The Best Beginning

03/04/2026

A child’s brain develops from the bottom up. Before thinking, reasoning and problem solving can happen, the nervous system needs to feel safe.

The bottom up, whole brain approach recognises that behaviour is not just about choices. It is about the state of the body and nervous system first.

When a child is dysregulated, their lower brain is in charge. This is where survival responses live. Fight, flight, freeze or fawn. In these moments, the thinking brain is much less accessible. So reasoning, consequences or logic often do not work.

Play therapy works with this, not against it.
Instead of expecting children to “think their way” out of distress, play therapy supports regulation from the bottom up. Through sensory experiences, rhythm, movement and relational safety, the nervous system begins to settle. Only then can higher level thinking and reflection start to come online.

In play therapy, the child is not pushed to explain or analyse. They are given space to express, experience and process through play, which is their natural language.

This approach helps to:

• support nervous system regulation before cognitive demand
• build felt safety through consistent, attuned relationships
• integrate emotional and sensory experiences
• strengthen connections between the lower and higher parts of the brain
• enable children to access thinking, learning and relating more effectively

As Bruce D. Perry reminds us, “Regulate, relate, reason.”

Play therapy honours this sequence. It meets the child where they are and supports development in the way the brain is designed to grow.

01/04/2026

Myth: You have to have gut symptoms like diarrhoea to have coeliac disease

Fact: Coeliac disease is a multi-system condition, meaning it can affect many parts of the body, not just the gut.

Symptoms vary from person to person, and some people may have no digestive symptoms at all.

Other symptoms can include:
• Ongoing tiredness
• Unexplained anaemia or vitamin deficiencies
• Persistent mouth ulcers
• Skin rashes
• Neurological symptoms such as poor balance or tingling in hands and feet

This can make coeliac disease harder to recognise and diagnose.

Find out more about the symptoms:
https://f.mtr.cool/ghidxqxixb

31/03/2026

16 Years Ago, My Life Drastically Changed
In April of 2010, I entered a period where i couldn't sleep, and didn't have a good grip on reality. In the months that followed, I would end up in the psych ward at our local hospital. Doctors told me that I had Bipolar Disorder

For years I was absolutely ashamed of that period of my life. It's taken a long time for me to realize that I came through a dark time and I am still standing, and in some ways thriving.

And I am thankful for the medications that help me be the best version of myself. That allow me to get a good night sleep, which is SO critical for mental health.

It's given me a greater compassion for those who struggle with mental illness. It's made me upset to see people who are homeless or incarcerated, because they made choices when they were unmedicated, and unable to access them do to cost. And how healthcare often doesn't "care" about people at all.

If you or a family member are dealing with mental health issues, please know that you are not alone. Even though I am sure there are times you feel that way.

Today is World Bipolar Day. It is a disorder that has vascillating episodes of mania and depression. There are different types of bipolar disorder, and different symptoms. It can happen in any age of life.

To learn more about Bipolar Disorder, visit the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

https://www.dbsalliance.org/education/bipolar-disorder/

04/03/2026

It is time to move beyond the “baby brain” cliche, say scientists who scanned dozens of women’s brains.

04/03/2026

⚠️Trigger warning: content may be distressing to some people.

Do you recognise this bed frame? Next to the re-created bed frame we have shown a sliver of the room where the bed frame was situated.

You can see the image in more detail on the webpage accce.gov.au/trace. If you recognise this bedroom, or have any information about any of the items shown, please use the report form to provide this information to our Victim Identification investigators.

This image is part of our series. The initiative asks you to help identify objects and locations from the background of child sexual abuse images and videos to help .

Out of respect for victims, we urge you not to share any personal information (recognisable pictures, names, etc.) on social media.

03/03/2026

01/03/2026

March is Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month!

This month helps shine a light on autoimmune conditions — including autoimmune forms of arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, juvenile arthritis and more.

➕ Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells.
➕ Autoimmune arthritis can cause pain, swelling and stiffness that impact daily life.
➕ Early diagnosis and appropriate care can make a meaningful difference.
➕ Awareness and support help reduce isolation and improve understanding.

Learn about autoimmune forms of arthritis and why awareness matters. https://arthr.org/3yDXFF7

27/02/2026

Before the 20th century, children happily ate the same food as adults—then they got picky. Olga Khazan on a new book that explains what changed: https://theatln.tc/LJ3fU0cA

The historian Helen Zoe Veit explains in her forthcoming book, “Picky,” that children used to eat “spicy relishes, vinegary pickles, wild plants, and a huge variety of animal species and organ meats. They slurped up raw oysters and looked forward to their daily coffee.” Now, Khazan writes, many American kids like her son eat “little but macaroni and cheese.”

There are a few reasons for these changes. Children of the past used to do more chores and snack less, making them far hungrier at mealtimes and more willing to eat anything. As children became less active, a misguided, Progressive-era public-health campaign encouraged parents to serve their children “easily digested” food such as eggs, broths, and gruel. Additionally, child-nutrition experts at the time claimed that rich and flavorful foods were the culprits for children constantly getting sick. “Advice to parents on how to address pickiness in their children also shifted over time,” Khazan writes.

American kids today eat so poorly, Veit writes in her book, that they are actually getting shorter. At the same time, Veit notes, “parents are exhausted by the struggle” of getting picky eaters to eat.

At the link, Khazan explores the “kid food” phenomenon and reports on her attempts to use Veit's recommendations for her own son, a picky eater: https://theatln.tc/LJ3fU0cA

27/02/2026

✍️ 'Toddlers yearn for the ball pit. Stop bringing them to the pub' | Writes Shauna Brown

Read the full comment at the link below ⬇️
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2026/02/25/problem-modern-parents-behave-childless-adults/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_fb_photo_modern-parents-behave-childless-adults/

25/02/2026