Family and Child Consultants

  When Everything Feels Too Much — Start Here By Niki Gent We’ve all had those moments — the ones where the weight of everything becomes too much. The emails stack up. The deadlines blur. The dishes are still in the sink. The phone keeps ringing. You’re tired but can’t sleep. You’re wired but can’t think. And on top of that, someone tells you to “just take a deep breath,” and you want to scream. When life feels like this — messy, overwhelming, relentless — it’s not because you’re weak. It’s because you’re human. And the systems around us often expect us to function like machines. Overwhelm doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means your nervous system is overloaded. And before you can move forward — with goals, therapy, parenting, or paperwork — you have to calm the storm inside your body. So if everything feels too much, don’t start with the whole mountain. Start here: 🌱 Step 1: Come Back to Your Body When we’re overwhelmed, we leave our bodies. We go into our heads, our fears, our ta...

  Why Staff Don’t Burn Out — They Break Down Quietly Burnout is rarely an explosion. It is more like a slow leak. Most people don’t even realise they’re burning out until they’re knee-deep in emotional exhaustion, disengagement, or a quiet resentment that builds over time. In community services, this is especially dangerous. Our work involves holding space for the trauma and chaos of others. And without careful attention, we can absorb it. The signs are subtle: the staff member who used to speak up at meetings now avoids eye contact. The worker who loved going the extra mile now only does what’s required. The colleague who was always calm under pressure now seems tired, snappy, and emotionally unavailable. These aren’t isolated behaviours. They are indicators of a slow, steady internal collapse. What we call burnout is often the result of years of unmet emotional needs, chronic overfunctioning, and organisational cultures that reward performance over wellness. And by the time it su...

Why the System Feels Like It’s Failing — and What We Can Do Anyway By Niki Gent If you work in health, disability, education, child protection, justice, or community services, chances are you’ve said (or thought) the same sentence I’ve heard echoed across meeting rooms, car rides, and late-night debriefs: “The system is broken.” And you’re not wrong. The people we work with are falling through cracks so wide they may as well be canyons. We see it every day — children placed in unsafe homes, First Nations families over-surveilled, underfunded services expected to do more with less, survivors retraumatised by red tape, people with disability waiting months for basic support. It’s exhausting. Disheartening. Infuriating. And it’s easy to feel helpless in the face of it. But here’s what I’ve learned, through 20 years in the sector and hundreds of conversations with both frontline workers and system leaders: Yes, the system feels like it’s failing. And yes, we still have agency — even in the...

  You Don’t Need to Be Fixed — You Need to Be Heard By Niki Gent There’s a quiet belief many people carry when they walk into their first session — whether it's therapy, coaching, or case management. It’s not always said out loud, but it shows up in body language, hesitation, and the way they brace themselves before speaking. The belief is: “Something is wrong with me.” And behind that, an even more painful thought: “I need to be fixed.” I want to say this as clearly as I can — to the clients I sit with, to the professionals I train, and even to my younger self who once thought healing meant perfection: You do not need to be fixed. You need to be heard . You need to be met exactly where you are — not with judgment, not with advice, but with deep, respectful presence. You need someone who doesn’t rush to explain away your pain. Someone who won’t respond with clichés or “at leasts.” Someone who sees your humanity before they see your behaviours. The truth is, many of us have internal...