Episode #6: The Door Is Open — Your Big Feelings, Growing Brains Resources. In this special episode of Big Feelings, Growing Brains, Sharon Ward and Professor Selena Bartlett bring the series together and introduce the practical resources created with parents, educators, health professionals and community members. Throughout the series, we have explored the real challenges families are facing, including screen transitions and meltdowns, anxiety and school refusal, food and fussy eating, readi...
Jul 29
39 min
Raising children is not something families should have to do alone. It takes a village: parents, grandparents, educators, health professionals, community workers, neighbours and friends who can offer practical help, calm advice and a reminder that no one needs to have all the answers. In Episode #5 of Big Feelings Growing Brains, we explore the everyday moments that can feel big for families: supporting children in building early reading skills, navigating toileting, asking for help, and find...
Jun 26
33 min
Simple food and lunchbox ideas for big feelings, growing brains Feeding children is rarely just about food. It can be about time, cost, tiredness, sensory needs, routine, allergies, lunchboxes that come home untouched, and the pressure families can feel to get every meal right. In Episode #4 of Big Feelings Growing Brains, we heard many thoughtful, practical ideas from educators, health professionals and families who understand these everyday challenges. Their conversations reminded us that f...
Jun 25
25 min
School avoidance is becoming an increasingly common challenge for families, schools, and communities. For some children, walking through the school gates can feel overwhelming. Anxiety, bullying, social pressures, learning difficulties, emotional distress, and feeling unsafe can all contribute to school refusal and disengagement. In Episode 3 of Big Feelings, Growing Brains, we explore what may sit beneath school avoidance and what families, educators, and communities can do to help children ...
Jun 1
43 min
Why do some children seem calm one moment and completely overwhelmed the next when it is time to switch off a screen? In Episode 2 of Big Feelings, Growing Brains, we explore what is really happening in the developing brain when children move from highly stimulating digital environments back into everyday life. Together, parents, educators, and wellbeing leaders discuss why screen transitions can trigger big emotions, what children are trying to communicate through their behaviour, and practi...
May 31
48 min
Why Children Melt Down When Screens End Why do simple moments like “time to turn it off” so often end in tears, anger, shutdowns, or emotional explosions? In the first episode of Big Feelings, Growing Brains, neuroscientist Professor Selena Bartlett brings together educators, parents, and wellbeing voices to explore what is really happening in the developing brain during screen-time transitions. Featuring: Professor Selena BartlettDr Mark Williams, cognitive neuroscientist, Author, ScreenSma...
May 25
31 min
Anxiety in children and teenagers is rising, but are we always helping in the right way? In this powerful conversation, with clinical psychologist Dr Danielle Einstein to explore what anxiety really is, how modern parenting, social media and screens may unintentionally reinforce it, and why avoidance can quietly strengthen fear over time. Drawing on neuroscience, clinical psychology, and real-world family experiences, this episode explores: Why the brain learns through experience H...
May 19
50 min
Episode #216 Will Agency become the word for 2026? Raising Screen Smart People with Dr Mark Williams
What does it really mean to raise a screen-smart child in a world that is designed to capture their attention? In this important and timely conversation, I sit down with Dr Mark Williams to discuss his new book with Gavin McCormack, exploring the science, the reality, and the responsibility we all share when it comes to children and screens. Drawing from their new book Screen Smart Children, we go beyond fear and blame to unpack what is actually happening in the developing brain. We talk abou...
May 6
42 min
If we are honest, we know we are not one fixed version of ourselves. We can be generous and self-interested, patient and reactive, all within the same day. In this episode, we explore that uncomfortable truth and what it reveals about human behaviour. I sit down with Benjamin Knight to discuss Contained, a powerful immersive experience that brings you inside the reality of youth detention. It asks a confronting question: how different are “we” from “them,” really? Through story, neuroscience,...
Apr 7
43 min
What if the pickleball court was the beginning of a movement? Not a fitness trend, but a genuine response to one of the most significant public health challenges of our time: the slow erosion of the social fabric that holds communities together and keeps people well. I was sharing an Uber Pool on my way to speak to a room full of local council leaders when the woman sitting next to me started talking about why she had left her job in tech. She had spent a decade building a platform connecting...
Mar 27
49 min
Load more