Are you tired of searching high and low for genuine, reliable and consolidated women's wellness support?
Our clients have complained for years about this...So, we decided to help!
Women's Wellness is not just about health. It encompasses physical, mental, social, financial and emotional well-being throughout a woman's life.
We recognise the health and wellness challenges that women often experience, but we also know how hard it can often be to find the right information, support and guidance amongst the myriad of information out there, to enable women to feel confident, well informed, safe, secure and empowered with their decision making regarding their precious health and overall wellness.
Our online Australian resources, referrals, workshops and support groups provide invaluable information and community support details (including fun and engaging activities and events to build invaluable connections for women). Reach out if your organisation would like to be discuss inclusion in our hub.
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Women's Wellness Hub -
Finally the Support You Need All In One Place!
Have you had your health checked lately?
Are you really aware of what you need to check?
As women, our bodies are challenged, intricate, unique, everchanging and need our attention and care. We need to stop and know our body and where it is at!
Too often we put ourselves last in the pecking order, which at the time we often validate, but deep down we know that neglecting ourselves can come back to haunt us in many different ways - mentally, physically and socially.
Physical wellness starts with having your health regularly checked. The more you are educated on what to look for, and what is particularly relevant to your age, the more you will get out your GP appointments and identify potential risks before it is too late. You need to advocate for your own health, so getting educated on the basics is critical. You have time....if not, you need to make time. You and your family are counting on it.
We provide you with the overarching information and links to service providers who can support you all the way.
Realistic nutrition
Sick of fad diets, weighing your food, etc etc.... us too! We are busy, sick of gimmicks and hard sells and just want quick and super easy suggestions to get our health back on track.
What many of us want now is very easy and practical ways to improve our nutrition and overall wellness and improve our intake of certain key nutrients our bodies are likely missing which in turn is having a real impact on other aspect of our emotional, physical and mental wellness.
Exercise for the super busy woman
Don't have a lot of time, not a real gym gal, but know that exercise is really good for the mind, body and soul... We hear ya sista!
We have touched base with some exercise experts who specialise in womens exercise regimes particularly for effective stretches, post natal support, pelvic floor/incontinence and light weight training.
I just want to sleep.......
Sleep deprivation can be bloody cruel.
A woman's sleep patterns can be significantly influenced by her stress levels, workload, illness, hormonal fluctuations, menopausal night sweats, post partum recovery, children and general lifestyle. Sleep deprivation occurrs when a woman fails to get the amount of sleep they need. Not enough sleep can have a major impact on daytime functioning including poor concentration, reduced reaction times, driving and workplace safety, work performance, anxiety levels. It can metabolically affect your weight, affect your immunity and ability to recover from illness. It can affect our level of tolerance, mood and place pressure on our relationships.
Proper sleep hygiene, hormone management, stress and workload management, lifestyle adjustments and even counselling, can help significantly reduce your sleep disturbances. Chronic sleep issues may require additional medical and/or medication support.
We explore the ways we can get sleep help, provide you with the overarching information and links to service providers who can support you all the way to get you back into better sleep patterns.
Perimenopause & Menopause Support
Menopause, for some very lucky women, comes and goes relatively uneventfully, with perhaps just the obvious physiological changes, but for many women 'the pause' can sneak up and slap you when you least expect it, or can hit you like one gigantic tidal wave seemingly affecting every aspect of your wellness and life. We validate your experience no matter what age, what symptoms you get.
Our hub provides you with the overarching information and links to service providers who can support you all the way - The more we share and care, the better 50% of the population will fare!
Bone
Meno-rage (dealing with the big emotions)
Sleep
ADHD and Menopause
Fertility, Pregnancy & Post Natal Support
Being a woman is a blessing but it does come with some added challenges....
Feminine reproductive wellness covers the intricate balance of hormones. Unfortunately when women's reproductive wellness is poor, it can significantly impact the quality of life of a woman - physically, mentally, socially and in turn can impact their relationships, confidence and ability to work.
