Warida Wholistic Wellness

29/03/2026

It's getting closer to being live! The chapter that I co-authored with Prof. Bindi Bennett will appear in the 2026 edition of Australian Social Work Voices, launching in April 2026!!! Edited by Dr Bennett and Dr Prehn, you can purchase it at https://www.amazon.com.au/Aboriginal-Social-Voices-Bindi-Bennett/dp/1350463310/

Our chapter is focused on Indigenous equine-assisted pedagogy, and aims to be a go to for Equine-Assisted Therapists. The specific chapter reference is as follows:

Bennett, B., & Stawiarski, B. (2026). The Five Pillars: Indigenous equine-assisted pedagogy. Aboriginal Social Work Voices.

Yarn soon,

Bianca xx

Authored by an all-Aboriginal Australian team, this book offers a ground-breaking collection of writings to develop a toolkit for culturally responsive practice. Structured in three parts, explores key contemporary issues in social work, including allyship, anti-racist practice and the ubiqu...

29/03/2026

I came across this song today and felt it needed time to sit with it for a while today. Not really analysing it. Just letting it land, hearing the message underneath the words.

It stirred something I see all the time. Women who are strong because they have had to be. Women who keep going. Keep holding. Keep showing up. The ones everyone leans on.

There is a quiet cost to that. It is not always spoken about. It is not always visible, but you can feel it when you sit with someone long enough. When you really listen.

Ngardi guwanda: Listening beyond the words. Listening to what has been carried for years.

I have sat with so many women who look like they have it all together. Yet underneath there is a tiredness, a disconnection from themselves. A sense that somewhere along the way, they stopped being held too.

This song took me back there. Back to that knowing that strength is not just about endurance. It is also about allowing yourself to come back to you. To your own voice, your own needs, and your own inner fire. Not the version of you that holds everything together for everyone else. Just you.

I wonder what that would feel like for you. To not have to be the strong one for a moment. To just sit. To listen inward. To let yourself be met.

We hold our own answers, and sometimes we just need the space to hear them again.

I encourage you to enjoy, “Strong Women” by Jovi.

Bianca xx

https://youtu.be/uvzdd_zDGIQ?si=sTCWSZoWFbq0LSFO

Provided to YouTube by DistroKidStrong women · JvoiStrong women℗ Reunion Veins ProductionsReleased on: 2025-12-11Auto-generated by YouTube.

26/03/2026

Today I paused in amongst the meetings, sessions and unending emails, and really sat with these numbers. Not from a place of achievement or of "success", more from a place of reflection. Behind every percentage is a person who showed up ...... often carrying more than what anyone could see on the surface.

*Someone who, in many cases, had not felt heard in a long time.
*Someone who had learnt to sit quietly in systems that were not built for them.
*Someone who had been told, in different ways, that they were the problem.

Then something shifts! Not because they are "fixed", but because they are finally met differently.

Across the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) sessions I have delivered through both Warida Wholistic Wellness and BilaEmpower, the feedback has been sitting between 98-99% across all key measures:

*Quality of counselling.
*Feeling heard
*Helpfulness
*Would recommend.

All well above national EAP benchmarks, but what stays with me is not the numbers. It is in the quiet moments in sessions where someone realises they can trust their own voice again. The moment their shoulders drop. The moment they say, "I didn't know I was allowed to feel like this".

This IS the work. Deep listening. Sitting with someone, not above them. Holding space without rushing to solve. Trusting that they already carry what they need, even if it has been buried for a while.

When that reconnection happens, it does not stay contained in the session.

* It moves into families.
* Into workplaces.
* Into communities.

That ripple effect is what matters. The numbers just help tell a small part of that story.

24/03/2026

The stand out driving factor on why I do what I do, was for me yesterday at the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association’s National Indigenous Mental Health and Su***de Prevention Conference hearing Professor (Aunty) Pat Dudgeon discuss these alarming rates of Indigenous su***de in Australia.

That’s not just statistics, but individuals, families and communities impacted / torn apart and experiencing so much grief and pain.

Alarmingly South Australia has the highest rate of Indigenous su***de in the entire country, which isn’t reflected in the wider South Australian statistics!!!!!!

We never hear this information. As mental health practitioners in SA, how are we coordinating as an allied health professional workforce to reduce this rate? Premier Peter Malinauskas, what is your government doing differently to address this crisis?

It is not only about funding more to ACCOS. We need:
*every allied health professional working in SA to be supported to upskill / train or offer services to those that cannot afford them.
*the entire allied health workforce, not only psychologists and social workers, being able to provide mental health services on a mental health plan. These services need to be adequately funded so there is no gap.
*skilled culturally-integrated mental health services located in every community - not just in large regional or city areas.
*every single mental health training course / university degree to prepare and skill graduates to sit alongside and support the healing of the deep pain in our communities. This also needs to include considerable training development in reflective practice, understanding our own bias, developing culturally integrated knowledges to a minimum standard.
*First Nations development of this content and appropriately remunerated - nothing about us, without us.

The projections are looking decidingly grim, and it will take a whole coordinated effort to normalise accessing support as a preventative service, rather than only when in crisis.

