Bron and Rebecca explore all things joy, play, and fun! They chat about the importance of joy for sustainability in our careers, the common challenges of therapist schemas like self-sacrifice and unrelenting standards, and practical ways that t

Rethinking Borderline Personality Disorder and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

8 days ago 1h 1m

Bron chats with Matthew about Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and its application for folks diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). We dive into the stigma surrounding BPD and discuss how reframing BPD as a trauma response can

Celebrating episode 100! Reflections and our favourite clips

15 days ago 55m 30s

Come celebrate our 100th episode with us! 🥳🥳🥳 Bron is joined by editor of the podcast, Dr Michael English, to reflect on this huge milestone and listen to clips from our favourite episodes. What was the most requested episode? The most fun e

Failing the National Psychology Exam (with Betty Farrell)

22 days ago 41m 24s

Bron chats with Betty about her experiences of failing the National Psychology Exam. Betty shares the emotional toll of failing, the financial implications, and the struggle with shame and self-doubt it brought. We highlight the need for more o

"Why I chose contract work" (with Jordan Turner)

29 days ago 48m 57s

Bron chats with Jordan about why she chose to work as a contractor and how she knew it was time to open her own private practice. We also unpack what you need to know if you're considering contract work, including 👉🏼 What's a fair split arran

Trauma-informed therapy for eating disorders (with Sherry-Lee Smith)

Mar 20th, 2024 40m 11s

Bron and Sherry-Lee explore the application of trauma-informed approaches, particularly Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, to eating disorders. We dive into 👉🏿 trauma-informed care 👉🏽 adapting trauma therapy for c

How to help clients with an eating disorder (with Harriet Iles)

Mar 13th, 2024 48m 29s

Eating disorders are complex but don't stress, we're here to help. Bron and Harriet chat about 👉🏿 The critical roles that body dissatisfaction, shame, and perfectionism play in eating disorders 👉🏾 Treatment approaches including Cognitive Be

Upskilling in culturally-responsive practice for Asian clients (with Daniela Ho Tan)

Mar 6th, 2024 58m 33s

Bron and Daniela talk about how to ensure that therapy is culturally responsive, particularly for clients of Asian heritage. They chat about 👉🏽 Daniela's lived experience as a person of the Asian diaspora 👉🏻 How culture shows up in therapy

Should you join a professional association? (with Sahra O'Doherty and Carly Dober)

Feb 27th, 2024 49m 10s

You might have heard that professional associations exist for psychologists -- but what exactly do they do, and what are the benefits of joining one? Bron is joined by two Directors of the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc (AAPi) to c

How to REALLY process what clients share with us (with Matthew Jackson)

Feb 21st, 2024 52m 57s

Clients often share information that hits us right in the feels: Things that are sad, traumatic, angering, devastating, and everything in between. Bron and Matthew explore how to go about actually processing the emotional impact of therapy sess

Using deliberate practice to improve your therapy skills and confidence (with Aaron Frost)

Feb 14th, 2024 47m 32s

Bron and Dr Aaron Frost discuss the importance of deliberate practice in the development of psychologists. They highlight that psychologists can reliably improve their skills by collecting client data and working on the areas that are difficult

Bonus

BONUS: Insights from an NDIS participant on living with a disability (with Cameron Milkins)

Feb 11th, 2024 15m 2s

Bron chats with her brother, Cameron, who is an NDIS participant and lives with cerebral palsy. They discuss his experiences, his preferences when working with psychologists, his likes and dislikes in the way people approach his disability, and

Disability and working effectively in the NDIS (with Dr Katherine Elliston)

Feb 7th, 2024 48m 47s

Bron and Katherine demystify the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and working effectively with people with a disability. They chat about 👉🏽 Katherine's insights as a Behaviour Support Practitioner 👉🏻 The importance of understandi

PhD curious? Everything you wanted to know (with Dr Michael English)