Our hub explores periods, the latest in period support and products for women, general guidance on menstrual irregularities and where to get help if you are concerned, pregnancy challenges and support and when and how to get support for post natal concerns.
We provide you with the overarching information and links to service providers who can support you all the way.
Breast checks and Breast Cancer support
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australian women. If you’re a woman, your risk of breast cancer increases greatly after the age of 50. Nine out of 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of breast cancer.
Finding breast cancer early means there are more treatment options available to you. Regular self breast checks and GP checks can improve your chances of detecting changes that need further examination. Breast screening can find breast cancer early, often before it can be seen or felt by a woman or her doctor.
We provide you with the overarching information, suggested tools to assist, and links to service providers who can support you all the way from checks, to diagnosis, treatment and recovery (including genuine post treatment support -physically and emotionally).
Your Mental & Emotional Wellness
No two women are the same and their experiences with mental health may be determined by a number of factors including culture, genetics, biology, age, environment, lifestyle, relationships and life experiences.
Women however do account for higher occurrences of some mental health concerns such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, non-suicidal self injury and depression. Our bid to 'juggle the load' by balancing work, education, family, social commitments, finances, household duties, providing caring assistance for elderly parents - can have a serious impact on our mental and emotional health and physical wellness.
Dealing with the ebb and flow of emotions is part of being a human and as women, we are often having to navigate many emotions. Emotional wellness includes learning how to understand, express and effectively manage emotions. It includes finding things we love to do, reconnecting with ourselves, examining our triggers, setting our boundaries, practicing self-compassion, building our resilience, and support networks. It also includes how we manage our professional lives - balancing career goals with personal values - maintaining the healthy work-life balance so we can thrive both personally and professionally without jeopardising our mental and emotional wellness.
We provide you with the overarching information, suggested tools to assist your wellbeing, and links to service providers who can support you.
It's not all woo woo after all...
Woo-woo -- dubiously or outlandishly mystical, supernatural, or unscientific....
For many of us the concepts of breathwork, yoga, kinesiology, acupuncture, grounding, may have fallen into the woo-woo basket...
And yet, the more we research these methods, the more we were are surprised by their genuine wellness benefits....
We provide you with the overarching information, suggested tools to assist your wellbeing, and links to service providers who can support you.
I want to cut down on cigarettes and alcohol but...
It can be super tricky to cut back on an addiction like nicotine but with the right support and commitment, it can be life changing. For many of us, we are not aware of the amount and impact alcohol is having on our life.
In Australia, we live in a culture when alcohol has almost been seen as a social necessity, but the impact it can have on our health, weight, mental state, safety and relationships can be really far from helpful...
We provide you with the overarching information, suggested tools to assist you, and links to service providers and products which can support you to cut back on your habits.
Financial wellness - securing your future
Whether you are single, in a relationship, divorced, or widowed - if you want to better understand your financial situation, how to get help to save, budget, plan, and access financial resources, we provide you with some excellent, credible and reliable guidance from the financial experts.
Let's work together!
Raising Strong Women - Girls Rites of Passage &
The 'Respecting You' programs
Female adolescent rites of passage provide young women with the ability to be seen, heard, respected, on their important transitional pathway to womanhood.
We provide guidance on the importance of these opportunities, how we can all work together to raise strong women and young women who respect themselves, and deserve full respect in return.
Email us at [email protected] for details of these courses or sign up to our newsletter.
Your Social Wellness- Building Connections
Women are inherently social beings and our connections and social networks play a really important role in our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. The support we get from friends, family and our community offer us emotional resilience and an important sense of belonging.
Isolation and loneliness are causing mental health issues to rise to incredibly concerning levels and are now described as one of the most pressing Australian public health priorities in Australia. Social isolation causing loneliness has been linked to mental illness, emotional distress, development of dementia, premature death.
