Emerging Minds Podcast

In this podcast, Aboriginal Elder, Millie Penny and Carol Michie from Telethon Kids explore Millie’s story of resilience and ongoing fight to support the needs of Aboriginal children, and how they have informed their work on the Ngulluk Koolunga Ngulluk Koort (Our Children, Our Heart) project.

In this podcast, Catherine Chamberlain talks about her perinatal work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents, through the ‘Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future’ project.

Dr Pamela Douglas is a general practitioner and medical director of Possums & Co., a charity which educates health professionals in evidence-based neuroprotective developmental care, including the Possums Baby and Toddler Sleep Program. Pamela is an adjunct associate professor with the Maternal Newborn and Families Research Group at Griffith University, and Senior Lecturer with the Primary Care Clinical Unit at The University of Queensland. She is also the author of The discontented little baby book: all you need to know about feeds, sleep and crying.

In a society where one third of parents seek help regarding their baby’s sleep, Pamela has spent her career researching ways to support babies and parents to develop effective and nurturing sleeping habits. She has worked with parents to develop evidence-based neuroprotective developmental care as a crucial understanding in providing responsive or cued care for babies. 

An important part of Pamela’s work has focused on how babies can initiate and participate in a synchronised relationship with their mother. Pamela works with parents to synchronise their sleep as much as possible with the patterns of the baby. Pamela discusses parents’ anxiety in creating regimented and formulated sleep times, and how she has attempted to shift the focus on enjoying awake times with babies and the creation of rich and enjoyable sensory experiences.  

In this episode, we discuss what the latest insights from neuroscience, anthropology and maternal and infant research tell us about infants’ needs around sleep, and how sleep can become a more harmonious experience for families.  

In this episode you will learn:  

why the responsive or cued care of our babies is important if we are to optimise developmental outcomes and secure attachment [5:09] 

the key principles of the first wave behavioural approach to babies’ sleep, and how these might affect a parent’s ability to experiment with sleep times and patterns [9:22]

how to trust a baby’s sleep regulators and focus on providing the baby with rich and changing sensory input [19:47]

how an evolutionary context helps us to understand what babies and parents need to enjoy positive sleep patterns [26:16]

How can the voices of people with lived experience be authentically incorporated into resource and service design? 

This episode continues the conversation from part 1, exploring the process of co-design through the case study of Emerging Minds’ practice paper, Supporting children and families: How does co-design invite us to think differently? Child and family partner coordinator, Lydia Trowse is once again joined by co-authors Jason Tyndale (child and family partner), Jackie Amos (psychiatrist), and Rhys Price-Robertson (researcher). Together, they reflect on their experiences and share advice for people looking to integrate co-design into their work with children and families.

 

In this episode you will learn: 

the value of authentic human relationships [02:00]

strategies for managing disagreements or conflict  [06:02]

about the need to balance different perspectives  [07:00] 

how to balance power [14:05]

how co-design processes might help families and children more broadly  [27:00]

 

Further information and resources:  

Supporting children and families: How does co-design invite us to think differently? - practice paper: https://emergingminds.frmdv.com/resources/supporting-children-and-families-how-does-co-design-invite-us-to-think-differently/

In this conversation, we explore the process of co-design through the case study of Emerging Minds’ practice paper, Supporting children and families: How does co-design invite us to think differently? Child and family partner coordinator, Lydia Trowse is joined by co-authors Jason Tyndale (child and family partner), Jackie Amos (psychiatrist), and Rhys Price-Robertson (researcher) to discuss how the process of co-design informed the conceptualisation, design and development of this resource, and to share practical tips for people looking to integrate co-design into their work with children and families. 

In this episode you will learn: 

how removing your ‘expert hat’ can allow for authentic engagement  [4:00]

the value of stepping away from traditional roles and instead meeting as people  [11:20]

how co-design can be achieved when organisational constraints exist  [18:32]

how to support people with lived experience throughout the co-design process [20:22] 

the importance of acknowledging and balancing power [28:28]

tips to incorporate children’s voices in your work [30:43]

 

Further information and resources:  

Supporting children and families: How does co-design invite us to think differently? - paper: https://emergingminds.frmdv.com/resources/supporting-children-and-families-how-does-co-design-invite-us-to-think-differently/

In this episode, we are joined by Danielle Abbott from The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI). Dani has worked with TACSI for 10 years, exploring innovative ways of working with tough and complex issues. She is the Quality Implementation Lead for Family by Family and the Virtual Village programs, which have been codesigned with families for families. These programs combine the lived experiences of families with proven social theory and evidence-based practice to create confidence, self-agency and resilience for participants. Families that have been involved attest to the programs’ helpfulness in shifting the negative effects of intergenerational disadvantage.  

Dani describes the issues that families with experiences of intergenerational disadvantage face and the impacts it has on children’s mental health and wellbeing and on parents and parenting. She discusses the type of deeply human and compassionate therapeutic relationship that will support practitioners to truly walk alongside families and help effect deep and long-term change. Dani also shares some of the key things that are helpful for practitioners to know about in supporting families to ‘chip away’ at cycles of intergenerational disadvantage, based on her many years of experience. 

