurodivergent women.

Take the quiz → https://go.betterbeingme.com.au/ndquiz-landing

Go forth, be awesome.

— Joanne

Making It Make Sense: Building a Neuroaffirming Business from the Inside Out with Claire Britton

✨ In This Episode

Hello and what an absolute cracker of a conversation this one is. Claire Britton is the founding director of Neuroinclusion, an OT and a neurodivergent business owner who has built a team of 20-odd therapists on a foundation that most organisations still can't spell — genuine neuroinclusion, not just the poster on the wall.

This is a conversation about what happens when you stop waiting for permission and start building the thing you wish had existed. And what that actually looks like from the inside.

🧠 What We Talk About

• How a contact-napping newborn, COVID lockdowns, and a Perth relocation collided into burnout — and the autism + ADHD diagnosis Claire had somehow missed across seven years of clinical practice (~00:09:00)
• Why ADHD medication was the turning point that made starting a business possible and the specific moment Claire stopped apologising for the way her brain works (~00:13:00)
• The colour-coded caseload system Claire pitched to corporate and was told absolutely not and then built herself anyway (~00:13:00–00:15:00)
• What happened when Claire fitted out a clinic with individual rooms for each staff member (books said neuro people need their own space) and the first thing everyone did (~00:18:00)
• Why "done is better than perfect" and "when you stuff up, not if" are the actual operating principles of a neurodivergent team and what that means for accountability (~00:25:00)
• The anger-versus-hope conversation: what's fuelling the neurodiversity movement, what's stalling it, and why Claire thinks unity and multi-disciplinary collaboration are the missing pieces (~00:33:00)

💬 Memorable Moments

"Making things make sense for you is more important than making them make sense on a piece of paper." — Claire Britton

"We don't talk about if you stuff up. We talk about when you stuff up. Because being neurodivergent, being in a neurodiverse team — let's just cut the rubbish." — Claire Britton

"The most people are stuck because they have one person in their little rowboat going upstream. We need to add more people to this rowboat." — Claire Britton

📚 Resources + Mentions

• ChildKind Conference , where Joanne and Claire first met. Claire was awarded at the conference (and found out she was pregnant the same week, a big week by any measure).

Claire Britton

• Claire is an Occupational Therapist and the founding director of Neuroinclusion — a national OT practice building neuroaffirming support across clinics in Perth and Melbourne, with telehealth available across Australia. She's neurodivergent herself, diagnosed with autism and ADHD after seven years of clinical practice and a postpartum period that finally made everything click. Her whole business is built on the belief that systems should fit people — not the other way around.

• Guest Instagram: @neuroinclusion.au
• Guest Website: neuroinclusion.com.au

🎧 Listen + Subscribe

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-being-me/id1516970986

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4RLYE5TA3ZsCtuAF8otRQ0

📲 Connect With Us

Instagram: @betterbeingme_bbme

Website: https://betterbeingme.com.au

BBMe Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FwjxRf5Km/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-being-me/id1516970986

✍️ Something to Sit With

Where in your life are you waiting for the system to change before you start? And what would it look like to build the thing that makes sense for you, now, with what you have?

Is there something you've been apologising for, at work, at home, in how you communicate, that was never actually a problem to begin with?

🧩 Ready to understand how your brain actually works?

The ND Life Alignment Quiz takes about 10 minutes and gives you a personalised picture of where you are right now — across the areas that matter most for neurodivergent women.

Take the quiz → https://go.betterbeingme.com.au/ndquiz-landing]

🎙️ Episode Title
"We Weren't Actually Living": Paige Carter on Burnout, the Grey Area, and Becoming a Badass Advocate

✨ In This Episode
Hello. This week I'm with Paige Carter — the woman who once filled Parliament House with autistic families so their reality landed in front of the decision-makers. We talk about the day her family stopped surviving the pressure cooker, packed life into a caravan, and watched her son come back to himself on the open road. If you've ever held it all together and still not actually lived, this one's for you.