We provide you with details of upcoming webinars, podcasts, online activities, events and invite you to join the free Konnect bookclub to improve connection whether in person or at least online.
Legal Support - Separation, Divorce and beyond
Going through a separation and divorce can be extremely difficult, frustrating, overwhelming, scary and lonely! We provide you with tips and advice from the experts to get you through these challenges and to help you emerge more confidently, educated, supported and less stressed.
Parenting, Single Parenting, and Co-Parenting support
These can all be extremely difficult, frustrating, overwhelming, scary and lonely times!
We provide you with tips and advice from the experts to get you through these challenges and to help you emerge more confidently, educated, supported and less stressed.
Returning to the dating scene..
After years (or decades!) of being in a relationship and matrimonial life, it can be difficult for newly single women (and men) to get back into the dating game. It can seem daunting, scary, all too hard,.... So how do new singletons go about dating, particularly after a long break?
Our experts give some great tips, we explore different ways to potentially date, dating apps, how to be safe, have fun but choosey!
Relationship Safety
There is never any excuse for any form of abuse. Australian women have had to ensure domestic and family violence for too long and we have all had enough. Our #enoUgh movement is all about joining forces across Australia to increase awareness of Domestic and family violence but to also shake up the system and really assess what is working and what isn't.
We provide you with guidance on how to remain safe in home, prepare an exit safety plan, be financially and technologically safe, to access emergency support (accommodation, food, financial, medical and counselling).
We provide guidelines, details of services and products to assist you to be better educated, informed, supported and safe. We help you identify what amounts to abuse, coercive control, stalking and provide checklists of types of abuse as well as relationship RED FLAGS to help us identify warning behaviours in our partners or our family members partners, before it gets worse.
Getting back my Grove!
We are often mothers, daughters, carers, wives, employees, bosses, sisters, daughter in laws, sister in laws, attentive friends, a pet parent......
But as a result, we are often on the verge of mental and/or physical burnout, and have lost ourselves in the process. If you have gone through a relationship breakdown, lost a partner, are single parenting, a carer, grieving a loss, experienced domestic and family abuse or other trauma, the impact can be really detrimental to your overall wellness and the need to find ways to escape but to self heal, and find the joy again is really important.
Many women we talk to are looking to find ways to get back their grove, either through courses, programs, events, retreats etc. We will provide information on how you can access some of the better ones out there....
Rural Women specific support
There is never any excuse for any form of abuse. Australian women have had to ensure domestic and family violence for too long and we have all had enough. Our #enoUgh movement is all about joining forces across Australia to increase awareness of Domestic and family violence but to also shake up the system and really assess what is working and what isn't.
We provide you with guidance on how to remain safe in home, prepare an exit safety plan, be financially and technologically safe, to access emergency support (accommodation, food, financial, medical and counselling).
We provide guidelines, details of services and products to assist you to be better educated, informed, supported and safe. We help you identify what amounts to abuse, coercive control, stalking and provide checklists of types of abuse as well as relationship RED FLAGS to help us identify warning behaviours in our partners or our family members partners, before it gets worse.
OUR PODCAST SERIES - Keeping it Real with Susan and Friends
We have a number of fabulous in person and online courses, workshops, webinars and events launching soon.
Season 1: #enoUgh - We interview experts and survivors of domestic and family violence.
Season 2: Women's Wellness - We interview experts
THE BOOKCLUB IS COMING
As requested by our clients, KONNECT ONLINE BOOKCLUB, will launch in January 2025 in conjunction with the amazing 'Book Doula,' Vanessa Barrington of Healing House Publishing. The bookclub will have a realistic monthly book read requirement for our clubbers and will also have a library of books you can purchase anytime that offer great insight into women wellness, parenting, co-parenting etc. All the resources have been handpicked by our specialist team.
Join Konnect Bookclub now to go into the draw for a gorgeous prize from one of our sponsors @inspirational tea company.
