If you’ve felt stretched thin lately, you’re not alone. Between workplace pressure, personal responsibilities, and the weight of everything happening around us, August can feel like a lot. I know what it’s like to try and be everything to everyone while still hoping to protect your own peace.
This month’s issue includes four curated mental health tools to help ease the load. You’ll find a brilliant podcast on workplace wellbeing, a powerful book that challenges old ideas about mental illness, a practical support resource for adults, and a screen-free mental health kit for young people.
Each one is included with intention. My goal is to offer you something useful, supportive, and deeply grounded in evidence.
I hope something in this month’s edition helps you exhale a little deeper and feel just a bit more supported in your own corner of the world.
Emerge Psychology: Accessible Telehealth for Rural & Remote Australians
Emerge Psychology is Australia’s first and longest-standing private telehealth psychology provider, offering video counselling for mild to moderate anxiety and depression. With a valid GP referral, all Australians, including those in regional communities, can access consultations via video link nationwide. Importantly, clients in rural and remote areas may be eligible for bulk billing, making care more affordable for people living outside major cities
Royal Far West: Telehealth for Country Kids
Royal Far West has been a mental health lifeline for regional children across Australia for nearly 100 years. Their telehealth service connects rural kids (ages 0–12) directly to specialists including psychologists, paediatricians, speech therapists, and more, right from home. It’s a deeply caring, place-based solution that rural families continue to rely on.
CPTSD Self-Assessment Quiz: Understand Your Trauma Patterns
This self-reflection tool is based on the ICD-11 criteria for Complex PTSD and draws from the International Trauma Questionnaire. It’s designed to help you recognise key patterns like emotional dysregulation, low self-worth and difficulty with relationships — symptoms that often go unnoticed or mislabelled. Use this quiz to deepen your awareness, feel less alone, and identify the starting point for your healing journey.
What mental health topics matter most to you?
I’m always open to filling any knowledge gaps in the mental health space, so if there’s a topic you’d love to learn more about, let me know by taking this 1-minute survey.
Monthly Podcast Recommendation
Podcast of the Month: Well Workplaces by Tom Bosna
If you’re working in, leading, or supporting organisational health, this fortnightly Aussie podcast is a gem. Tom Bosna interviews workplace wellbeing leaders to unpack real issues—like how to embed mental health into culture, build psychological safety, and nurture resilience. It’s smart, grounded, and refreshingly free of wellness fluff.
You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Gly8T0LZ5lMkMGbu654Ou
Monthly Book Recommendation
Addicted to Anxiety by Owen O’Kane
If it sometimes feels like anxiety has become your default setting, this book speaks directly to that experience. O’Kane challenges the idea that anxiety is inherently broken and shows how it often becomes a go‑to in times of emotional pain.
With grounded, compassionate tools, like breathwork, grounding techniques, and self‑compassion strategies, you’re invited to gently retrain your responses and find steadier ground. It reads like therapy in book form, with heart. Available in print, ebook, or audio.
People across Australia have recently completed their Mental Health First Aid training with me, both face-to-face in Perth and online. Some joined because someone they care about was struggling. Others wanted to feel more confident speaking up at work. Many had no formal mental health background, just a strong desire to learn.
You made time in your evenings, weekends and workdays to build real, practical skills in recognising early signs, starting safe conversations and offering support without judgement.
You are now accredited Mental Health First Aiders. You are part of a growing movement helping to create safer, more compassionate communities and workplaces.
Thank you for showing up. It matters.
New Perth-based and online training dates are now available. Check the calendar to join the next intake.
Interested in joining the next training? Course Calendar.
Train Your Brain to Feel Safe (CPTSD Toolkit)
If you or someone you know is living with Complex PTSD, the CPTSD Emergency Toolkit is a simple, effective way to start building safety in the nervous system.
Inside the toolkit you’ll find:
A calming Morning Regulation audio to help start the day with steadiness
A soothing Evening Calm audio to unwind and rest
A powerful Emergency Calm audio for moments of panic or shutdown
A 32-page workbook with trauma-informed reflection prompts and healing exercises
These tools are most effective when used regularly. Instead of pushing yourself to get over it, you gently show your brain safety again and again, until it learns a new pattern.
This month only, I’m offering 50% off the full toolkit as a thank you to my newsletter community. Use the code AUGUST50 at the checkout.
If you’re ready for real change, or want to help someone who is, this is the perfect place to begin.
Featured Course
Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA)
I run this course weekly for people who support young people—whether in schools, sports clubs, or at home. You’ll learn:
How to spot warning signs in young people
How to approach them safely
How to support them through anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and more
Is Your MHFA or Youth MHFA Accreditation About to Expire?
If your Standard Mental Health First Aid or Youth MHFA accreditation is nearing expiry, I offer both refresher courses online every single week. You can join from anywhere in Australia.
If you’re based in Perth and would prefer these courses delivered face-to-face, I can work with you to ensure a session can be offered at your workplace.
Mental Health First Aid Australia has a strict minimum of six participants per class. I really appreciate your flexibility if your chosen date needs to be rescheduled.
Most of you already know how flexible I am too. If your accreditation is about to expire and numbers drop below six, I’ll do everything I can to still deliver the session for you.
New Mental Health Resources at Mental Health Resource Hub
Looking for practical tools to support mental health?
New digital products are added every week at Mental Health Resource Hub (MHRH). From worksheets and workbooks to guided exercises and training materials, find the right resources to help yourself and others.
Browse the latest mental health products here.
Thank You for the 5-Star Google Reviews
If you’ve taken a moment to leave a 5-star Google review, I just want to say a heartfelt thank you. It genuinely helps others find me and decide whether mental health training is the right fit for them.
If you’ve kindly left a review and haven’t yet received your free digital product from the Mental Health Resource Hub, please email me so I can send you your unique voucher code: dal@dalsahota.com
And if you meant to leave a review but forgot, it’s absolutely not too late! Every bit of support helps others find this work, and I appreciate it more than you know.
Until Next Time…
Thanks again for being part of Australia’s growing community of Mental Health First Aiders.
Whether you’ve just completed your course or it’s been a while since training, your knowledge and compassion make a difference — at work, at home and in your community.
If something in this edition stood out or you have questions about your role as an MHFAider, you’re always welcome to reply or email me directly at dal@dalsahota.com.
Keep leading with empathy. You’re part of the change.