🧠 What We Talk About

• Why Paige pulled her family out of "the pressure cooker" and onto the road (approx. 05:00–08:30)
• Her son Oakland regressing in a mainstream school that couldn't meet him — and returning to himself within weeks of leaving (approx. 09:00–13:30)
• The "grey area" in SA education: kids too able for special ed, too unwell for mainstream — and the fight she's taking to the Premier (approx. 22:30–29:30)
• Her late ADHD diagnosis landing as validation, and the both/and of grieving a late recognition (approx. 14:30–20:00)
• Becoming a "badass advocate" without burning down — pacing the fight so it survives (approx. 20:00–22:30, 30:00–33:30)
• Connection as what makes the hard shareable, and her new podcast When Life is Lifing (approx. 40:00–56:00)

💬 Memorable Moments

"I constantly felt like we were in a pressure cooker, and we weren't actually living." — Paige
"You have to become a badass advocate to get the best for your kids." — Paige
"It's okay to be like, I actually can't do that today. And it doesn't mean I fail." — Paige

📚 Resources + Mentions

• Inclusive Oak (formerly Oak for Autism) — Paige's community for neurodivergent families. Follow the page; no membership needed to be welcomed.
• SA education advocacy campaign + submission form — on Paige's site. ~10 minutes; every submission is collated as evidence and has gone to the Premier.
• When Life is Lifing — Paige's new podcast with Leanne.
• Wildly Grounded Co — Leanne's business.

Paige Carter — founder of Inclusive Oak, fierce neurodivergent advocate and mum to a proudly neurodivergent family. Years fighting for autistic kids in SA's education system, now doing it from the road while travelling Australia for a year. One half of When Life is Lifing.
Guest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inclusiveoak/
Guest Website: inclusiveoak.com.au

🎧 Listen + Subscribe
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-being-me/id1516970986
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4RLYE5TA3ZsCtuAF8otRQ0

📲 Connect With Us
Instagram: @betterbeingme_bbme
Website: https://betterbeingme.com.au
BBMe Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FwjxRf5Km/

✍️ Something to Sit With

• Paige's family didn't get a bigger house — they got fewer demands. When you picture "more space," is it more room, or less pressure?
• "I can't do that today, and it doesn't mean I fail." Where are you treating a pause as failure, when it's just pacing?

🧩 Ready to understand how your brain actually works?
The ND Life Alignment Quiz takes about 10 minutes and gives you a personalised picture of where you are right now — across the areas that matter most for neurodivergent women.
Take the quiz → HERE

Go forth, be awesome. — Joanne

🎙️ EPISODE TITLE

She Drew Rainbows Everywhere: AuDHD, Late Diagnosis & Self-Compassion — with Brianna Thomas

✨ IN THIS EPISODE

Hello and welcome back to Talking Twaddle.

This week Joanne is joined by Brianna Thomas — AuDHD psychologist, Certified Synergetic Play Therapist, and co-director of the Psych Hive in Canberra — for a conversation that somehow goes in every direction and lands exactly where it needs to.

Together they unpack what happens when you finally get words for things you've been carrying for years. The things that felt hard but impossible to explain. The patterns you noticed but couldn't name. The parts of yourself that you assumed were personality flaws, overwhelm, laziness, or simply “how life is.”

Because diagnosis rarely arrives as one neat moment where everything suddenly makes sense. Sometimes it brings understanding and sadness at exactly the same time. Relief and mourning. Validation and anger. Joy and overwhelm. It can feel like finally seeing yourself clearly while also grieving the years spent trying to fit into spaces that were never designed with you in mind.

The conversation also dives into Bri’s PhD research around neurodiversity-affirming autism assessments, imposter syndrome, and one unexpectedly iconic character who appears midway through the episode:

Pam.

Yes. Pam.

Pam emerged during Internal Family Systems (IFS) training and apparently runs the creative director’s office inside Bri’s brain. Depending on who you ask, Pam may also be responsible for multiple projects happening simultaneously, seventeen tabs being open at once, and potentially this entire podcast episode.

If you've ever felt like you were doing a lot and couldn’t quite explain why, Pam might be someone you recognise.