Jan 31st, 2024 50m 37s

Dr Bron and Dr Michael deep dive into the world of PhDs. They chat about 👉🏽 their very different experiences of doing a PhD 👉🏻 How doing a PhD has helped Bron to be a better therapist 👉 How Michael has used his PhD as a postdoctoral resear

"You can define your own pathway": Coming to psychology from a corporate career (with Nick Gotsis)

Jan 24th, 2024 1h 1m

Bron is joined by listener Nick to chat about his unique transition into psychology at a later stage of life and while he was a full-time Executive Director of HR. They chat about 👉🏽 The challenges he faced and sacrifices Nick made to study p

Family therapy: The basics and an intro to relational dynamics (with Marie Vakakis)

Jan 17th, 2024 55m 52s

Bron and Marie unpack family therapy using the hypothetical case study of the Wilson family, who are finding it hard to be in the same room without arguing, all while navigating work stress and teenage development. They chat about 👉🏽 When fam

How to reclaim the joy of being a psychologist (with Matthew Jackson)

Jan 10th, 2024 59m 4s

Happy New Year Mental Workers, and welcome back a new season of the Mental Work podcast - it's great to be back! 🥳⭐ In this ep, Bron and Matthew chat about how to reclaim the joy of being a psychologist if you've lost it. They discuss 👉🏽 The

“Why am I doing this again?” Celebrating the positives of being a psychologist

Dec 13th, 2023 19m 12s

It's our last episode for 2023! Thanks SO much for listening ❤️ Bron thought she would treat you to some uplifting content to round off the year. In this ep, Bron unpacks all the good things about being a psychologist, just in case you've forgo

End-of-year burnout and developing your burnout prevention plan

Dec 6th, 2023 22m 36s

Bron unpacks what end-of-year burnout looks like for therapists and her 🔥 red hot 🔥strategies for preventing burnout (book your leave for next year NOW!). LINKSComic by Gemma Correll on burnout: https://www.instagram.com/p/CbAi-OrrSBw/TH

How to feel confident when working with parents (with Marie Vakakis)

Nov 29th, 2023 44m 32s

Nervous about including parents in therapy? Wish you could run the other way when a parent asks to speak with you? Our guest today, Marie Vakakis, wants EVERY therapist to feel comfortable working with parents and families. Marie helps Bron to

When the therapist ends therapy

Nov 22nd, 2023 31m 2s

Bron unpacks saying 'goodbye' to clients when the therapist is the one who is ending the relationship. Otherwise known as 'therapist-led termination' or 'unilateral termination', this is something that all therapists will encounter when they ch

LISTENER STORY: Being a queer therapist, importance of authenticity, leaving the clinical bridging program (with Matthew Jackson)

Nov 15th, 2023 46m 47s

Bron and Matthew unpack 👉🏽 Being part of the LGBTIQA+ community as a psychologist 👉🏻 The importance of being authentic inside and outside of therapy 👉 Matthew's passions outside of therapy 👉🏿 Why Matthew chose to leave the clinical psych

LISTENER STORY: "The problem is the problem" (with Allison O'Leary)

Nov 8th, 2023 1h 3m

Bron is joined by Allison to unpack the highs and lows of Allison's journey to licensure. Allison went through some downright scary experiences as a therapist-in-training, but wanted to come on the podcast to share with you a story of hope and

LISTENER STORY: Teacher to psych transition, managing complex cases, supporting gender diverse youth (with Natalie Shamir)

Nov 1st, 2023 42m 12s

Bron and Natalie unpack her 4+2 journey as a school provisional psych. They chat about 👉🏽 Natalie's transition from primary school teacher to provisional psych 👉🏻 Great things about being a psych 👉 Managing complex cases and vicarious trau

Treating anxiety: CBT vs Schema Therapy (with Amanda Moses)

Oct 25th, 2023 51m 42s

Bron and Amanda unpack treating generalised anxiety disorder by applying two treatment approaches (CBT and Schema Therapy) to the same hypothetical case. They chat about 👉🏽 The downsides of worry and how it can become problematic for clients