E47 - Parenting a child with Muscular Dystrophy - The Hidden World of Women

When we are planning to start a family we get a picture in our head around what it’s going to look like. It very rarely looks like the romanticised picture we create. Sometimes, the reality is as vastly different to that picture.

In this episode Bri shares how her family doesn’t look how she anticipated. Bri and her husband have two children. When they took him to the hospital with wheezing from a virus their suspicions were confirmed. Ari had a genetic condition. After a plethora of testing it was confirmed that he has a very rare form of Muscular Dystrophy and to their knowledge he is the only living person with that form of MD.

Not to be left out, their eldest son was later diagnosed with type one diabetes. They hit the genetic lottery.

Bri shares how the diagnosis impacts their family, struggles with NDIS, juggling therapy and hospital appointments, as well as the absolute joy that their two boys bring to their lives.

It is really easy to get jaded, tired, cranky when life hands you lemon after lemon but Bri is light and relaxed (at the end of a long day at work!). When I asked what her secret is she said she gave up wine and she gives gratitude at the end of each day. Being grateful for the positives she has in her life every day helps refocus her perspective.

In the episode Bri spoke about some resources:

Muscular Dystrophy Support Australia https://www.facebook.com/groups/240404516426752

Muscular Dystrophy WA https://www.mdwa.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/

E46 - Being a Transwomen in 2022 - The Hidden World of Women

While some parts of the world celebrate Pride month in June, here in Australia we celebrate Pride in November but Pride is for more than just one month a year. The more we can learn about people’s experiences the more empathy and understanding we can show.

The 2016 Census counted 1,260 sex and/or gender diverse people in Australia, 26% of those identified as transgender. This count is not considered to be an accurate count, due to limitations around the special procedures and willingness or opportunity to report as sex and/or gender diverse. People who have been treated with disrespect, abuse and discrimination because of their sex or gender may be unwilling to reveal their sex in an official document. 

In this episode of The Hidden World of Women, I spoke with Melissa who is a transwomen from Melbourne Australia. I will admit, I had some broad understandings of some of the issues that trans people would face in Australia but it was interesting to discuss issues with Melissa that wouldn’t have occurred to me. It’s not as simple as just saying ‘my outside doesn’t match who I am on the inside, so I’m going to live as a woman now’. I thought there would be difficulties with having to come out to friends relatives and colleagues but I didn’t consider the surgeries that were possible or the level of interest that strangers would show. 30-40 hate prank phone calls in a night from a stranger? What? Why? Who does that?

Thank you Melissa for your time and sharing so openly. If listeners want to get in contact with Melissa you can find here here:

W: www.melissagriffiths.com.au ;

 Facebook (The Real Melissa Griffiths -@melissachloegriffiths): https://m.facebook.com/melissachloegriffiths/ ;

Melissa Griffiths Transgender Supermodel Advice Page. https://m.facebook.com/mgtgsupermodeladvice/

 Instagram (#/@melissacgriffiths): https://www.instagram.com/melissacgriffiths ; Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissagriffithsgga/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/melissaracing

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZOwq_qiJi7N3pZNlbI6kw

Supports available include:

WAAC www.waac.com.au

Freedom centre for people under 26 who are GLBTQIA Support for LGBTIQA+ young people | WAAC

PFlag for parents of GLBTQIA+ www.pflagwa.org.au

Trans folk of WA Trans Women - TransFolk of WA  

Switchboard (Victoria) Switchboard Victoria

Globe (Victoria) GLOBE | Connecting & Nurturing LGBTIQ+ Communities (globevictoria.com.au)

If you are looking for support

Crisis care: 1800 199 008

Lifeline: 131114

Kids Help Line: 1800 551 800

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/

E45 - ADHD in women, adult diagnosis - The Hidden World of Women

Why are we hearing about more women being diagnosed with ADHD as adults? Why were they not picked up and diagnosed in childhood? What does ADHD look like in women?

ADHD looks very different in girls and women to the stereotype of the naughty boys who are disruptive and destructive, always in trouble and doing the wrong thing. It can look like fidgeting, hyper focus, or an inability to concentrate, overachieving or zoning out. It can look like 200 different hobbies (often the supplies are just gathering dust). It can look like DOOM piles (did not organise, only moved), it might look like anxiety or depression, it might be sensory seeking or sensory overload or it might be….oh look a butterfly!

There are three categories of ADHD; hyperactive-impulsive, inattentive and combined so it really can look very different in different people.

In this episode I spoke with Angela, a qualified and successful health professional, who talked about her process of being diagnosed with inattentive ADHD. Angela spoke about how ADHD impacts her executive functioning which is the skills required to facilitate the behaviours required to plan and achieve goals. Angela also spoke about her history with anxiety and depression in the past and questions whether they were actually symptoms of the self-criticism and downward spiral of negative and degrading commentary that constantly ran through her mind that came from the undiagnosed ADHD. Angela also speaks about some of the strategies that she uses to support her functioning and how her life has changed for the better in the six months since diagnosis.

