The Family Room: Counselling & Therapy

18/12/2025

Our office will be closed on the 24th, 25th, 26th of December 2025 and the 1st of January 2026.

Our admin team will be taking some time off over the Christmas / New Year period, so I will be dusting off my amateur admin skills to fill in for the professionals.

Here is the current availability of our psychologists and counsellors:

Dee Pakendorf (Counsellor, Couples & Family Therapist)
Appointments available from Monday, 22nd of December 2025

Chad McCormick (Psychologist)
Appointments available from Saturday, 27th of December 2025.
(I have just opened the 27th, 29th and 30th of December 2025).

Jackie Batrachenko (Psychologist)
Appointments available from Tuesday, 13th of January 2026

Rachael Lovett (Psychologist)
Appointments available from Tuesday, 20th of January 2026

Kirsten Schmitt (Psychologist)
Appointments available from Thursday, 29th of January 2026
(Kirsten will start working an extra day, Mondays, beginning Monday, the 2nd of February 2026)

Kelly Worrell (Clinical Psychologist)
Appointments available from Friday, 13th of February 2026 (if you dare).

I hope you have a fun, safe, happy and stress-free Christmas. If you manage to do this, please tell me your secret. Merry Christmas!

Cheers, Chad.

09/11/2025

We are lucky to have Dee join our team. She works on Mondays, Thursday evenings, and one Saturday each month. Call or message us to book an appointment, or visit our website for more information about Dee.

04/10/2025

The Family Room are on the move. We are now at our new premises: Unit 37 (upstairs) 120 Bloomfield Street (Cleveland House). We are very grateful to our previous landlords who have looked after us so well. It is sad to say goodbye to the place where we began our journey but exciting to be growing (just a little). Your next session will be at our new premises. See you soon.

21/06/2025

20/06/2025

So many professionals are wondering why this is happening - and to what end? They read and write sooner - then what? Unfortunately it doesn’t make them smarter or more creative problem solvers. It doesn’t enhance social skills when we are pushing them to achieve curriculum standards before their neurological wiring is ready. It’s not teachers or schools making these changes and trying to push down formal education. It’s coming from the top - from people who are well meaning but don’t really understand how learning works. It needs to be fun. It needs to be engaging. It needs to be play based. Because we learn when we are having fun; feel safe and when we can try all sorts of ways of doing things without worrying we are going to get things wrong and be marked on it. Let’s follow Finland! They know what they’re doing. No wonder our kids are more stressed than ever and school “can’t” is on the rise. God bless our teachers and schools that have the enormous task of needing to do what they are mandated to do whilst keeping our children’s mental health in tact.

As one of Australia’s leading parenting educators I regularly travel the length and breadth of this country including cities, remote communities, rural communities and of course the digital world. Everywhere ...

04/03/2025

How to help our children with disabilities feel as secure as possible during Cyclone Alfred. Stay safe everyone. You've got this. We are thinking of you all. ###

Natural disaster preparation is important for kids and teens with disability or other additional needs. Start by organising information and an emergency bag.

04/03/2025

A child friendly resource to help our children understand the impending weather event.

https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/our-work/birdies-tree-natural-disaster-recovery/birdies-tree-storybooks/birdie-and-the-cyclone?fbclid=IwY2xjawI0TP9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbR3D94gbO9hc6Tbwt4ajeD0kolJJqlQIWdLBg31pbTBG01b6WPmyaPesA_aem_Tab14TqnYRU5-89n4po-kg

Storybooks, videos and resources to help young children and their families cope with cyclones.

07/12/2024

I'm excited to share that Emma Bray (Speech Pathologist) and I (Psychologist and Teacher) are teaming together in March next year to provide a workshop for educators about supporting children's transition to prep. "From Little School to Big School" will be a day of practical strategies, resource sharing and theory to help us better understand this beautiful age and how to scaffold and respond accordingly. We will unpack language and early literacy development; attachment and separation anxiety; brain education; making friends and socialisation; helping our children with their big feelings; building resilience and independence and understanding the role of allied health professionals. We are aiming to keep it practical so that you walk away with a tool kit of strategies with the underpinning theory as to why they work. Look forward to seeing you there! Please feel free to share.

10/09/2024

Congratulations on our Provisional Psycholgist Jackie for passing the huge National Psychology Exam! We are so proud of you!!!

03/03/2024

We’re on Booktopia!

22/09/2023