Wattle Tree Therapy

Home
Australia
Adelaide, SA
Wattle Tree Therapy

🖐🏽 Play + Child Development
🌿 Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers
✨ Parenting Support

30/12/2025

To my Mum friends, I couldn’t do this without you 💚

22/12/2025

Regulation isn’t a destination. It isn’t a rigid state of calm.

Regulation is a PROCESS.

Nervous system regulation is a process where our bodies and our brains are continuously assessing the environment and our own state of wellbeing, and adapting in response to it.

It’s a continuous, moment by moment process.

The good news is that we don’t have to fit inside a rigid calm box all the time! Meltdowns are sometimes part of the regulation process. Accepting this can bring more compassion for ourselves and our kids on hard, messy days.

Michelle 🌿
Paediatric + Parent Support OT

18/12/2025

Too late for click and collect? I got you.

Busy shopping centres are high sensory environments. Noise, bright lights, crowds and time pressure all place load on the nervous system.

Research shows that when multiple sensory inputs stack up, stress increases and decision-making capacity decreases.

If you feel rushed, irritable, panicky, or desperate to leave, your nervous system is doing exactly what it is designed to do. This is not weakness or poor coping. It is sensory overwhelm.

As an Occupational Therapist with a passion for sensory regulation, I support parents to understand what’s happening in their bodies and to use small, practical strategies to get through challenging environments with more capacity and less overwhelm.

Share this post with someone who’s about to hit the shops!

Michelle 🌿
Paediatric + Parent Support OT

References:
Doucé, L. (2020) ‘Sensory overload in a shopping environment: Not every cue is equal’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 57, 102165.

Eroglu, S.A., Machleit, K.A. and Davis, L.M. (2005) ‘Perceived retail crowding and shopping satisfaction: The role of shopping values’, Journal of Retailing, 81(4), pp. 311–322.

Spence, C., Puccinelli, N.M., Grewal, D. and Roggeveen, A.L. (2014) ‘Store atmospherics: A multisensory perspective’, Psychology & Marketing, 31(7), pp. 472–488.

Tran, V.D. (2020) ‘Assessing the relationship between perceived crowding, excitement, stress, satisfaction, and impulse purchase’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 57, 102185.

05/12/2025

Mums are the Magic Makers.

This page is for all parents. But experience - and research - shows that Mums carry the mental load, including all the Christmas chaos:

🎁 Thinking of gifts

🎄Buying the gifts

🎁 Wrapping the presents

🎄Upholding other people’s traditions

🎁 Taking on new traditions (I’m looking at you Elf on the Shelf)

🎄 Cleaning the house

🎁 Decorating the house

🎄 Planning the menu

🎁 Shopping for the food

🎄 Cooking the food

🎁 Managing the budget

🎄 Coordinating the family calendar in December

🎁 Kin-keeping - managing contact for both sides of extended family

But your kids don’t mind. They won’t remember the tablecloth or the turkey. They’ll remember the FEELING. Of being together with you. Of love.

The biggest gift you can give your family, is enjoying the time with them.

So if any of the above tasks don’t bring you meaning or joy, this is your permission to opt out.

What are you giving a miss this year?

Michelle 🌿
Paediatric + Parent Support OT

29/11/2025

Can you tell I’m Australian? Not a single mention of snow!

There are a handful of sensory experiences I really enjoy at Christmas time.

Leaning in to these, and mindfully noticing sensory experiences you enjoy, can help you feel:

*Calm
*Joyful
*Connected
*Regulated
*Grateful

What are your favourite sensory experiences at Christmas?

Michelle 🎄
Paediatric + Parent Support OT

22/11/2025

Are you overwhelmed by clutter and mess? I am 🙋🏽‍♀️

Today I removed about HALF of my keys. I don’t even know what some were for!

It was instantly relieving.

Looking for ways to reduce visual clutter and noise through the day can reduce sensory overwhelm.

Every experience is processed by our senses; even seemingly little things matter.

Will you try this?

Join me on my journey to become a sensory regulated parent.

Michelle 🌿
Paediatric + Parent Support OT

21/11/2025

Unmet needs can either be “too much” or “not enough” of something.

Sensory needs? Emotional needs? Social needs? Body needs? Safety needs?

Refer to my pinned post for some prompts to reflect on in each of these areas.

🍃🍃🍃

Michelle 🌿
Paediatric + Parent Support OT

19/11/2025

One day I sat at a crowded bar, on one of the few seats available. I apologised to my friend. She laughed, and said:

✨”it’s okay to take up space”✨

I’ve never forgotten.

So to the self-sacrificers, the people pleasers, the over-apologisers. You don’t need to shrink yourself for the comfort of others.

And in taking up space, we show our kids that it’s okay for them to take up space too.

Michelle 🌿
Paediatric + Parent Support OT

17/11/2025

Sensory dysregulation leads to nervous system dysregulation, because your sensory systems are part of your nervous system; your nerves, brainstem and brain.

The good news is, that means we can use our sensory systems to calm our nervous system.

Follow along on my journey to become a sensory regulated parent!

Michelle 🌿
Paediatric + Parent Support Occupational Therapist

Address

Adelaide, SA

Telephone

+61401370676

Website

http://www.wattletreetherapy.com.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Wattle Tree Therapy posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Wattle Tree Therapy:

Shortcuts

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Adelaide?