In this special episode of From Burnout to Balance, I sit down with my son Theo for an honest conversation about one of the biggest parenting stressors of our time: screen time.

Together, they reflect on their family’s journey from strict screen limits to a more relaxed, trust-based approach, and Theo shares candid insights about what life online is really like for young people today.

From gaming and streaming to online friendships, predator safety, and even the role screens play in mental health, Theo offers a perspective many parents rarely get to hear directly from their kids.

You’ll hear about:
🌿 Why limiting screens too tightly can sometimes isolate kids.
🌿 The positives (and risks) of online communities and friendships.
🌿 How gaming builds creativity, problem-solving, and even coding skills.
🌿 Practical tips for helping kids transition off screens without battles.
🌿 Theo’s personal journey as a streamer and what he’s learned along the way.

This is a heartfelt, eye-opening episode that will help you see the online world through your child’s eyes—and maybe even ease some of your own anxieties about screen time.

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Takeaways

• Screen time can serve as an escape for children.
• It's important to balance screen time with real-life interactions.
• Parents should check in on their children's mental health related to screen use.
• Online friendships can be as significant as real-life ones.
• Children can learn valuable skills through gaming.
• Parents should educate their kids about online safety and predator awareness.
• Streaming can boost a child's confidence and self-expression.
• It's crucial to monitor the content children consume online.
• Setting reasonable screen limits is better than strict restrictions.
• Open communication about online experiences fosters trust.

Hygiene can feel simple to some, but for many neurodivergent children and teens, especially those in burnout, it can be one of the hardest daily tasks.

In this episode of From Burnout to Balance, Tanya is joined again by Laura Hellfeld, a neurodivergent nurse and parent educator, to explore the layered challenges of hygiene and how parents can support their children with compassion, creativity, and flexibility.

Together, we discuss:

• Why hygiene often becomes inaccessible during burnout.

• The role of interoception and sensory processing in everyday self-care.

• How trial-and-error, choice, and autonomy can make hygiene less overwhelming.

• Gentle, practical alternatives to showers and baths (like wipes, shower caps, and simple sensory tweaks).

• Navigating parental worries about social expectations and rejection.

• Why honouring autonomy and co-creating routines is key to building lifelong skills.

This conversation is full of validation, real-life stories, and practical ideas to make hygiene less of a battle and more of a supportive, safe experience for your child.

📌 Resources & Links:

• Follow Laura’s work and writing via Substack and her books

  ND Nurse Consulting Webpage

  Laura’s Newsletter & Articles on Substack

  Gabby’s Glimmers: An Affirming Story of an Autistic Child and their Favourite Food

  Creating Safe Spaces for Autistic People, book

  LinkedIn

  Facebook

  Instagram

  BlueSky

  
  

• Explore more support inside From Burnout to Balance, Tanya’s parent membership community.

  FREE Burnout 101 mini-course - tanyavalentin.co/101

  Explore the healthcare products mentioned in this show: Simply Nootropics - https://glnk.io/ovx5q/tanyavalentinnz

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In this heartfelt episode of From Burnout to Balance, I sit down with Jade Thompson, an everyday Australian mum with an extraordinary story.

Jade opens up about her family’s journey through her son’s autistic burnout, the heartbreak of early school trauma, and the heavy weight of navigating broken systems. Instead of following conventional advice, Jade chose something different: to trust her intuition, listen deeply, and build a life centred on connection, love, and hope.

Together, we talk about:

• What it looks like to walk beside your child in burnout recovery
• The grief, confusion, and courage parents often carry
  
• Why the system—not the child—is what’s broken
• How radical honesty and love can create a new path forward

This is a conversation for any parent who has felt alone, unseen, or unsure of how to keep going.

Jade’s story is a reminder that you are not broken—and neither is your child.

Resources & Links Mentioned in This Episode:
✨ Free Grief Guide for Parents
✨ Join From Burnout to Balance Membership

Check out: Simply Nootropics - Use The Coupon Code: TANYAVALENTINNZ15 and get an additional $15 off your first order.https://glnk.io/ovx5q/tanyavalentinnz

Connect with Me:
Instagram: @tanyavalentinnz
Website: tanyavalentin.co

In this raw and deeply validating episode, I’m joined by Emma Gilmour, coach, counsellor, parent of two neurodivergent teens, and founder of Hope Rising Coaching.

Together, we explore the invisible intersections between neurodivergence, alcohol, trauma, unmasking, and parenting through burnout.

Emma shares her powerful journey of redefining her relationship with alcohol, discovering her own late-diagnosed neurodivergence, and parenting her children through autistic burnout.

We unpack how masking, cultural conditioning, and shame impact our ability to advocate for ourselves and how choosing self-compassion over self-judgment can be a radical and life-saving act.

This is an episode about being honest with ourselves. About acknowledging what we didn’t know, what we coped with the best we could, and how healing often begins in the places we’ve been told to hide.

This conversation is both an invitation and a lifeline, especially for parents walking a similar path.

Trigger Warning: This episode contains open and honest conversations about:

• Childhood trauma and emotional neglect

• Alcohol use as a coping mechanism

• Self-harm and suicidal ideation (including among teens and women in midlife)

• Unsafe social situations and consent

• Burnout, shutdowns, and parent-child relational trauma

Please take care while listening. Press pause, come back later, or skip this episode entirely if needed. Your nervous system safety matters most.

