So much of women's lives and so many of our experiences are hushed up, not spoken about and hidden. The Hidden World of Women is focused on bringing awareness to the experiences of women. There is no shame, no secrecy. Just women talking openly about their and our experiences. We want to let women know that you aren't alone, we want to bring awareness and shine hope for women.
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 19, 2025
Wednesday Mar 19, 2025
In this episode of The Hidden World of Women, host Emma chats with the incredible Allison Davies—a former neurologic music therapist, speaker, and advocate for neurodivergent individuals. Together, they dive into a wide-ranging conversation covering everything from:
- What is music therapy, and how can it support neurodivergent brains?
- Being diagnosed with AuDHD (Autism + ADHD) and what that journey looks like
- Do you need a formal diagnosis, or can self-identification be enough?
- Finding spaces and strategies that work for your unique neurotype
- And because this podcast can never run without one or two tangents: How many cats is too many cats?
As part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week, this episode is all about embracing your brain, understanding how it works, and discovering tools to create a life that supports you. Allison was kind enough to shares personal insights into the experience of her own diagnosis and the experience of her kids diagnosis. She describes it as an incredibly vulnerable experience. Allison does highlight that is it worth doing the work to understand your neurotype because through the experience it allows people to live better and more affirming lives.
Allison talks about the science of music and the ways it can help people feel calmer and safer to myth-bust the idea that Music Therapy is unscientific. She emphasises that for patients it can help build their tolerance for other medical procedures because people don’t associate the concept of music with potential traumatisation.
Resources Mentioned:
- Learn more about Allison Davies: allisondavies.com.au
- Australian Music Therapy Association: austmta.org.au
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/
Wednesday Mar 05, 2025
Wednesday Mar 05, 2025
In this episode, Emma is joined by Fiona MacPherson to talk about her experiences with Lipoedema. This is a common connective tissue disorder that causes an abnormal buildup of fat that cannot be removed without surgery. Despite affecting 11% of women, Lipoedema remains underdiagnosed, often mistaken for obesity, and is not recognised by Medicare in Australia—leaving many women struggling to access affordable treatment. Many people live undiagnosed for years due to the lack of conversation and awareness about this condition.
Fiona was kind enough to share her personal journey with us, from living with Lipoedema unknowingly for years to finally receiving a diagnosis in 2022. She talks about the relief of understanding her condition, the emotional process of forgiving herself, and the importance of raising awareness so that more women can access the diagnosis and care they need.
What You’ll Hear in This Episode:
What Lipoedema is, how it progresses, and its connection to hormonal changes.
Fiona’s experience navigating the healthcare system and the emotional impact of diagnosis.
The financial reality of treatment, from preventative care to surgery costs.
The urgent need for greater awareness, funding, and recognition of Lipoedema in Australia
Why self-compassion is key, and how to move forward without shame or stigma.
Our goal with this episode is to shed light onto a condition that is rarely talked about and misunderstood. We always aim to provide a space for women to tell their stories without shame or fear of judgement. Through this episode we hope more people can identify a potential cause of their struggle with their body and begin working towards self-acceptance. If you’ve struggled with similar symptoms, you’re not alone and there are ways to manage lipoedema.
If you’d like to learn more visit Lipoedema Australia Foundation: www.lipoedema.org.au
If this feels relevant to people in your life, please share it with those around you. Awareness changes lives.
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
We’re back for another year, and in our first episode, Emma wanted to talk about transitions. As schools, unis, and TAFEs go back, how do you cope when your baby isn’t a baby anymore?
When your child starts kindy, there’s an outpouring of support. But when they finish primary school, high school, or even uni, no one really talks about how scary change can be. In this episode, Emma McLarty joins the conversation to unpack these transitional moments—why they can hit harder than we expect, why it’s OK to not be OK, and how to navigate the emotional rollercoaster of letting go.
We do want to give a little warning: we might make parenting sound really scary and overwhelming in this episode, but we promise—it’s not as bad as it sounds! This is just a space for parents to feel overwhelmed, teary, and to acknowledge that sometimes, change just feels like it’s happening way too fast.
Tune in as we explore:
The unexpected emotions of your child growing up
Why these transitions can feel so big and isolating
The importance of finding your village and normalizing these feelings
How to balance “letting go” with celebrating growth
Practical ways to support yourself (and each other!) through these big milestones
If you're feeling daunted by school starting back this week, this episode is for you. You’re not alone—we’re in this together.
Read the blog post that inspired this episode: It's OK to Not Be OK: https://wacpps.org.au/when-older-kids-go-back-to-school-its-ok-to-not-be-ok/
Let’s keep the conversation going! Share your experience with us—how did you feel when your older kids started a new chapter?