In the episode Angela spoke about some resources:

How to ADHD on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/howtoadhd

ADHD WA: https://www.adhdwa.org/

ADHD Australia: https://www.adhdaustralia.org.au/

Angela has also put together a list of resources that will be published on the Women’s Health and Wellbeing Service https://whws.org.au/ blog in the next week.

Thank you Angela for sharing your story so openly and sharing about your experiences so far on your journey to diagnosis and how far you have come.

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/

E44 - Family & Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence part 2 - The Hidden World of Women

So many women in Australia experience Family and domestic violence. The statistics in Australia show one in six women (and one in 16 men) experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or previous partner since the age of 15, one in four women (one in six men) have experienced emotional abuse by a current or previous partner since the age of 15 and one in five women (and one in twenty men) have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.

Despite how common FDV is in Australia there is still shame and stigma and fear of judgement so we don’t talk about it and if we do then people don’t know what to say or where to look. This is the second part of our episode focusing on family and domestic violence and sexual violence.

Names have been changed to protect identities. Issues discussed in this episode are of a sensitive nature and may provoke emotional responses, support phone numbers have been included at the end of the show notes.

In the first part of this episode I spoke with Cassie about her experiences with FDV, sexual violence and we left Cassie’s story with her leaving that relationship. In this episode we talk about the court system, the support of a refuge, relationships after leaving an FDV relationship. Cassie doesn’t hold back and shares so many of her experiences and learnings.

I want to again say a big thank you to Cassie for sharing so openly in this no holds barred conversation.

You don’t know who needs to hear this and know they aren’t alone. Please share this episode so that they can know there is support available!

If you are looking for support for family and domestic violence or sexual violence here are some supports:

Women’s Domestic Violence Helpline: 1800 007 339

Men’s Domestic Violence Helpline: 1800 000 599

Sexua assault resource centre: 1800 199 888

1800 respect: 1800 77 732

Crisis care: 1800 199 008

Lifeline: 131114

Kids Help Line: 1800 551 800

Financial counselling Australia: 1800 007 007

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/

E43 - Family & Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence part 1 - The Hidden World of Women

In Australia one in six women (and one in sixteen men) experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or previous partner since the age of 15, one in four women (one in six men) have experienced emotional abuse by a current or previous partner since the age of 15 and one in five women (and one in twenty men) have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.

So many women in Australia experience violence and yet we still don’t talk about it. There is still shame and stigma and fear of judgement. This episode focuses on family and domestic violence and sexual violence. Names have been changed to protect identities. Issues discussed in this episode are of a sensitive nature and may provoke emotional responses, support phone numbers have been included at the end of the show notes.

In this episode I spoke with Cassie about her experiences with FDV, sexual violence, the court system, the support of a refuge, relationships after leaving an FDV relationship. Cassie doesn’t hold back and shares so many of her experiences and learnings. Huge thank you to Cassie for sharing so openly in this no holds barred conversation.

There was so much that we covered in this episode that we split it into two parts.

You don’t know who needs to hear this and know they aren’t alone. Please share this episode so that they can know there is support available!

If you are looking for support for family and domestic violence or sexual violence here are some supports:

Women’s Domestic Violence Helpline: 1800 007 339

Men’s Domestic Violence Helpline: 1800 000 599

Sexua assault resource centre: 1800 199 888

1800 respect: 1800 77 732

Crisis care: 1800 199 008

Lifeline: 131114

Kids Help Line: 1800 551 800

Financial counselling Australia: 1800 007 007

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/

E42 - Avoiding burnout and the importance of self care - The Hidden World of Women

Some parts of the world celebrate May as Mental Health Awareness Month. While we don’t celebrate Mental Health Month until October here in Australia, when you run a mental health service, every month should be mental health month.

Up until 2019 it was fair to say that most people may have experienced some job related stress. When does stress stop being stress and start being burn out? In 2019 the World Health Organisation officially recognised work place burn out as a medical diagnosis. Since then, we have had a global pandemic and stress levels didn’t reduce, they increased exponentially.

According to research from Indeed, 58% of employees surveyed identified as suffering from burn out and almost 40% of those said it was worse as a result of the pandemic.

In this episode I spoke with Dr Jenny Brockis, author of ‘Thriving Mind’, award-winning speaker, facilitator, author, and board-certified lifestyle medicine physician. I spoke with Jenny about her own experiences of burn out and the recovery as well as hints and tips on how to recognise the warning signs and actually do something about them.

I first met Jenny when she was speaking about Burn Out at a Women in Technology WA event and I had so many ah ha moments, then I read ‘Thriving Mind’ and it was such an easy read with really practical tips for how to make small changes that were easy to implement that would have positive impact on your life and mental wellbeing.

I really enjoyed speaking with Jenny about her experiences and am so grateful for the opportunity to chat about all things mental wellbeing.