In this episode, we explore:

• Emma’s journey from corporate marketing to sobriety and coaching

• The link between late-diagnosed neurodivergence and alcohol use

• How alcohol often acts as a mask and survival tool for neurodivergent people

• Parenting two PDA children through burnout

• What it really means to support kids who can’t yet advocate for themselves

• Breaking generational cycles around emotions, shame, and compliance

• How grief, guilt, and growth coexist in parenting

• Why awareness—not self-blame—is the first step to change

• The freedom that comes from seeing behaviour as data, not failure

🔗 Resources & Links:

• Emma’s website & coaching

• • Emma’s Awareness Worksheets on alcohol use
  • Join Emma's Free Live Webinar - Not That Bad, But Bad Enough

• Follow Emma on Instagram

• Tanya’s membership: From Burnout to Balance

In this rich and affirming conversation, Tanya sits down with UK-based neurodivergent therapist and community builder Jade Farrington to explore what truly neuroaffirming support looks like. Together, they unpack the harms of the pathology-based model still dominant in therapy and education, and how shifting toward a neurodiversity paradigm can transform identity, healing, and parenting.
You'll hear about Jade’s journey as a late-identified neurodivergent person, the importance of creating spaces for diverse neurodivergent voices, and her incredible collection of free and low-cost resources that support individuals, families, and professionals alike.

✨ Topics include:

• How to spot red flags (and green flags) in therapy

• The power of identity-first language

• Resources for supporting positive autistic identity in young people

• Why Jade’s monthly newsletter is a treasure trove of support

• Creating community through collaboration, not compliance

🔗 Resources mentioned:

• Jade’s Substack Newsletter

• Happy Neurodivergent Christmas Guide

• Neurodivergent Healthcare Passport

• Glimmers Resource (with Teo from Sendwise)

• Exploring Your Neurotype Starter Guide

  
  

  Jade's website: https://jadefarrington.com/

  You can find these and more in Jade's Substack

  Follow Jade on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok

  
  

  Additional Resources:

  
  

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6486ea0c69b5b76396e7d5ca/t/6848339cd5b847639e5e4006/1749562268957/Is+your+provider+neurodiversity+affirming.pdf

https://www.chronicresilienceot.com/blog/neurodiversity-affirming-practice-for-mental-health

https://divergentdialogues.substack.com/p/demystifying-therapy-a-neurodivergent

https://www.facebook.com/100064806159710/posts/1116701613833367/

https://nait.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/NAIT-Key-Messages-for-Neuro-affirming-Health-Practitioners-Adults-2025.pdf

Kieran Rose: https://theautisticadvocate.com/

Grove Autistic Community: https://www.gr0ve.org/

Join the From Burnout to Balance community

In this episode of From Burnout to Balance, family coach Tanya Valentin dives deep into one of the most distressing experiences parents of neurodivergent children face: hearing their child say things like “I hate you,” “I hate myself,” or “I want to die” during meltdowns.

These moments can feel shocking, hurtful, or even terrifying. But they’re not personal attacks—they're distress signals from an overwhelmed nervous system.

Tanya explains what limbic utterances are, why they happen, and how parents can respond with empathy, understanding, and practical strategies to help their children (and themselves) feel safe.

• What are limbic utterances?
• Why kids say shocking, hurtful, or “rude” things in meltdown moments
• The role of the nervous system and Polyvagal Theory
• The limbic system: emotional brain basics
• The neurodivergent lens: why these responses can be more intense
• Insights from Tanya’s work with families in burnout recovery
• Laura Hellfeld’s insights on self-care demands and limbic utterances
• Practical, compassionate strategies to support your child
• How parents can care for their own nervous systems

If you'd like more resources and support on parenting with a low-demand approach, understanding your child’s nervous system, and creating a compassionate home environment, check out Tanya’s parent membership From Burnout to Balance.

✨ Membership Link

• Laura Hellfeld – Neurodivergent Nurse & Consultant

  Laura’s Substack

• 
  

In this tender and validating episode of From Burnout to Balance, host Tanya Valentin shares eight powerful, research-backed protective factors that support parent mental health, especially for those parenting neurodivergent children and teens in burnout.

Drawing from lived experience and a neuro-affirming, trauma-informed lens, Tanya explores what helps and why these supports can feel complicated, inaccessible, or even unsafe, particularly for neurodivergent parents who’ve been dismissed, judged, or burned by support systems in the past.

Inside this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Why self-compassion is a radical (and often difficult) practice

• How nervous system regulation starts with noticing, not perfection

• The grief of the community that never came, and the hope of finding a new kind

• The healing power of meaning-making, validation, and reparenting

• Why we need low-demand parenting for parents, too

This episode is a soft place to land.
A reminder that you're not alone — and you never were.

✨ Learn more about Tanya's membership and parent community: From Burnout to Balance

In this episode, Tanya chats with Teo Byrne from SENDwise Hub. They discuss the challenges and triumphs of navigating neurodiversity as parents.

Teo shares her personal journey as a late-diagnosed autistic and ADHD parent, emphasising the importance of creating safe spaces for neurodivergent individuals.

They explore the significance of self-care for parents, the need for community support, and the delicate balance between providing support and allowing autonomy for children. The discussion highlights the importance of listening to children, understanding their unique experiences, and fostering a sense of belonging within the neurodivergent community.

Connect with Teo:

Substack

Facebook

Instagram

Join the From Burnout to Balance Community