Go to www.konnectbookclub.com
Our Ambassador and Panel Members
Discover the heart of expertise and influence! Learn why exploring Our Ambassador and Panel Members is your gateway to visionary leadership and impactful insights.
Mediation Guide
Separation and divorce can be difficult, stressful, emotional and expensive.
Even if you and your former partner are relatively amicable, you may still need assistance to work out how to disentangle and split your finances and property in a fair way and to determine what will work best for your children and your family going forward.
The Family Court expects that people involved in family law disputes will only make an application to the Court to have their matter heard when there is no other way possible to resolve their dispute. There is an expectation in other words that people will attempt to resolve their differences and find a way to settle through compromise, discussion and if required, dispute resolution, if it is safe to do so.
Mediation and Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) can help you work through your parenting and financial agreements, resolve dispute and find solutions that provide the best outcome for all parties involved. It can provide an affordable, less stressful and faster method for resolving disputes while still allowing you to have significant input into the process and the outcomes. When a matter goes to court, you lose a lot of this input and control around outcomes.
Below is an overview of the mediation process and some hints we commonly provide our client on how to best navigate the process.
When compared to the high levels of stress and onerous and unpredictable costs of litigation, mediation is a relatively simple and expensive way to resolve disputes, sort out the division of assets and liabiliteis and create a co-parenting plan that is in the best interests ultimately of the children, and workable for the parents.
In Australia, both government-funded and private centres offer a variety of options for mediation, depending on your individual circumstances.
The role of an independent mediator is to guide you to a resolution usually through a combination of joint and individual sessions. A mediator's role is to stay neutral and not 'take sides.' They make sure each party understandsthe issues at hand, is aware of each other's position, and will help find a fair and workable solution that is acceptable.
While the sessions can be held just with the separating couple and the mediator, under certain circumstances, if both parties agree, the parties lawyers, and/or a support person may attend. Children may under very limited circumstances be involved.
Some mediations may be held face to face, in person, or via zoom, or in certain circumstances, including where there has been domestic and family violence, 'shuttle mediation' can be used to keep the parties separate and in a safe space.
Communication in the course of dispute resolution are, except in certain circumstances, confidential and inadmissible in any court. The dispute resolution practitioner however may be required by law to report certain disclosures or risk.
What is Family Dispute Resolution (FDR)?
FDR is a special type of medication that is focussed on considering the needs of the children while hehlping you come to an agreement. It is often used to resolve parenting matters but property division can also be included in FDR.
It provides you with an opportunity to improve your relationship with the other party/ies and reach an agreement about legal, practical and co-parenting issues that are important to you. Because all parties are involved in reaching a resoution, it is chance to be heard properly in a more controlled and less overwhelming way compared to court, and improves usually the chances that the agreement will last into the future and reduce conflict for you and your children. You may also learn more effective ways to communicate with the other party througout the process to help you resolve any future issues/disputes.
Under the Australian Family Law system, with limited exceptions, it is compulsory for separated parents to go through the proess of FDR before applying to a Family Law Court for parenting orders.
Dispute Resolution may happen within the Court, with officers of the Court, such as a judicial registrar and court appointed child expert. The Court will make orders for these events and it is essential that you attend.
Dispute resolution may also take place externally to the Court. You can source Mediation and Family Dispute Resolution privately or through government funded services such as Legal Aid, Relationships Australia and other Family Relationship Centres.
If you are looking to source a private Mediator or FDRP, we can recommend one of our regularly appointed mediators to assist.
You should ensure that any person you engage to assist with FDR is registered as a Famiy DIspute Resolution Practitioner (FDPR) with the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department, or if conducting arbitration, is accredited with AIFLAM, the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators.
Judicial Registrars and private mediators or FRDPs must provide a Certificate of Dispute Resolution at the conclusion of these events. There can be cost consequences for non-compliance with court orders for dispute resoluton.
What does Mediation and/or FDR cost?