You can find Emma McLarty: www.emmamclarty.com.au
or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-mclarty-a9a8735a/
or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emmamclartycounselling
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/
Wednesday May 15, 2024
Wednesday May 15, 2024
May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndorme (EDS) and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD) Awareness Month. During this month, people worldwide show their support for those with complex, multisystemic conditions. The awareness ribbon is black and white zebra striped pattern and zebra are used throughout the awareness campaign with phrases like #dazzletogether (a group of zebras is call a dazzle which I did not know and I LOVE!).
In this episode Emma speaks with Phillipa about what it is like to live with EDS and include discussion on why people with EDS are called zebras, at Med school doctors are taught that if you hear hoof beats think horses not zebras (why there is a horse in a hospital only John Mulaney knows apparently 😊) but the saying is supposed to encourage med students to look for the most obvious cause rather than jumping to the obscure and unlikely but guess what, sometimes those hoof beats are zebras and sometimes the diagnosis is the rare and complex condition like EDS – although Emma and Phillipa do questions just how rare EDS actually is!
It wouldn’t be a Hidden World of Women episode without tangents and the odd soapbox thrown in here an there, Emma and Phillipa discuss mobility aides and I am reminded of the meme that says that ‘people who don’t need mobility aides don’t fantasize about having one’, the importance of finding community and surrounding yourself with people who can show kindness, empathy and compassion and the need to advocate for yourself. We encourage you to be your own advocate and listen to your body because more often than people realise, there’s a zebra in the hospital too!
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/
Tuesday Apr 30, 2024
Tuesday Apr 30, 2024
The latest instalment of The Hidden world of Women is a two part episode with Penny focusing on living as a visually impaired person. Penny is a mother of 5 children who doesn’t let having been blind since birth stop her doing anything! This is Part two of the episode, for part one follow the link at the end.
While being blind in a world made for sighted comes with its challenges Penny shares with Emma how she tackles those challenges and Emma had a lot of questions - there were just so many things that Emma had never considered and as a result the huge episode became two long episodes!
How do you parent five children? Seriously, how do you change a nappy when you can’t see what you are potentially about to put your fingers in? How do you travel as a blind person - is it REALLY safe for you to ride a push bike? What’s it like being the only blind person in the room? How can organisations make themselves more accessible to blind and visually impaired people? What technology and skills do you use as part of your everyday life?
Penny looks at life with an upbeat attitude and as an adventure which helps given she’s been in some interesting situations. She thinks that for all a situation which might feel daunting and impossible, there is a solution to it or at the very least a funny story to be had!
Part One can be found here: https://hiddenworldofwomen.podbean.com/e/e64-whats-it-like-being-blind-part-1-the-hidden-world-of-women/
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/
Friday Apr 12, 2024
Friday Apr 12, 2024
The latest instalment of The Hidden world of Women is a two part episode with Penny focusing on living as a visually impaired person. Penny is a mother of 5 children who doesn’t let having been blind since birth stop her doing anything!
While being blind in a world made for sighted comes with its challenges Penny shares with Emma how she tackles those challenges and Emma had a lot of questions - there were just so many things that Emma had never considered and as a result the huge episode became two long episodes!
How do you parent five children? Seriously, how do you change a nappy when you can’t see what you are potentially about to put your fingers in? How do you travel as a blind person - is it REALLY safe for you to ride a push bike? What’s it like being the only blind person in the room? How can organisations make themselves more accessible to blind and visually impaired people? What technology and skills do you use as part of your everyday life?
Penny looks at life with an upbeat attitude and as an adventure which helps given she’s been in some interesting situations. She thinks that for all a situation which might feel daunting and impossible, there is a solution to it or at the very least a funny story to be had!
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/
Thursday Mar 07, 2024
Thursday Mar 07, 2024
It’s International Women’s Day today! This years theme is ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’ (find out more here https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day)
As we’re a women’s organisation and gender based service we had to take the time to focus on acknowledging the 8th March.
This year we struggled to come up with a topic for conversation particularly relating to accelerating progress until a post acknowledged Iris Apfel as a ‘she-ro’.
In this episode Emma is joined by Lacey Filipich, a chemical engineer, serial entrepreneur, and advocate for women in stem to discuss words like SHEro, SheEO and girl boss. They discuss not only the messages they are sending to young women but also discuss if these terms are working for or against accelerating progress.
As with all our episodes Emma and Lacey went on many tangents, talking about being a woman in engineering, how exhausting it is to be the educator, being a “token” hire and more.
