Nurture & Bloom Psychology

02/12/2025

You can feel it, can’t you? It’s everywhere. The pace picks up, the lists get longer, and it feels like a race to the finish line—or a slow, heavy crawl toward it. You’re exhausted, but there’s still so much to do. You want to stay in bed, curl up with a mindless rom-com, or lie on the beach… but those options just aren’t available right now.
There’s the list.
There’s the list of the lists.
There are the things that always need doing, plus day-care concerts, school awards nights, dance recitals, carols, presents to buy, wish lists that change by the hour, inboxes full of “last chance” deals, logistics to juggle, and the pressure to create beautiful memories.
It’s a lot.
And I’m feeling it too.
But can we pause for a moment? Just long enough to check in with ourselves, to create a little space to slow down so we don’t completely wreck ourselves in the process.
New blog post to help create capacity this season

https://www.nurtureandbloompsychology.com.au/christmasmama/

22/03/2025

A wonderful resource created by two fabulous people 🩷💜💚💛

27/02/2025

Thanks for having me Centre for Perinatal Psychology! Love that we can learn so much from each other 🌸

Louella Covich, Psychologist and Member of the Centre for Perinatal Psychology provided an in-house webinar to fellow members today on using social stories with toddlers.

Thank you, Louella for an informative presentation on the various uses of Social Stories. It is really such a great intervention that offers opportunity for the development of coherent narratives about the issue at hand, and importantly allows the parent to think about the situation from their toddler’s perspective, encouraging greater parental empathy

As a network of dedicated, private-practicing perinatal psychologists, we are committed to ongoing professional development.

All of our psychologists must be trained in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health in order to join the Centre for Perinatal Psychology, and Membership requires ongoing professional development in the field.

As Director, I am ever-proud of this remarkable group of 100+ clinicians who support parents and infants in their perinatal journeys with such skill.

Would you be interested in attending a health professionals webinar on this topic? Perinatal Training Centre would love to offer this webinar in the second half of 2025 if there is sufficient interest. Let me know in comments!

19/11/2024

💗 “We’re here, a community that cares” 💗
Perinatal Mental Health Week 2024

PMH Week Day 2: Wrap Around Care

We each play a role in creating continuity of care within and across services as a family's needs change.

The term ‘wrap around care’ means nurturing mum, dad and baby across the spectrum of the perinatal period -- from preconception planning, through pregnancy, during the birth, and into the postpartum and early parenting phase.

Access to parenting podcasts, a local playgroup, or online support may be needed to ensure the family feels connected. However, as things shift for mum, dad, non-birthing parent, or baby, child and family health services may be required.

Perhaps more significant interventions are required over time—be it psychological (individual or group counselling services), psychiatric (perinatal mental health services and mother-and-baby units), or medical. The important thing is that with each step, the person receiving care is seen as an individual, and as a vitally important part of the family system.

Referrals between services can assist with this experience, as a person feels heard and unless they wish to share, protected from disclosing their story multiple times. We celebrate the notion of 'wrap around care', knowing that the whole family unit has better opportunity to thrive. We encourage client-led timing, type and transition to the various levels of supports our community has available.

There are many forms of care available for families. Visit pmhweek.org.au

For psychological support and treatment during the perinatal period, Centre for Perinatal Psychology have 90+ trained and experienced perinatal and infant psychologists around Australia, offering in-person and Telehealth appointments: https://www.centreforperinatalpsychology.com.au

12/10/2024

October is ADHD awareness month

It’s not unusual for undiagnosed ADHD to pop up and be more impactful in the perinatal space, where the demands of parenting a newborn far outweigh the available resources.

I feel honoured to hold space for those exploring diagnosis and for working out what that means for their past and future selves.

Christopher Cook talks about all the emotions that come with an ADHD diagnosis and that it's okay to experience them

19/07/2024

This week is Birth Trauma Awareness Week. We recognise the potential long term impact of birth trauma and need for a safe space to help process challenging births. 💗

~ Birth Trauma Awareness Week ~ 15-21 July 2024
BONDING OVER TIME
If your warm, loving, maternal or paternal feelings don’t come online immediately, don’t panic... Give yourself some time to recover from the birth experience, find your new normal and get to know this little being. Loving feelings can take time to develop, especially if your pregnancy, labour, delivery or early postpartum was fraught with complications.

Whether you are a birthing parent or non-birthing parent, developing warm, caring feelings toward your baby is important – but if your loving feelings don’t flow in, talk to someone you trust and seek help. Sometimes, baby can be a ‘trigger’ for the birth experience, which can lead parents to avoid certain caretaking tasks (feeding, changing).

We are used to seeing parents who struggle with their feelings towards their baby in the context of birth trauma – professional support can really help.
Don’t let birth trauma rob you of enjoying your baby, and enjoying yourself as a mum or dad.

Reach out to us here: https://www.centreforperinatalpsychology.com.au

26/02/2024

💗💗One of my favourite sayings in session is about this - rupture and repair 💗💗

23/11/2023

Love this explanation from Dr Vanessa Lapointe about serve and return- how do we respond to the bids for connection that our little ones send out to us? 🩷

15/11/2023

A little trip across the Harbour for me today. Representing Nurture & Bloom Psychology and the Centre for Perinatal Psychology. I was delighted to be able to present at The Pink Elephants Support Network lroundtable event on Fertility and Loss in the workplace. 🌸