🧠 WHAT WE TALK ABOUT

• ~00:05:00 — Bri's ADHD diagnosis process: a psychiatrist, a very old form, and the phrase "darling, you definitely have inattentive ADHD"

• ~00:11:00 — How the autism realisation followed ADHD medication — and the stims that finally had permission to exist

• ~00:13:00 — The emotional rollercoaster after diagnosis: relief, grief, and the part that suddenly realises this is for life

• ~00:16:00 — How diagnosis changed Bri's relationship and gave both people language for the mismatches that had always been there

• ~00:20:00 — Bri's PhD research into neurodiversity-affirming autism assessments and the imposter syndrome that somehow still appears

• ~00:33:00 — Meeting Pam: the IFS part who runs the creative department and possibly several parallel universes

💬 MEMORABLE MOMENTS

"I feel like I started living after that. Like before that it's like I was here but I was just struggling in every way."
— Brianna Thomas

"It's not that we're not easy to love, it's just that sometimes we're hard to live with."
— Joanne

📚 RESOURCES + MENTIONS

• AuDHD IRL Podcast + Psych Hive:
https://thepsychhive.com/

• MAGUS Assessment Tool — neurodiversity-affirming autism assessment for older children and adults

• ADOS Assessment — behavioural observation tool used with young children

• Internal Family Systems (IFS) — a framework for understanding different parts of how your mind works

• BBMe Completely:
https://betterbeingme.com.au

Guest Instagram:
@brianna_thomas_psych
https://www.instagram.com/brianna_thomas_psych/

Guest Website:
https://thepsychhive.com/

🎧 LISTEN + SUBSCRIBE

Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-being-me/id1516970986

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4RLYE5TA3ZsCtuAF8otRQ0

📲 CONNECT WITH US

Instagram:
@betterbeingme_bbme
https://www.instagram.com/betterbeingme_bbme/

Website:
https://betterbeingme.com.au

BBMe Community:
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FwjxRf5Km/

🧩 READY TO UNDERSTAND HOW YOUR BRAIN ACTUALLY WORKS?

Take the ND Life Alignment Quiz →
https://go.betterbeingme.com.au/ndquiz-landing

🎙️ Burn It Down, Build It Better: Late ADHD Diagnosis, Accountability & Motherhood with Sandra Senn

✨ In This Episode

What happens when you know you’re capable… but your brain won’t cooperate?

In this honest, unfiltered conversation, Joanne sits down with Sandra Senn, founder of Business Mums Hub, to unpack late-diagnosed ADHD, dyslexia at 31, shame at 41, and the complicated layers of parenting while healing yourself.

This one is equal parts laughter, truth-telling and uncomfortable self-reflection — the kind that cracks something open.

Guest Bio

Meet Sandra Senn. An Irish powerhouse and the owner of Business Mums Hub. This bubbly ball of energy has worked around the world, running large teams, overseeing sales and marketing, and working in events. However, many of you will also know Sandra as the owner of Hashtag Insta Prints, a business she grew after having 2 gorgeous kids (3 if you count her techy-savvy gamer husband) to give her the freedom and lifestyle she wanted.

Facts about Sandra:

#1 Business Tip: Learn when to say no. As hard as it seems at the time, saying yes to the wrong things is even harder.

Guilty Pleasure: Chips and Gravy. I honestly love it!

Cause close to her heart: Helping to raise awareness about Post Natal Depression and encouraging women to seek help early when it comes to mental health issues and normalise the stigma around this

🧠 What We Talk About

00:01 – “TikTok diagnosed me first”: Sandra’s ADHD assessment at 41 and the unexpected shame that followed

00:02 – Recategorising 40 years of memories through a neurodivergent lens

00:05 – Discovering dyslexia at 31 (after years of reading slides out loud)

00:11 – Is ADHD a “superpower”… or is that pressure we don’t need?

00:14 – Why praising hard work over “being smart” matters more than we realise

00:21 – Parenting while healing: repair, accountability, and breaking generational patterns

00:31 – Trying ADHD medication (Vyvanse & Ritalin), burnout, and choosing lifestyle changes instead

00:35 – “Neurodivergence as a normal response to abnormal environments”

00:38 – Accountability as freedom (and why diagnosis isn’t a full stop)

00:46 – Safe and happy kids are loud kids — unlearning public shame

00:48 – Repairing with your children… and repairing with yourself

💬 Memorable Moments

“I always knew I wasn’t shit. There was just something shit going on.”

“Accountability is the key to freedom.”

“It’s not a full stop. You still have to do the work.”

“Safe and happy kids are really loud kids.”

📚 Resources + Mentions

Scattered Minds by Dr Gabor Maté

The Diary of a CEO podcast (episode featuring Dr Daniel Amen)

Dr Ash (parenting psychologist referenced in episode)

Business Mums Hub

Instagram: @businessmumshub

🎧 Listen + Subscribe

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

📲 Connect With Us

Instagram: @betterbeingme_

Website: https://betterbeingme.com.au

Explore the BBMe community + programs via the website if you’re ready for deeper support.

