Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

In this episode, we chat about the post-holiday blues - the low mood many people experience returning to work after a break and discuss psychological research and practical strategies to cope. Research shows that while holidays do boost wellbeing, those benefits fade quickly after returning to work, and longer holidays don't necessarily help more. To combat the everyday monotony of daily life, we discuss strategies like savouring small positive moments, pairing mundane tasks with enjoyable activities, building in micro-moments of joy, maintaining social connections, and giving yourself buffer time before diving back into work.

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

Some of the key research we chat about can be found below:

Bryant, F. B., & Veroff, J. (2007). Savoring: A new model of positive experience. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

de Bloom, J., Kompier, M., Geurts, S., de Weerth, C., Taris, T., & Sonnentag, S. (2009). Do we recover from vacation? Meta-analysis of vacation effects on health and well-being. Journal of occupational health, 51(1), 13–25. https://doi.org/10.1539/joh.k8004

Guevarra, D. A., Park, Y., Xu, X., Liou, J., Smith, J., Callahan, P., Simon-Thomas, E., & Epel, E. S. (2025). Scaling a Brief Digital Well-Being Intervention (the Big Joy Project) and Sociodemographic Moderators: Single-Group Pre-Post Study. Journal of medical Internet research, 27, e72053. https://doi.org/10.2196/72053

Weinberg, M. (2024). Why it's normal to feel post-holiday blues. Deakin University School of Psychology. https://this.deakin.edu.au/self-improvement/why-its-normal-to-feel-post-holiday-blues

Yan, N., de Bloom, J., Dubbelt, L., & Halpenny, E. (2024). We Continue to Recover Through Vacation! Meta-Analysis of Vacation Effects on Well-Being and Its Fade-Out. European Psychologist, 28(4). https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000518

These resources were also discussed in this episode:

https://www.headspace.com/articles/post-holiday-blues

https://ggia.berkeley.edu/bigjoy?

If you or a loved one needs further support, we strongly encourage you to speak with your GP, psychologist, or another qualified healthcare professional.

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - https://www.beyondblue.org.au 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - https://988lifeline.org/get-help/ 13 11 14 

Headspace - https://headspace.org.au 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under) 

Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

Valentine's Day is celebrated as a modern (often consumeristic) holiday; however, it has a very old (and pretty odd) history. This episode unpacks what the research says about the so-called “Valentine’s Day Blues.” We discuss whether the holiday impacts psychological well-being and how this might have changed over time. From milestone anxiety to the mental health benefits of gratitude, friendship, and self-expansion, this episode offers practical, evidence-based ways to protect (and even boost) your wellbeing, whether you’re single, partnered, or happily opting out altogether. 💌

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

Some of the key research we chat about can be found below:

Braithwaite, S., & Holt-Lunstad, J. (2017). Romantic relationships and mental health. Current opinion in psychology, 13, 120–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.04.001

Buenconsejo, J. U., Fincham, F. D., & Datu, J. A. D. (2023). The perks of being grateful to partners: Expressing gratitude in relationships predicts relational self-efficacy and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applied psychology. Health and well-being, 15(4), 1472–1489. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12447

Jans-Beken, L., Jacobs, N., Janssens, M., Peeters, S., Reijnders, J., Lechner, L., & Lataster, J. (2020). Gratitude and health: An updated review. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(6), 743–782. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1651888

Lange, R., Jerabek, I., & Dagnall, N. (2022). Do the ‘Valentine’s Day Blues’ Exist? A Legacy Report on a Purported Psychological Phenomenon. Journal of Scientific Exploration.

McIntyre, K. P., Mattingly, B. A., Stanton, S. C. E., Xu, X., Loving, T. J., & Lewandowski, G. W., Jr (2023). Romantic Relationships and Mental Health: Investigating the Role of Self-Expansion on Depression Symptoms. Journal of social and personal relationships, 40(1), 3–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221101127

If you or a loved one needs further support, we strongly encourage you to speak with your GP, psychologist, or another qualified healthcare professional.

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - https://www.beyondblue.org.au 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - https://988lifeline.org/get-help/ 13 11 14 

Headspace - https://headspace.org.au 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under) 

Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

It's the beginning of 2026, and there's no better time to think about the best practices we can put in place now to prevent burnout this year. In today's episode, we talk about why burnout is so prevalent amongst young people, and what strategies we (and workplaces) can use to prevent it!

