Dr Louise Hayes

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Dr Louise Hayes

Hi I’m Louise 👋 Author ✍️, Academic 📖, Clinical Psychologist 👩‍⚕️ & Buddhist meditation teacher 🧘

16/11/2025

Teenagers are listening—to us, and to the stories we tell about ourselves. If we speak to ourselves with kindness and understanding, they learn to do the same.

Let’s make compassion the loudest voice in the room.

For practical guidance on modelling psychological flexibility, sign up to Life Made Flexible.

09/11/2025

If a young person told you they were struggling, you wouldn’t judge or criticize them. You’d respond with compassion.

Let’s model that same care in how we speak to ourselves—and invite young people to join us. This practice, when done together, becomes an act of shared healing.

Want tools to support this kind of relational work? Subscribe to Life Made Flexible.

02/11/2025

I used to make the mistake of trying to motivate young people with long-term goals that felt impossibly far away.

Now I ask: what matters to you today? This week?

When we connect with their current values - whether it's protecting a sibling, creating art, or just surviving school - we meet them in their reality and build from there.

30/10/2025

Passionate folks creating change at ANZ ACBS in Melbourne

28/10/2025

Every day, mental health professionals witness the devastating fallout of family separation.
But what if you could help families build bridges instead of battlefields?

Join award-winning clinical psychologist Tiffany Rochester for an evidence-based, practical, and deeply hopeful webinar —
Bridges Not Battlefields: Transforming Family Separation from Conflict to Collaboration

🗓️ 11 December 2025
🕕 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM AEDT
💻 Includes recording + 6 months access

Discover how to:
✔️ Break cycles of conflict
✔️ Use collaborative practice and behavioural science effectively
✔️ Support separating families with confidence and compassion

➡️ Learn more and register via the link in bio.

26/10/2025

These simple words have grounded countless young people in my practice.

When trauma responses are activated, we need to return to the body, to the present moment, to what's real right now.

I love how concrete this is - breath, toes, readiness. It gives young people agency in their own regulation.

They can come back when they're ready, not when I think they should be.

19/10/2025

This is one of the hardest lessons I've learned as a therapist.

The pressure to "fix" or make progress quickly can actually damage the very foundation that makes healing possible.

I've had to slow down, breathe, and remember that the relationship IS the intervention.

When young people feel truly connected, that's when transformation becomes possible.

17/10/2025

Imagine your next session with a neurodivergent young person. Instead of adapting neurotypical frameworks and hoping they work. You're confident, equipped, and genuinely excited about the path forward, because you understand how to build on their strengths while honouring their authentic experience. That's what DNA-V offers.

In 2 hours on October 21st, you'll gain practical tools for working with sensory processing, special interests, emotional regulation, and identity—all through a neuroaffirming lens. Whether you're a therapist, school psychologist, youth worker, or coach, this training will transform how you show up. 4 days until we go live. Grab your spot now! Recording and 6 months access included.

12/10/2025

This reassurance from "Your Life, Your Way" normalizes the fear response that so many young people experience. Your nervous system is doing exactly what it's designed to do - protect you.

Feeling fear doesn't mean you're broken or weak. It means you're human, and your body is working to keep you safe.

📖 Your Life, Your Way: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills to Help Teens Manage Emotions and Build Resilience by Joseph V. Ciarrochi and Louise Hayes

05/10/2025

This powerful reminder from "Your Life, Your Way" helps young people separate their identity from their experiences. What happened to you is not who you are.

You contain multitudes - your experiences, yes, but also your dreams, your values, your capacity for growth. You are so much bigger than any single event or season of your life.

📖 Your Life, Your Way: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills to Help Teens Manage Emotions and Build Resilience by Joseph V. Ciarrochi and Louise Hayes

02/10/2025

The DNA-V model is a powerful way to help teens build resilience, connect with their values, and approach life with more flexibility. It draws on ACT and positive psychology—but what I love most is how it supports young people to embrace who they are, grow their strengths, and even have fun along the way. ☺️

This October, I’m running ACT for Adolescents: Beginners Training—a live, practical training where I’ll share how to bring DNA-V into your work with teens.

📅 8th, 9th, 15th & 16th October 2025
🎓 Earn 12 CE credits

👉 Head over to to register. I’d love for you to join me!

28/09/2025

This insight from "Your Life, Your Way" explains why avoidance often backfires.

When we try to push away painful emotions, we often end up trapped by them instead.

Paradoxically, allowing hurt feelings to be present can actually help us move through them and toward what matters most.

📖 Your Life, Your Way: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills to Help Teens Manage Emotions and Build Resilience by Joseph V. Ciarrochi and Louise Hayes

Address

Melbourne, VIC
3000

Website

https://www.louisehayes.com.au/

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