✍️ Share Your Thoughts

What story about yourself needs recategorising?

Where might accountability actually feel like freedom in your life?

🧡 Support the Show

If this episode resonated, share it with another woman who’s quietly doing the work behind the scenes. Your share helps normalise these conversations.

🎙️ Episode Title
Late Diagnosis, Loud Identity: Cassie Day on Unmasking, Burnout & Belonging

✨ In This Episode
This episode, Joanne sits down with longtime friend and powerhouse human Cassie Day for an unfiltered chat about late-diagnosed neurodivergence, unravelling identity, and rebuilding from burnout. Cassie shares with raw honesty what it felt like to be diagnosed with ADHD (and a “side-serve” of autism) at 47 — and how she's still finding her place in a world that’s only just catching up.

🧠 What We Talk About

• 00:05 – Cassie’s late-diagnosis story and slipping through the cracks

• 09:00 – Parenting neurodivergent children while realising your own traits

• 14:00 – Processing diagnosis shame and the internalised “not enough”

• 22:00 – Imposter syndrome, self-trust, and deciding not to justify yourself anymore

• 27:00 – Burnout, business, and rediscovering identity beyond being a carer

• 35:00 – Neurodivergent communication quirks in relationships (kitchens beware)

• 42:00 – Cassie’s biggest message to other late-diagnosed women

💬 Memorable Moments

“I’m just me. This is how the world works, right? How can I be different when I’ve always just been... me?”

“I get to say no. I get to draw the line. I get to choose different.”

“Don’t second guess yourself. You already have everything you need — and you’re okay exactly as you are.”

📚 Resources + Mentions

• Cassie Day’s website: www.cassieday.com

• Instagram: @days_of_cassie

• Cassie on LinkedIn

• Joanne’s programs & offerings: https://betterbeingme.com.au

🎧 Listen + Subscribe

Follow the show so you never miss an episode — and share with a fellow late-diagnosed legend who needs to hear it.

📲 Connect With Us

• Instagram: @betterbeingme_bbme

• Website: https://betterbeingme.com.au

• BBMe Completely: https://go.betterbeingme.com.au/bbmecompletely295544

✍️ Share Your Thoughts
💭 What part of Cassie’s story hit home for you?
👇 Drop us a DM or comment on Insta — we’d love to know.

🧡 Support the Show
If this episode sparked something for you, please leave a review or share it with someone who might need it. You can also sign up for updates and deeper reflections at betterbeingme.com.au.

🎹 Episode Title
Parenting, Burnout, and Finding Justice: Katie Price on Neurodivergence and the Innocence Project

✨ In This Episode
This is one of those episodes that sits in your body long after listening. Joanne chats with the passionate, hilarious, and no-BS Katie Price about late diagnosis, parenting four neurodivergent kids, and shifting from burnout to purpose. They unpack everything from the medical model to the prison system—and why Katie's now helping wrongfully convicted people through the Innocence Project. It's big-hearted, wide-ranging, and full of truth bombs.

🧠 What We Talk About

• 00:02 – Why Katie resisted a diagnosis and what finally changed her mind

• 00:14 – Raising four neurodivergent kids in rural Australia

• 00:30 – Rejection of the medical model and the harm of deficit-based labels

• 00:42 – The complicated relationship with NDIS and service providers

• 01:10 – Burnout, breakdown, and why hospital was the turning point

• 01:28 – How chickens (yes, really) and social justice shaped her career path

• 01:50 – From social work dropout to criminology and the Innocence Project

• 02:05 – Miscarriage of justice, systemic bias, and finding your purpose

💬 Memorable Moments

“You have to ride your worst day to get help. And even then, they make you prove it.”
“We're allowed to be shit at some things. It doesn't mean we're broken. It means we're human.”
“I was trying to fill holes in a bucket that was exploding. And then they gave me a sieve.”

📚 Resources + Mentions

• Katie Price on LinkedIn

• Edith Cowan University – Criminal Justice Review Project

• Law Society WA: Interview with John Button

• Innocence Network

• Australian Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (NetK)

• Joanne's Program: Be Me Completely

🎰 Listen + Subscribe
Follow the show for more real, raw, and radically validating conversations.

