
Emerging Minds Families
Welcome to the Emerging Minds Families podcast. Each fortnight, we chat with parents, family members and practitioners from all over Australia. They generously share with us their experiences and the knowledge, strength and the skills they’ve developed while navigating the ups and downs of parenting, raising a family and the tricky things that life can sometimes throw at us. We discuss a range of topics close to families hearts and always with a mind to supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing. Tune in today.
Emerging Minds
Show overview
Emerging Minds Families has been publishing since 2024, and across the 2 years since has built a catalogue of 62 episodes. That works out to roughly 30 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 25 min and 33 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-AU-language Health & Fitness show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 2 weeks ago, with 9 episodes already out so far this year. Published by Emerging Minds.
From the publisher
Welcome to the Emerging Minds Families podcast. Each fortnight, we chat with parents, family members and practitioners from all over Australia. They generously share with us their experiences and the knowledge, strength and the skills they’ve developed while navigating the ups and downs of parenting, raising a family and the tricky things that life can sometimes throw at us. We discuss a range of topics close to families hearts and always with a mind to supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing. Tune in today.
Latest Episodes
View all 62 episodesHow a social worker can support your family
Supporting family mental health when a child experiences chronic illness

Nurturing wellbeing when a child experiences chronic illness
This is the first episode in a two-part series in which host Nadia Rossi speaks with Nicki, a parent of two young people with chronic health conditions. Nicki shares her family’s experience of supporting her son after his Type 1 diabetes diagnosis and the ways chronic illness can affect a child’s daily life, relationships, school and mental health.
Ways to support young people experiencing loneliness and bullying
This episode is the second in a two-part series where host Nadia Rossi continues her conversation with Amber Brock Fabel (Founder, SA Youth Forum) and Dr Ben Lohmeyer (Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University). In this conversation, Amber and Ben continue to share the findings from their co-designed study on loneliness in young people and its relationship to bullying.
How is loneliness impacting young people in Australia?
In this episode, host Nadia Rossi talks with Amber Brock-Fabel (Founder, SA Youth Forum) and Dr Ben Lohmeyer (Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University) about the findings from their co-designed study on loneliness and its relationship with young people’s experiences of bullying and overall wellbeing. They talk about the rise of loneliness amongst young people in Australia, the importance of creating safe spaces for young people and how parents may better understand what their children might be facing at school—and ways to support them.
School refusal and the social media ban: How to support children through change
In this episode, host Nadia Rossi speaks with educator, Sara Holman, about how parents and educators can work together to support children who experience difficulties attending school and the recent social media ban in Australia and its effects on young people.
Building a positive partnership with your child’s educator
In this episode, host Nadia Rossi speaks with educator, Sarah Holman, about building positive partnerships between parents and educators to support children's mental health, wellbeing and learning.
Screen-free moments: Practical ways to reconnect
In this episode, host Nadia Rossi speaks with Jane and Ian from Kiama Unplugged, a community-led movement that hosts events encouraging people to reduce their smart phone use and find moments of real-life connection. Jane and Ian share practical tips for reducing screen time and creating moments of connection for families and communities.
Re-release: Masculinity and raising boys to be good men
In this episode host Alicia Ranford welcomes back youth advocate and educator Daniel Principe. They discuss some of the issues that young people are sharing with Daniel, including ideas about masculinity. He also talks about how to raise boys to be good men and ways that the adults in young people's lives can be there for them.
Re-release: Talking to children and young people about pornography
This episode is the first in a two part series where host Alicia Ranford is joined by youth advocate and educator, Daniel Principe. In this first episode, Daniel talks with Alicia about the effects that watching pornography and sexualised content can have on young people. He talks about how we can encourage boys to recognise and resist distorted attitudes towards bodies, relationships, and sex and instead build healthy, respectful relationships with others and themselves.
Festive reflections with Emerging Minds: What the holidays mean to us
In this holiday season episode, host Nadia Rossi talks with Emerging Minds team members to share their family rituals, traditions, and approaches to managing holiday pressures, as well as how they help their children appreciate diverse celebrations. The group also reflect on the hopes they have for their children and their memories of the holiday seasons spent together.
Supporting children with early social and communication differences
In this episode, guest host Jacquie Lee speaks with Professor Andrew Whitehouse about how we can support babies and children who display early social and communication differences.
When is the right time? Navigating smartphone use with children
In this episode host Naida Rossi speaks with Dany Elachi, founder of the Heads Up Alliance, a grass roots organisation supporting parents who want to delay smart phones and social media for their children. Dany talks about complex issue of smart phone use in our children and young people and how building a supportive community can help parents navigate some of the challenges.
Looking beyond behaviour – part two
This is the final episode in a two-part series where host Alicia Randford is joined by developmental pediatrician and cohost of the popular parenting podcast Pop Culture Parenting, Dr Billy Garvey. In part twoBilly talks about prioritising building connection with our children over ‘perfect parenting’, how setting boundaries collaboratively and consistently with our children is most effective, and recognising when your family may need to seek extra support.
Looking beyond behaviour – part one
This is the first episode in a two-part series where host Alicia Randford is joined by developmental pediatrician and cohost of the popular parenting podcast Pop Culture Parenting, Dr Billy Garvey. In part one, Billy highlights the importance of understanding the emotions behind a child’s behaviour, the concept of emotional regulation, resilience and the role parents play in creating safe and supportive environments for children.
My family is different to yours: Helping children embrace diversity
Host Alicia Ranford welcomes back psychologist Rachel Samson to discuss the importance of teaching children about diverse family structures and fostering inclusivity. Rachel shares ways we can guide children to embrace difference and be inclusivity champions, both in their peer groups and how they live in the world.
Supporting emotional development and empathy in boys
In this episode host Alicia Randford and psychologist Rachel Samson explore the emotional development of young boys. Rachel shares ways we can encourage them to express their feelings and navigate through big emotions at any stage of their development.
ADHD, autism and food: Supporting neurodivergent children at mealtimes
In this episode host Nadia Rossi welcomes back Anna Ritan, an accredited paediatric dietitian-nutritionist and the founder of Nourish Little Lives. Anna shares insight into why mealtimes can be tricky for some neurodivergent children and the best ways we can support them.
How a speech pathologist can support your child
In this episode host Nadia Rossi speaks with Sally Venus, a paediatric speech pathologist, to unpack what a speech pathologist does and how they play a vital part in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.
Talking about periods: Ending shame and building understanding for every child
In this episode, host Nadia Rossi is joined by Rochelle Courtney, founder of Share the Dignity, a national charity with the mission to ensure that no woman, girl or person who menstruates has to choose between food and period products. Rochelle talks about the reality of period poverty and how we can better educate our children with the right language about periods to eliminate shame and stigma while supporting their mental health and wellbeing.