Low or depressed mood affects EVERYTHING. I am a clinical psychologist with almost two decades of clinical experience as well as previously having been a researcher and lecturer in psychological science. In this episode, I share some evidence based tips for lifting low mood or maintaining mood. The awful thing when you feel low is that it feels lik…

Mindfulness has many benefits but can also be misunderstood. I talk about what mindfulness is and how it can be useful when we are dealing with relational trauma.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Episode 47: There is so much to the Gut Brain Axis but I give you a very quick overview and briefly cover Polyvagal theory.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Do you struggle with people pleasing and perhaps even identifying your own needs? In this episode I talk about the "fawn" response to relational trauma. My deeper self care course is available here: https://kumari.gumroad.com/l/deeperselfcareBy Dr Kumari Valentine

I often talk about the nervous system and soothing it for dealing with stress and trauma. Here I talk about what I mean by the nervous system. A couple of weeks ago, I had an extra stressful week and was pleased with a few things I put into place - I'm always learning! I hope these tips are useful to you too! Here is a download to the handout I tal…

Waitangi Day is pretty important in New Zealand and a day I have mixed feelings about. One the one hand, it is really important, I feel, to honour our known guardians of the land and the special history and culture. On the other hand, there has been so much wrong doing, bias, racism, and disadvantage to the indigenous people of this country.…

Best wishes for the holiday season! This is often a time of year when we start thinking about "resolutions" and "goals". These are more likely to succeed when they are driven by values. In this podcast, I talk about how we might discover or re-discover our values and some tips. Goal setting and values clarification are always easier when coming fro…

I'm Dr Kumari Valentine, Clinical Psychologist. I'm interested in trauma, including relational trauma. I'm an EMDR therapist amongst other things. I'm talking about intergenerational trauma and intergenerational resourcing on this podcast. I talk about soothing the nervous system and talk about 5 strategies I commonly teach and use. Here is the lin…

Terror Management Theory is one of Psychology's "Grand Theories", explaining how existential terror influences decision making and choices. This is my contribution to an observation that we are moving into a time of more right leaning politics. Change can be hard to manage and mean that dysregulated nervous systems struggle more. Download five stra…

What do we mean by Somatisation? In this episode I look at the connection between body and mind and what we mean by these diagnostic terms. I read some lines from the amazing book by Professor Bessel van der Kolk: "The Body Keeps the Score". Relearning to be in our body means resetting our nervous system. Sign up to my newsletter to download five p…

What would bring you more ease in this minute? Might it be easing your breath?By Dr Kumari Valentine

Perhaps not one to do actively while driving or doing something hazardous! We do a short mindfulness meditation aimed at increasing self compassion.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Our childhood experiences can mean that it is hard to be compassionate towards ourselves. I talk about why self-compassion is the magic ingredient in healing and how to develop more self-compassion.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Many of us are so skilled at being compassionate towards others. Here's Just a Minute of turning that outward reflex inwards....to build self compassion.By Dr Kumari Valentine

We are allowed to have things easy and to have ease in our lives! Our life experiences and messages from growing up might give us ideas against this. Let's take a moment to notice what comes up when we sit with the idea of ease.By Dr Kumari Valentine

In this episode I talk about what PTSD and Complex PTSD are, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5) and ICD-11.By Dr Kumari Valentine

What is Overthinking? I talk about worry and rumination and the functions that they have. I talk about the socialisation of types of thinking and some alternatives to overthinking as well as some of the difficulties. I briefly talk about mindfulness (and why it might not be the solution for everything!) as well as what I think the core issue is tha…

In this episode I share about my own self care journey, just a minute, and nutrition. Hope you enjoy this! I would love to hear from you! The self care cards I mention can be purchased from www.kumarivalentine.comBy Dr Kumari Valentine

In this episode, I talk about some deep stuff! Valentine's Day brings up all sorts of feelings for people (with good reason!). I talk about Parts of the Self and Deep Self Care.By Dr Kumari Valentine

In this episode, I'm starting to talk about deep self care and have some ideas of exercises and techniques for this. I'm referring to a list I made: https://drkumari.ck.page/selfcare with these exercises. Sign up to receive them into your inbox. Thanks heaps for listening and wishing you the best in this journey of healing!…

In this podcast we do a healing visualisation, imagining light entering through the crown of our heads. I realised I didn't walk you through the Crown Pull by Donna Eden that I had intended to! I'll do that next! Keen for other strategies to reset and rewire your nervous system for greater ease and flow? Go to https://tinyurl.com/drkumari I share o…