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

If you liked this podcast, you might also enjoy this other podcast on burnout:

https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/burnout

Some of the key research we chat about can be found below:

Gallup. (2022). State of the global workplace report. Gallup.

Martinez, M. F., O'Shea, K. J., Lee, B. Y., & Haidari, L. A. (2025). The health and economic burden of employee burnout to U.S. employers. American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103-111.

Mental Health UK. (2025). The Burnout Report 2025. https://mentalhealth-uk.org

Sonnentag, S., & Fritz, C. (2015). Recovery from job stress: The stressor-detachment model as an integrative framework. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(1), 72-103.

Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 179-201.

Zaitouni, M., Hewapathirana, G., Mostafa, M., Al Hajj, R., & ElMelegy, A. R. (2024). Work-life balance: A landscape mapping of two decades of scholarly research. Heliyon, 10(14), e34084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34084

If you or a loved one needs further support, we strongly encourage you to speak with your GP, psychologist, or another qualified healthcare professional.

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - https://www.beyondblue.org.au 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - https://988lifeline.org/get-help/ 13 11 14 

Headspace - https://headspace.org.au 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under) 

Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

This is our last episode of 2025 and of Season 1! To wrap up the year, we're chatting all about how to reflect on 2025 and how to make regular reflection a part of 2026. We cover:

1. Why we overlook our successes and wins

2. Why it is so important to celebrate progress

3. How to make the most out of our achievements

4. Practical strategies for reflecting on your year!

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

References from this episode:

Bryant, F. B., & Veroff, J. (2007). Savoring: A new model of positive experience. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

Ledgerwood A, Boydstun AE. Sticky prospects: loss frames are cognitively stickier than gain frames. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014 Feb;143(1):376-85. doi: 10.1037/a0032310. Epub 2013 Mar 25. PMID: 23527949.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden and build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218-226. https://doi.org/10.1037%2F%2F0003-066x.56.3.218

Some of the resources we chat about in this episode:

https://www.alisonledgerwood.com/negativity-and-positivity-biases.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XFLTDQ4JMk

The Progress Principle: Amabile, T. M., & Kramer, S. J. (2011) - https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=40692

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/learning/10-ideas-for-reflecting-at-the-end-of-the-school-year.html

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - ⁠https://www.beyondblue.org.au⁠ 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - ⁠https://988lifeline.org/get-help/⁠ 13 11 14 

Headspace - ⁠https://headspace.org.au⁠ 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under) 

Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

This episode covers goal setting, including research-backed approaches for how to set goals, why so many of us don't achieve the goals we set and how to make goals stick.

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

References from this episode:

Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1

Kiresuk, T.J., Sherman, R.E. Goal attainment scaling: A general method for evaluating comprehensive community mental health programs. Community Ment Health J 4, 443–453 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01530764

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2019). The development of goal setting theory: A half century retrospective. Motivation Science, 5(2), 93–105. https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000127

Oettingen, G., Pak, H., & Schnetter, K. (2001). Self-regulation of goal setting: Turning free fantasies about the future into binding goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(5), 736–753. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.5.736

Oettingen, G. (2012). Future thought and behaviour change. European Review of Social Psychology, 23(1), 1–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2011.643698

Singh, B., Murphy, A., Maher, C., & Smith, A. E. (2024). Time to Form a Habit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Health Behaviour Habit Formation and Its Determinants. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 12(23), 2488. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12232488

Steel, P., Svartdal, F., Thundiyil, T., & Brothen, T. (2018). Examining procrastination across multiple goal stages: A longitudinal study of temporal motivation theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 327. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00327

Some of the resources we chat about in this episode:

Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones. Avery.

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - ⁠https://www.beyondblue.org.au⁠ 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - ⁠https://988lifeline.org/get-help/⁠ 13 11 14 

Headspace - ⁠https://headspace.org.au⁠ 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under) 

Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

This episode is a deep dive into "milestone anxiety" - that feeling and worry you get about being "behind" in life, or when you get stuck comparing yourself to other people's life milestones. We unpack what this is, what the signs of milestone anxiety are and what we can do about it!

