Katy Vidler Clinical Psychologist

04/11/2025

The Christmas and Holiday Season can be the hardest, most stressful, or loneliest time of year for many. While some are having a wonderful time with family and friends, others are isolated & lonely, or grieving the loss of someone they love, and the feeling the deep pain of their first or second Christmas without their loved one.

Others are extremely stressed by difficult family dynamics or pressures to uphold family traditions that do not work for them anymore, or stressed by pressures to say "yes" to everything everyone else wants, while feeling completely burnt out and needing deep rest.

Expectations of what this time is "meant to be" can create deep pain, hardship or financial pressure. If you are struggling with any of these issues right now, and would like some support to make the holiday season a time that is supportive and nourishing instead, then please reach out.

Whether you need support with depression, anxiety, grief, triggered childhood trauma, or loneliness, or help to say "no" and ask for what you want without feeling selfish, help to place new boundaries or to understand and manage complex family dynamics, I have some availability (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) before the Christmas & New Year break, to help you foster a more supportive, nourishing, and personally meaningful holiday season, aligned with your needs at this time.

Please reach out either via the website: www.katyvidler.com
or by email: contact@katyvidler.com

21/10/2025

Pregnancy, early parenthood, and the journey to get there are often described as joyful times — but for many, they can also be some of the most emotionally and physically challenging experiences of life.

Perinatal mental health isn’t only about postnatal depression — it includes the full spectrum of emotional and psychological experiences that can affect your wellbeing from fertility struggles, through pregnancy, birth, and the first year or so of parenthood, such as:

Anxiety, depression, OCD or other mental health challenges during pregnancy or after birth.

Navigating fertility challenges and assisted reproductive treatments.

Hyperemesis gravidarum and other pregnancy complications.

Difficult decisions around pregnancy or termination.

Grief following miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss.

The emotional and psychological impact of a traumatic or complicated birth.

Identity and relationship changes after becoming a parent.

Adjusting to new roles and expectations while sleep deprived.

Balancing financial needs and return-to-work pressures with family life.

Feelings of guilt, overwhelm, or disconnection from your baby or your old self.

Struggles with perfectionism and high expectations of self resulting in feelings of failure.

These experiences, and others, are common and you don't have to push through them alone.

Perinatal Mental Health Week is approaching (10–16 November 2025). This is the time of year when we aim to raise awareness about perinatal mental health, and the unique needs of mothers, fathers, and hopeful parents to be, during this time of immense change.

As a Clinical Psychologist, using non-judgemental and evidence-based approaches, I offer support for a range of needs through the perinatal journey — whether you are trying to conceive, expecting, recovering from birth, grieving a loss or difficult diagnosis, or adjusting to parenthood.

If you’ve been struggling, or if something just doesn’t feel right please reach out through the website or by email:

www.katyvidler.com
e: contact@katyvidler.com

Support can make a real difference to your perinatal journey, and early intervention is recommended.

Please also keep in mind PANDA’s National Helpline is available Mon–Sat on 1300 726 306.

13/08/2025

We'll be closed for 2 weeks Annual Leave at the end of August. Your messages and emails will be responded to when we reopen in September. New Client enquiries are welcome throughout this period, and we will do our best to place you as soon as possible in September when we are back.

18/04/2025

Wishing you a Happy Easter.
We’re now closed for leave, returning Tuesday 29th April.

15/04/2025

Imperfect but whole. This is what the imperfect circle logo symbolizes. The gold colour represents our “golden shadow”- the positive but disowned aspects of ourselves. Our untapped potential that when embraced and integrated in therapy, can lead to growth and wholeness. When we do the work to know and love ourselves, we bring this golden imperfect wholeness into the light.

06/04/2025

OCD is time consuming, overwhelming and exhausting. It's so much more than keeping the cupboards "perfect". It robs your mind of peace and interferes in your life. This latest blog will help you understand what OCD really is, and that help is really possible with research based intervention. Click the link below for more.

https://katyvidler.com/2025/04/02/ocd-exhaustion-is-real-you-dont-have-to-face-it-alone/

03/04/2025

The Australian Psychological Society is continuing to advocate for adequate funding for your needs.

Seven in ten Australians think the number of Medicare-funded psychology sessions should be decided with their psychologist, not by the government, according to our 2025 Thinking Futures report.

We’ve been consistently advocating for increasing the amount of Medicare-rebated Better Access sessions, according to clients’ needs. As we head into next month’s Federal Election we will continue to work hard to ensure our proposed solutions — developed with input from our members and the broader sector — receive the attention they deserve.