24/03/2026

Thanks Calmlings! Too cute, and some really important messages on breathing to regulate.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1cL6ruTDMX/?mibextid=wwXIfr

24/03/2026

I’ve been sitting with today in reflection. There is something about being on Kaurna Country, looking out over the water at Glenelg, then walking into spaces filled with familiar faces and shared histories.

*Colleagues
*Friends
*People I have walked alongside in different seasons.

Even reconnecting with someone I studied with in the early 1990’s, brought a quiet kind of reflection: how long this journey has been, how much has shifted, and also how much has not!

What is staying with me most are the yarns and presentations where Indigenous Psychologists spoke openly about deep yarning, spirit and ancestors. Words that are not always welcomed in clinical spaces, yet hold so much meaning in how we understand healing.

There was a moment today where I felt recognition in my body, that deep sense of things coming back into alignment. Not new, but remembered. It had me wondering about the way we continue to separate ourselves into professions:

* Psychology
* Counselling
* Social work
* Psychotherapy

Each with its own language, its own boundaries and scope of practices. Despite this, yarning similarly about decolonised practice. I found myself asking, both to myself and others, what might be possible if we stepped outside of our that? Not to replace anything, but to create space for Indigenous Healing Practitioners to stand within our own knowing, with the same level of recognition and integrity.

I don’t know if I will see that fully realised in my lifetime, but today felt like a glimpse of what it could be, and that feels worth sitting for a while.

23/03/2026

The next two days, I’ll be a little out of range. Please email and I’ll try me best to respond promptly.

Attending this for the next two days.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1B2JqpgkME/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association and Aventedge will host the 2026 National Indigenous Mental Health & Su***de Prevention Conference on Kaurna Country in Tarntanya (Adelaide), South Australia.

Read more: https://hubs.ly/Q046RPX70

19/03/2026

The latest Closing the Gap report tells a complex story. Some progress in land and economic participation… but we are going backwards in areas that matter deeply, including su***de, incarceration and child development.

This is where we need to be honest. We cannot keep waiting until people are in crisis.

If we are serious about reducing su***de rates, governments must invest in early, preventative mental health supports, before people reach breaking point. This means fully funding access to care, not partial systems that create barriers.

Through Warida Wholistic Wellness and our collaboration with BilaEmpower, we are already doing this work with positive success, walking alongside people through deep listening, connection and culturally safe support. 

What’s needed now is commitment.

* Fund the first 10 sessions.
* No gap.
* Across counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers and psychologists.
* Fund not just ACCO’s or Aboriginal Health Services, include First Nations private practices / small business too.

Because when people are supported early, everything shifts; not just for the individual, but for families, communities and future generations.

Warning: The following article contains references to su***de, which may be distressing to readersAustralia's Indigenous incarceration rates continue to rise sharply, while the proportion of children ...

18/03/2026

Wednesdays in the city look a little different these days. Since we’re not seeing people on Country at our Warida space, I’ve been bringing a piece of Country in with me… lemon scented gum.

There’s something about that scent that gently brings people back to themselves. Back into their bodies. Back into the moment. Grounding doesn’t have to be complicated.

Sometimes it’s as simple as breath… presence… and the quiet support of Country, even in the middle of Hindmarsh Square.

This is what ngardi guwanda looks like in practice, deep listening, not just with words, but with all of who we are. Even in a city office, that connection is still there.

Always.

17/03/2026

I’ve just discovered the YouTube Community space… and I have to say, it feels like a really beautiful way for us to stay connected beyond the videos.

A space to pause, share, reflect, and actually hear from you, not just talk at you. I’ve just posted my first poll here and I’d really love your input:
http://youtube.com/post/UgkxFWWGy0Wi35h92ey--HhS2MkbhJFO28Z2?si=LaIZNRffe44uuCxM

This space has always been grounded in deep listening, ngardi guwanda, and that means creating content that genuinely speaks to what you’re moving through. So if you have a moment, go and cast your vote… and if something else is on your heart, share that too.

I’m really looking forward to growing this space together, gudu-guduwa, coming together in a more connected way.

Yarn soon,

Bianca

I’ve been sitting with this lately … There’s so many directions I could take this space, but what matters most is that it speaks to what you need right now. ...

16/03/2026

✨ In-person sessions in the trees – every Wednesday at Hindmarsh Square ✨

There is something deeply calming about sitting together in the trees, slowing down, and being truly heard.

Each Wednesday I offer in-person sessions from our Hindmarsh Square office, nestled amongst the beautiful trees of the parklands on Kaurna Country, right in the heart of the city. It is a space where the pace softens, the noise of the world quiets, and you can take a moment to reconnect with yourself.

These sessions are an invitation to pause, breathe, and reconnect with your inner fire through deep listening (ngardi guwanda), culturally safe practice, and support that honours healing on your own terms.

Whether you are navigating burnout, big life transitions, deep grief / Sorry Business, trauma, or simply feeling a little disconnected from yourself, you do not have to carry it alone.

Together we sit, yarn, and listen deeply. Because often the answers are already within us — we simply need the right space to hear them.

🪵 Limited sessions available each week
📍 Level 2, 70 Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide – in the trees
📅 In-person sessions every Wednesday

To book your session, call our friendly reception team on 1300 794 890 today.

Come sit in the trees for a while. The kettle will be on. ☕

✨ We hold our own answers; sometimes we just need the right space and time to hear them.

Yurda,

Bianca