To find out more about Lacey you can visit www.moneyschool.org.au
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
In this weeks episode of the Hidden World of Women, Emma is joined by Serena.
Serena is one unit away from completing her masters in counselling and was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 54.
While this episode was going to focus on studying and careers with ADHD, in true ADHD fashion we went everywhere!
This episode talks about Serena’s path to diagnosis, her experiences as a child of a mother with ADHD and what it’s like starting a new career pathway in your 50’s.
One subject Serena talks about in depth are the ways in which women are often more expected to mask and hide their ADHD symptoms due to the societal expectations on how a woman “should” behave.
At 57 Serena is still unlearning those masking behaviours and marvels at her youngest daughter who doesn’t seem to have learned them while she and her eldest daughter learned ways to modify her behaviour to fit within a the expected mould.
Young boys are expected to be hyperactive, fidgety, athletic and to take part in risk taking behaviour and it’s theorised this is why young boys are less likely to hide their ADHD traits. It’s the disruptive nature of external ADHD symptoms that get children diagnosed early, while Serena internalised her symptoms and got comments on her report like “Serena needs to focus more but she’s a pleasure to have in class” which resulted in her learning to look like she was listening rather than actually developing the skills to listen and learn.
Serena talks about her academic career and the ways it has been shaped by her ADHD. In her life she’s jumped from passion project to passion project and had found she often wouldn’t work within the area afterwards. It’s only now she’s diagnosed and treated her ADHD that she feels like counselling will stick for her and that she’ll continue doing it after she graduates.
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
In this week’s episode of the hidden world of Women we are joined by Ginger. Ginger has been in the adult industry for the last nine years and shared her experiences as a stripper and skimpy worker. She started stripping after returning from the UK and needing a job and source of income fast.
The social expectation of a stripper is that they’re people who have “gone off the rails.” (A real thing people have said to Ginger!) in Gingers case however it was her motivation to get and stay sober, her way to pay to go back to university to study Law and her way of travelling the country.
This episode talked about the experience of men trauma dumping on dancers. It’s not uncommon for people (typically men) to book a room to sit and talk saying ‘this will be the easiest money you make all night!’ The reality is the dancers are left with the pain and trauma that they have just heard with no time to process it before having to go back out with a happy smile to entertain the other patrons. Emma had expected stories of drunk men behaving inappropriately and was shocked to hear the high incidence of vicarious trauma.
Having stripped before and after Covid, Ginger has perspective on the way the industry was impacted by the pandemic, including stories of having to strip and give lap dances while still wearing a mask (which sounds so very sexy).
If you want to support people in your life who are thinking of this profession, remember to keep an open mind and be supportive! It’s hard work that takes skill.
Find Ginger on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gingerzephyr
Find Ginger on Instagram: @highvibehustler
Find Ginger on Tiktok: @gingerzephyr
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
In this weeks episode of the hidden world of women we continue the “Working Women” series. We’re joined by Kiah, a professional declutterer and organiser.
Kiah started her business in 2019 after her husband suggested that she use her skill set and passions and start Declutter with Kiah. With the support of her friends and family she started helping people make their spaces enjoyable to live in.
In this episode Emma and Kiah talk about shame, shame around not being able to do it alone, shame in asking for help. So many people are wrongly led to believe that being unable to keep their home organised without hiring external help is the sign they’re failing. Emma shared how she decided to start reframing the way she thought about asking for help, pointing out that when she hired someone to clean her home she was employing another woman and giving her the ability to provide for her family.
Kiah talked about the shame some people feel about having their clutter seen and the perception of judgement from other people. With all her clients she wants to make sure they know that she has seen it all. There is nothing embarrassing about needing help learning a skill.
Decluttering and organisation is a skill. People aren’t born innately understanding how to put things away, sort, organise and dispose of their possessions. Kiah’s father instilled in her the ability from a young age. Like you would hire a plumber to fix your sink you should think about hiring the right professional to help with your home.
To find Kiah on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/declutterwithKiah
To Find Kiah on Instagram: @declutterwithkiah
To find her website: https://declutterwithkiah.services/
The Hidden World of Women is a podcast brought to you by Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services. Help us get the word out about the podcast by hitting subscribe and sharing it with people you know who may be interested.
And don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with what we are offering at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Services www.whws.org.au
Check us out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandwellbeingservices
We also continue to add content to our Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCju-8oH3lDHZYi18wvgSJTQ
WHWS (and this podcast) rely on donations to support our community. If you would like to make a donation you can head to our Give Now page. https://www.givenow.com.au/whws
Or check out The Hidden World of You our online learning platform https://hiddenworldofyou.com.au/