📲 Connect With Us

• Instagram: @betterbeingme_

• Website: https://betterbeingme.com.au

• BBMe Community Group or Program: BBMe Completely

✍️ Share Your Thoughts
💭 What part of Katie's story lit something up in you?
👇 Tell us in the comments or DM Joanne on Insta.

🧡 Support the Show
Love this ep? Share it with a friend, leave a review, or subscribe to our newsletter at betterbeingme.com.au

🎙️ Episode Title
ADHD, Anger & Authentic Parenting: Danielle Baker on Reclaiming Her Neurodivergence

✨ In This Episode
What happens when the therapist gets diagnosed? In this deeply real and refreshingly honest chat, Joanne sits down with Danielle Baker—play therapist, psychotherapist, mum, and founder of The Nurtured Village. Danielle shares her journey of late ADHD diagnosis, what it’s like to parent while healing, and how perfectionism, nervous system dysregulation, and unmet needs show up in daily life. If you’ve ever felt like you were doing it all and still falling short, this one will land hard—in the best way.

🧠 What We Talk About

• 04:30 – The ADHD diagnosis that changed everything

• 08:55 – Why becoming a mum was the unraveling (and the awakening)

• 15:10 – Heavy lifting, high-pressure jobs, and the need for stimulation

• 23:45 – Creating a neuro-affirming workplace at The Nurtured Village

• 30:20 – Parenting while re-parenting yourself

• 41:40 – Sensory needs, perfectionism, and asking for help

• 51:00 – The power of play therapy and non-verbal emotional processing

• 1:10:00 – Literal thinking, self-soothing, and letting go of parenting guilt

💬 Memorable Moments

“We parent the way we do with the knowledge and the skills we have at the time. That’s all we can do.”

“I created a workplace I wish existed—for neurodivergent mums, by neurodivergent mums.”

“Being a therapist didn’t mean I didn’t yell. It meant I had the awareness to apologise.”

📚 Resources + Mentions

• Danielle’s Website: www.thenurturedvillage.com.au

• Instagram: @thenurturedvillage

• Personal IG: @__daniellebaker

• Circle of Security Parenting

• BBMe Programs & Resources: https://betterbeingme.com.au

🎧 Listen + Subscribe
Don’t forget to hit follow so you never miss an episode.

📲 Connect With Us

• Instagram: @betterbeingme_

• Website: https://betterbeingme.com.au

✍️ Share Your Thoughts
💭 Did Danielle’s story mirror parts of your own?
👇 Let us know in the comments or DM us on Insta—we’d love to hear from you.

🧡 Support the Show
Love what you’re hearing? Leave a review or share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Sign up for the newsletter at betterbeingme.com.au for more real, neuro-affirming content.

Finding Peace in a Noisy World: Amy Hourigan on Late Diagnosis, PDA Parenting + Nervous System Healing

✨ In This Episode
This week, Joanne sits down with digital marketing expert and neurodivergent powerhouse Amy Hourigan (@amywhodigital) for a no-holds-barred, deeply human conversation. They cover the messy beauty of late-diagnosed autism, the raw truth of parenting PDA kids, and what it means to reclaim your nervous system after a lifetime of internalised chaos. It’s vulnerable, witty, and refreshingly real.

🧠 What We Talk About

• 00:03 – Late autism diagnosis at 41 and what sparked the self-discovery

• 06:40 – Parenting PDA kids, misdiagnosis, and the sideways approach to advocacy

• 14:05 – Early life trauma and the nervous system's long memory

• 24:30 – Shame, guilt, and birth stories that shape self-worth

• 36:15 – Internal meltdowns, masking, and the hidden labour of survival

• 48:45 – How SEO became a special interest and turned into Amy Who Digital

• 58:00 – Rewiring the nervous system and the magic of neuro-affirming therapy

💬 Memorable Moments

“I survived it. I didn't cope with it. And now I get to learn how to live, not just exist.”
“Your nervous system doesn’t care where you go—it comes with you. You can’t outrun it, but you can learn to befriend it.”
“I built an empire out of spite. But mostly out of self-belief I didn’t even know I had.”

📚 Resources + Mentions

• Amy Who Digital – Amy's website for SEO + digital marketing

• @amywhodigital on Instagram

• Alison Davies on emotions + nervous system regulation

• Nikki Vox (mentioned for rapid processing therapy)

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