Learn more: https://psychology.org.au/insights/what-the-federal-budget-means-for-psychology

31/03/2025

It’s during times like life in the wake of a cyclone that we realise how much we need community. Whether the friends and neighbours that check in and help when the power is out for days on end, or the workers tirelessly restoring electricity, the family, friends and cleaners removing mould, or the workers removing fallen trees and collecting the debris from the storm. We need each other, with our different strengths. There are times we are the givers, and times we are the receivers. I invite reflection on gratitude for community, if this feels right for you.

26/03/2025

The Constant "What-Ifs" and Worst Case Scenarios-Generalised Anxiety Disorder.

If you're waking up every day with a relentless stream of worries running through your mind such as “What if I mess up at work?” “What if something bad happens to my family?” “What if I never feel calm again?” you may be experiencing Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). You may even get so worked up that you experience panic attacks.

This isn’t just about feeling anxious now and then—it’s a constant, exhausting state of overthinking, restlessness, and feeling on edge. It can feel like your brain is stuck in overdrive, finding possible problems in the future even when everything is "okay enough" right now. It may even be ruining your sleep.

These anxious thoughts may also lead to anxious based avoidance of things you need or want to do, or may have you constantly seeking reassurance or checking things over and over again. Unfortunately these behaviours maintain anxiety over time, keeping you stuck in a vicious cycle.

The people around you may keep telling you to stop worrying, or that you're being silly or irrational and to stop overthinking and just get on with things. They really just don't get how you don't have control over the thoughts (yet), or the paralysing anxiety that freezes you in your tracks. Their comments just add pressure to your already stressed self, and result in you feeling even worse.

But here's the thing - if this sounds familiar, it's because you’re not alone. This is a style of anxiety many people experience and the ways to overcome it have been well researched. They needed to be researched to reveal HOW to stop the cycle of anxious thoughts, HOW to calm the emotions and overcome panic, and HOW to reverse behavioural avoidance in a way that doesn't overwhelm you.

You don’t have to keep feeling this way, but you'll need support from a trained clinician to learn and implement the skills and strategies that have been proven to work.

As a Clinical Psychologist, I help clients break free from the cycle of anxiety using evidence-based approaches like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and mindfulness techniques. Together, we can work on understanding your anxious thoughts, learn to challenge them and instead connect to more realistic thoughts, and develop practical behavioural strategies to find calm and confidence again.

If you'd like some help with this, please get in touch via the website at www.katyvidler.com. I'd love to help you.

18/03/2025

Our power is back on! Huge thanks to the exhausted on the ground workers of Energex who have been working tirelessly to restore power in the region following Cyclone Alfred.

13/03/2025

We’re back in the clinic, even if the power is not, following cyclone Alfred. We have personal fans powered by the laptop, and hand fans if you need a bit extra. You may like to bring some iced water with you though. See you in the clinic!

09/03/2025

Is the post-cyclone gloomy weather beginning to affect your mood?

You may be dealing with loss of power, phone or internet issues, being cut off with flood waters, or having drinking water contaminated, and problem solving a range of practical things, but it’s also important to watch for the effect of several days of bleak grey skies on your mood.

So, if you have enough candles to light them in the daytime, do so. The warm cozy ambiance can be uplifting. If you do have power, still light candles, and keep bright lights on indoors.

If you have bright coloured fabrics, throw rugs or cushions in storage, pull them out and brighten up your space.

If you have art supplies, make some bright cheerful images, or even just bright blocks of colour to have around you until the sun returns.

Wear your brightly coloured clothes if you have some. Even if it’s just a pair of socks.

Get some movement in by deep cleaning an area of your home. Maybe dust the things that usually get neglected. Maybe pull that fan apart that’s coated in dust bunnies. Removing dust will also assist with preventing mould in the humid weather. Dust with mindfulness, paying full attention to the task at hand, and notice how you feel when you’ve completed an area.

Reclaim a sense of agency by using time “stuck at home and feeling bored” to declutter or reorganize a pantry, or wardrobe. Again, notice how you feel afterwards.

Escape into a book or magazine, a hobby or creative pursuit.

Go out for walks or other exercise when you can.

Remember, this situation is temporary and will pass.

And if you’re up for it, notice what you like about the situation. Are there some positives amongst the disruption? Maybe the quietness, the simplicity of life without power, the gratitude for what you usually have, time to do things you love but don’t always get time to do. Allow this disruption to give you insight into yourself, and experiences you may wish to cultivate more of, when things go back to normal.

Wishing you all the best in the post-cyclone clean up.