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

Some of the resources we chat about in this episode:

Relate (2022). ‘Milestone Anxiety’ on the rise among millennials and Gen Z. ‘Milestone anxiety’ on the rise among millennials and Gen Z | Relate

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/not-where-i-want-to-be-in-life/202301/i-am-just-not-where-i-want-to-be-in-life

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - ⁠https://www.beyondblue.org.au⁠ 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - ⁠https://988lifeline.org/get-help/⁠ 13 11 14 

Headspace - ⁠https://headspace.org.au⁠ 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under) 

Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

In this week's episode, we answer audience questions about careers in psychology, including tips for master's and honours' applications, what experience we gained during our training and how to incorporate self-care during psychology degrees.

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠TikTok⁠

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast⁠

See more about Australian psychology pathways here:

https://psychology.org.au/psychology/careers-and-studying-psychology/studying-psychology/study-pathways

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - ⁠https://www.beyondblue.org.au⁠ 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - ⁠https://988lifeline.org/get-help/⁠ 13 11 14 

Headspace - ⁠https://headspace.org.au⁠ 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under) 

Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

This week's episode is a deep dive into the viral Vogue article, "Is having a boyfriend embarrassing now?" by Chante Joseph. We touch on the psychology and research around being single and how this has shifted in recent years.

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

Vogue article:

https://www.vogue.com.au/culture/features/is-having-a-boyfriend-embarrassing-now/news-story/f4e2983a68387697a37df1579508b791

Some of the key research we chat about can be found below:

Dupuis, H. E., & Girme, Y. U. (2023). “Cat Ladies” and “Mama’s Boys”: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Gendered Discrimination and Stereotypes of Single Women and Single Men. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 50(2), 314-328. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231203123 (Original work published 2024)

Girme, Y. U., Sibley, C. G., Hadden, B. W., Schmitt, M. T., & Hunger, J. M. (2021). Unsupported and Stigmatized? The Association Between Relationship Status and Well-Being Is Mediated by Social Support and Social Discrimination. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 13(2), 425-435. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211030102 (Original work published 2022)

Gonzalez Avilés, T., Bühler, J. L., Brandt, N. D., & Neyer, F. J. (2024). Today’s Adolescents Are More Satisfied With Being Single: Findings From a German Cohort-Sequential Study Among 14- to 40-Year-Olds. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 51(12), 2461-2475. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672241257139 (Original work published 2025)

Hoan, E., & MacDonald, G. (2024). “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves”: Gender Differences in Singles’ Well-Being. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 16(6), 610-619. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506241287960 (Original work published 2025)

Tessler, H., Choi, M., & Kao, G. (2024). Love as a Low Priority: Gender and Relationship History Differences in Singles’ Value of Romantic Partnership. Social Currents, 11(6), 479-492. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294965241240781 (Original work published 2024)

Stronge, S., Overall, N. C., & Sibley, C. G. (2019). Gender differences in the associations between relationship status, social support, and wellbeing. Journal of Family Psychology, 33(7), 819–829. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000540

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - ⁠https://www.beyondblue.org.au⁠ 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - ⁠https://988lifeline.org/get-help/⁠ 13 11 14 

Headspace - ⁠https://headspace.org.au⁠ 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under) 

Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

This week's episode is all about our journey to becoming psychologists. We talk about what we studied, how long it took, the research we have done and how our careers look now. It's a dive into the ups, downs and very long pathway here.

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

See more about Australian psychology pathways here:

https://psychology.org.au/psychology/careers-and-studying-psychology/studying-psychology/study-pathways

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - https://www.beyondblue.org.au 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - https://988lifeline.org/get-help/ 13 11 14 

Headspace - https://headspace.org.au 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under) 

Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help

This week's episode is all about anxiety, what happens when we get anxious, and how we can calm down our bodies and minds during times of high stress.

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

Some of the key research we chat about can be found below:

Kasturi, S., Oguoma, V. M., Grant, J. B., Niyonsenga, T., & Mohanty, I. (2023). Prevalence Rates of Depression and Anxiety among Young Rural and Urban Australians: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 20(1), 800. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010800

https://www.aihw.gov.au/mental-health/overview/prevalence-and-impact-of-mental-illness

Some additional resources can be found here:

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/anxiety/treatments-for-anxiety/anxiety-management-strategies

https://headspace.org.au/explore-topics/for-young-people/anxiety/

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - https://www.beyondblue.org.au 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - https://988lifeline.org/get-help/ 13 11 14 

Headspace - https://headspace.org.au 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under)