In this episode I share how I coped with "Traveller's Belly" using some teaching from Bruno Cayoun and Melissa Spilsted and talk about the difference between pain and suffering. Keen on more audio tracks to support your mindfulness or self care journey? My tracks are on iTunes, Spotify and more - search for "Dr Kumari Valentine". You can also find …

Just a Minute to step back from mental chatter, in Sydney.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Taking Just a Minute to breathe into gratitude from Singapore.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Taking a minute to breathe in compassion.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Catching a minute while I can?!By Dr Kumari Valentine

The Just a Minute concept is that we take a real minute, in our actual lives, to connect with ourselves and our body. I also mention my new deck of 90 mindfulness inspired self care cards - www.kumarivalentine.com. Note that the last day for posting before Christmas 2022 is Tuesday the 13th of December. I will be able to post again in early January…

Aisling O'Connor is a Child Psychologist in Sligo, Ireland. Today we talk about attachment, disruptions in attachment, co-regulation, and the big feelings that occur in childhood. We also talk about Aisling's passion for online safety and how connection with children is one of the pillars that keeps them safe. Aisling has an upcoming masterclass - …

Ultra brief progressive muscle relaxation to bring your awareness into your body and also to help the body relax and let go, even for Just a Minute, of some tension.By Dr Kumari Valentine

What does a Clinical Psychologist do? What do we mean by a Scientist-Practitioner? What is the difference between a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist? What can therapy help with? For this and more, tune into this session. Please share! Maybe there is a budding clinical psychologist who would like to hear more about this amazing area of work.…

In this week's Just a Minute, we visualise healing light moving through the body.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Is it difficult to say no because of guilt, people-pleasing, or obligation? Why is it so hard? I talk about some experiences that might contribute to this feeling. I also offer some journalling prompts.By Dr Kumari Valentine

The Butterfly Hug is an amazing technique, developed by Lucina Artigas, used in a variety of therapies including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy. I invite you to try just a minute with me.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Our relationships with others can affect us in powerful ways. There comes a time when we take stock and realise that some are no longer helpful to us. I talk about cutting the energetic cord and walk you through two exercises.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Trigger Warning - I talk about Infant and Pregnancy Loss and my own experiences. In this very personal episode, I share 10 things I have learnt about grief and loss.By Dr Kumari Valentine

For Just a Minute, we hold a younger self in mind and with compassion.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Reparenting ourselves is a powerful healing skill. We provide ourselves with the experiences and validation we needed when we grew up. We recognise and hear our inner child and allow ourselves the space and grace to speak authentically. In this episode I discuss 10 tips for writing a letter to our parents/carers that we DO NOT SEND. Please remember…

In this gentle exercise, we focus on bringing a sensation of warmth and kindness to your hands and then I invite you to place your hands on your heart or elsewhere.By Dr Kumari Valentine

Imposter Syndrome is characterised by a sense of self doubt, shame, and fear of being "found out". Often, we try cognitive strategies to deal with this. That is not enough. Let's talk about what lies underneath and what we can do about it! I talk about soothing the nervous system and the link to the exercises I suggest (free video + PDF when you si…

Many of us have had our voice silenced through various experiences including invalidating experiences of childhood that did not allow us to fully voice our authentic self. In this podcast, I talk about five dynamic "bottom up" or body based strategies to start us connecting with our true and authentic voice, literally and emotionally.…

I recorded Just a Minute of Mindful Awareness while at a busy function in in Wellington. I hope you enjoy it!By Dr Kumari Valentine

Why do we trip ourselves up? There's a layer of thoughts that is hard to access that holds surprising insights and secrets. Healing our experiences of childhood can include understanding the beliefs that trip us up and keep us trapped in the past. These unspoken rules set up our nervous system for a heightened state of threat or stress and make it …

This is a one minute version of Progressive Muscle Relaxation. I have a 3-4 minute version available as well as an 8 minute version. For my five foundational techniques to help soothe the nervous system, sign up to my newsletter and get a special Video/Audio/PDF guide that I poured my heart into. I'd love for you to try those techniques.…

Do you start the day overwhelmed? Does the day begin in your mind before you even get out of bed? Let's talk about making the morning easier with Just a Minute of Mindfulness.By Dr Kumari Valentine

In this series we are talking about healing from childhood experiences and becoming more of our true selves. We are also going to be doing Just a Minute of mindfulness. Join Dr Kumari (Clinical Psychologist, New Zealand). In this episode we focus on mindfulness awareness from the soles of our feet for just a minute.…