If you want to find out more about Jenny you can head to her website: https://www.drjennybrockis.com/ or check out her podcast Thriving with Sarah and Jenny https://podcasts.apple.com/br/podcast/thriving-podcast-with-sarah-and-jenny/id1574349850?l=en

.

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/

E41 - Experienced Army Mum - The Hidden World of Women

This is the fourth and last episode in our ANZAC day series. The series has focused on how the Department of Defence impacts womens lives. Whether that be women as serving members of Defence, or as wives, partners or mothers.  Being connected to the Department of Defence shapes women’s lives and I wanted to speak with women about that experience.

In the last episode I spoke with Tonya, a former Army Reservist and a new Navy mum.  In this episode I spoke with Jill a former Army Reservist and an experienced Army mum.  Jill shares her experiences of being a single mum in the Army Reserves and how inclusive that experience was. Who would have thought that you could bring your kids to training nights at the Army Reserve? I’m going to be honest, I didn’t. 

Jill then spoke about her experiences with her daughter joining the Army and Jill’s experience being the mum of an Army Officer (including having to salute her daughter!). Jill talked about some of the practical ways that you can support your children who dedicate their lives to Defence as well as ways that it impacted her having her daughter in the Army.

Jill spoke about some of the amazing opportunities that her daughter has had to travel the world and how Jill has also had opportunities that others wouldn’t even think of as well as talking about how far the Army has come (maternity uniforms people, pregnant women need maternity uniforms!).

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/

E40 - Army Reserve to Navy Mum - The Hidden World of Women

On the April 25^th we celebrated ANZAC day here in Australia (and New Zealand). We wanted to talk to women whose lives are impacted by their connection to the Department of Defence, whether that be as serving members, as a partner of a member of Defence or as a mother of someone who serves or has served in the Department of Defence.

In this episode I spoke with Tonya Bailey who shares about her experiences in the Army Reserves. Tonya also spoke about how she shared stories of being in the Army Reserve with her children, so she wasn’t surprised when one of them shared that he was planning to join Defence, but he took a while to work out which branch of Defence he was interested in (Army, Navy or Airforce, how do you choose?). While Tonya had almost expected that he would join the Army he had to break the news to her that in fact he wanted to join the Navy. Like most mum’s Tonya just wanted him to be happy and she celebrated.

Tonya is just at the start of her Navy Mum journey, a journey that was made so much more difficult thanks to Covid and the lock downs, travel bans, restrictions etc. Tonya had some useful hints and tips to share for other parents who are just starting their journey as a parent of a Defence member. Not surprisingly, I cried, surprisingly so did Tonya and I thank you Tonya for your openness in sharing your story and being vulnerable and letting me dig into wounds that you perhaps didn’t know existed.

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/

E39 - Army Life and Army Wife - The Hidden World of Women

April 25th is ANZAC day here in Australia. To pay tribute to ANZAC day this is the second episode in the ANZAC series exploring how being connected to the Department of Defence impacts women. Women in the military, the wives and mothers of those in the Department of Defence.

In this episode I spoke with Nicky Thomas who joined the Army Reserves for half a second before moving straight over into the army and was a member of the Australian Army for just shy of 9 years before moving back to the reserves. Nicky shares her experiences of being in the army, deployment, getting married and having children in the army and then being an army wife with a small baby while her husband was on deployment.

Nicky had some wonderful experiences in the Army and shares how the Army supported her during her time as a member of Defence. There were times when it was hard, but there are times in life that are hard and life is what you make it.

Thank you Nicky for sharing so openly. I think we may have jumped up on a soapbox for a minute but we did really well to keep it to only a minute up there!

If you found this useful or interesting or you think that someone would benefit from hearing this episode, don’t keep it to yourself, share it.

If you want to follow Nicky her social media handles are:

Instagram: @Nickythomasofficial

FB: www.facebook.com/nickyt5

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in.nicky-thomas-leadership-coach

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/

E38 - Life in and after the Royal Australian Air Force - The Hidden World of Women

April 25th is ANZAC day here in Australia. I wanted to do a short series talking to women who have experience with the Department of Defence to look at the ways that the armed forces impact women. Women in the military, the wives and mothers of those in the Department of Defence.

In the first episode of this series, I spoke with Helen Burgess who was a peace time veteran and was in the Royal Australian Air Force for 16 years with a civilian husband who followed her through her RAAF career.

Helen spoke of her love of planes, her experiences in the RAAF, getting married, being pregnant in the Air Force (before there were maternity uniform options), finding herself after she left the RAAF, living with PTSD, and more.

Thank you Helen for sharing your experiences.

Some of the support agencies that we spoke about where veterans can access some supports:

RSLSA https://www.rslwa.org.au 

Working Spirit https://workingspirit.org.au/

Open Arms https://www.openarms.gov.au/

Soldier On https://soldieron.org.au/

Sailing On https://www.sailingonwa.org.au/

Buddy Up https://www.buddyupaustralia.org.au/

Connected By https://connectedby.org/

Our Veterans Forge https://ourveteransforge.com.au/

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/