Mediation has varying costs and can take anything from hours to days to complete, depending on the complexity of your situation and depending on whether financial and children issues are being considered.
Government-assisted FDR may be free or subsidised if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Fees are payable to mediators and dispute resolution practitioners in private practice.
If you have been ordered to undertake a post-separation parenting program, unless the order otherwise states, you will be required to pay for the costs of your attendance at that program.
In most cases, mediation or FDR is going to be much cheaper and faster, and a lot less stressful than battling it out in court.
Our Top Tips to Prepare for Mediation
Learn about the options available to you and what is best suited to your needs and budget.
Your FDR practitioner, lawyer or mediator will advise what documents you will be required to produce prior to, and on the day of, the mediation.
Prior to the mediation date, a complete understanding of your finances including assets, liabilities/debt, income, superannuation, parenting, child support, and other legal matters will greatly help the process. Get your documents well organised and labelled. We can assist you to prepare this list and the organisation.
When a court orders you to attend dispute resolution, orders will also be made about what documents are required to be completed exhanged and provided to the person conducting the dispute resolution. These may include for instance, any court documents such as applications, responses and affidavits, expert reports, any child impact report, confidential case summaries, and valuations.
Think about all the issues that you may want to consider including your parenting arrangements, financial and property matters before the mediation and consider what is important to you and why and what you hope to achive through mediation or FDR.
Try to keep an open mind and consider what is really motivating your priorities - is it emotionally based reasoning or is it based on what you genuinely believe is fair and in the children's best interests.
Be aware of the various costs involved in the types of mediation and FDR options available before you commit - mediator costs, lawyer costs, travel expenses, your time off work etc. Make phone calls to find out what costs are anticipated on an hourly/daily basis and any potential post mediation expense for example the costs of formalising your agreed terms of the mediation into a formal agreement which you may want to file in the Family Court to make enforceable.
Make sure you are actually available for the set mediation date and not running late. If there is any chance you will miss the date or the time, let the mediator and other party know well in advance to avoid financial consequences.
We know this can be very difficult to do, we hear you! This can be a highly emotional and confronting time which can make you feel overwhelmed and vulnerable. If is often a time in the separation/divorce process when we highly recommend that our clients reach out for additional emotional support and invest in their own self-care.
I know your head may be racing, but try to get a good nights sleep the night before mediation. We highly recommend you do not drink too much caffeine or consume other stimulants on the day or drink any alcohol throughout the day, you eat well so your sugar levels are ok, stay hydrated, take your medication as and when needed, make plans for the children after school as the mediation may go all day. You may plan to take a friend/support person if you have previously obtained the other sides consent to do this.
Ask for short breaks throughout the day to clear your head, visit the bathroom, calm down.
If you need an interpreter for the mediation, please make sure you let them know well in advance of the mediation day.
Be Aware of your Communication
Mediation is not the right opportunity or time to express your frustration, play games, be aggressive or point score.
If you can get your emotions in check and communicate effectively enough to convey your wishes, it can be an excellent way to resolve things and to help you and your children move on.
Try to stay focused on your objectives and achieving good outcomes for the children and yourself for the long term.
We always suggest to our clients that they should try to approach the mediation as a business meeting and to be as professional in their communication as possible throughout the mediation process - imagine they are talking and planning a meeting at work, asking for a pay rise with their employer or negotiating the purchase of a house. Poor behaviour such as shouting, swearing, accusing and blaming will likely derail the whole process, and make it difficult to arrive at any resolutions. Ignore the other parties potential outbursts as much as possible - don't bite! The mediator will usually help with this, so be guided by them (and your lawyer if you have one there with you.)
If you don't understand something that is explained to you, speak up and get clarification. You have the right to be heard and to ask. No question is too stupid. Don't let yourself be bullied.
If you feel unsafe, make sure you communicate this with the mediator in your initial intake consultation and provide them with any safety orders you may have.
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