Though it deals with a difficult issue, this episode is inspirational and optimistic, providing real-life examples of families experiencing intergenerational disadvantage and some of the significant changes they have made. 

 

In this episode you will learn:

how trauma and toxic stress impact on the child and intergenerational cycles [00:07]

how to develop authentic therapeutic relationships and compassionate, trauma-informed practice [09:38]

the importance of personal agency, supportive relationships, modeling of parenting skills and interactions, and taking a strengths-based approach [16:00]

how to support parents and children with emotional regulation [23:19]

the importance of early intervention and support to break the cycles of intergenerational trauma.  [37:37]

 

Further information and resources: 

Intergenerational Mental Health e-learning course

https://learning.emergingminds.com.au/course/intergenerational-mental-health 

The impact of trauma on the child e-learning course

https://learning.emergingminds.com.au/course/the-impact-of-trauma-on-the-child 

Supporting infants and toddlers e-learning course

https://learning.emergingminds.com.au/course/supporting-infants-and-toddlers 

The impact of parental substance use on the child e-learning course

https://learning.emergingminds.com.au/course/the-impact-of-parental-substance-use-on-the-child 

Parental substance use and child-aware practice e-learning course

https://learning.emergingminds.com.au/course/parental-substance-use-and-child-aware-practice 

The impact of family and domestic violence on the child e-learning course

https://learning.emergingminds.com.au/course/the-impact-of-family-and-domestic-violence-on-the-child 

Family and domestic violence and child-aware practice e-learning course

https://learning.emergingminds.com.au/course/family-and-domestic-violence-and-child-aware-practice-1 

Engaging with parents when there are child protection concerns: Key considerations

https://emergingminds.frmdv.com/resources/engaging-with-parents-when-there-are-child-protection-concerns-key-considerations/?_gl=1*je1wkz*_ga*MTcxOTM1ODczMy4xNTcyMzk3MTU1*_ga_Y4RHXYLTXV*MTYxNzA3MTk0MS4xMC4xLjE2MTcwNzIxNzMuNjA.&_ga=2.2030961.1930085463.1617001705-1719358733.1572397155 

Working with mothers affected by substance use: Keeping children in mind

https://emergingminds.frmdv.com/resources/working-with-mothers-affected-by-substance-use-keeping-children-in-mind/?_gl=1*je1wkz*_ga*MTcxOTM1ODczMy4xNTcyMzk3MTU1*_ga_Y4RHXYLTXV*MTYxNzA3MTk0MS4xMC4xLjE2MTcwNzIxNzMuNjA.&_ga=2.2030961.1930085463.1617001705-1719358733.1572397155

In this episode, Rachel describes how she has developed schema therapy and understandings of attachment to help parents and children in her practice, particularly those who experience high sensitivity. Rachel’s work is informed by research which suggests that 31% of people fall into the highly sensitive category, and that high sensitivity makes people more aware and reactive to the environment around them.   

In her practice, Rachel has helped parents and children to reflect on how they react in stressful or worrying situations, and how this might affect their relationships and mental health. She is careful to explore both the strengths and vulnerabilities that are associated with high sensitivity, in ways that can help make parents and children more aware of their reactions to certain events and to support co-regulation. 

Rachel describes the connection between unstable environments for children with high sensitivity and poorer mental health outcomes in the short and long term. She believes that practitioners who are attuned to the specific needs of children with high sensitivity are well placed to work with children and parents to develop shared understandings of their support needs. 

In this episode you will learn:

what high sensitivity is, how common it is, and how it can affect children and parents [7:28]

how an understanding of high sensitivity can help practitioners and parents to better support children's wellbeing, and how this relates to mental health [14:06]

some of the signs of high sensitivity in children [24:53]

messages that will support parents to help their child with high sensitivity to flourish  [28:13]

 

Further information and resources:

Autism, neurodiversity, and child-centred practice - part 1 - Emerging Minds

Autism, neurodiversity, and child-centred practice - part 2 - Emerging Minds

Supporting children through understanding regulation - part 1 - Emerging Minds

Supporting children through understanding regulation - part 2 - Emerging Minds

This is part 2 of our conversation about using speech pathology to support children who’ve experienced complex trauma. Speech pathologist, Kate Headley, continues to explore the approaches she uses to ensure her work is child-centred, and elaborates on the role of speech pathology in a multidisciplinary complex trauma service.

This is the first part of a conversation exploring the role of speech pathology in supporting children who’ve experienced complex trauma. Speech pathologist, Kate Headley, provides rich examples of how she builds trusting relationships with children to support their language and communication needs.

Identifying developmental concerns in children can be challenging for practitioners, especially after the early years. Work by speech pathologist, Susan Pagel has led to the Red Flags Guide: a guide to support practitioners and parents to discuss children’s development and more easily identify where they might need specialist support.