THRIVING MINDS PODCAST

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 Bartlett
Dr Mark Williams, cognitive neuroscientist, Author, ScreenSmart Children
Jennie Dreever from Younity Community Services
Kim, sharing a parent perspective
HIPPY (Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters)
Together, they explore:
why screens are so hard to switch off
why transitions can trigger emotional escalation
what parents and teachers are seeing in real life
how connection helps regulate overwhelmed brains
practical ways to reduce stress and conflict at home and school
This episode is not about blame or shame. It is about helping adults better understand growing brains in a rapidly changing digital world.
Big Feelings, Growing Brains is a special Thriving Minds mini-series bringing together neuroscience, lived experience, education, and community wisdom to support children, families, and educators.
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Subscribe and support the podcast at 
https://www.buzzsprout.com/367319/supporters/new
Learn more at www.profselenabartlett.com

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
 How screens, uncertainty, and constant comfort-seeking can fuel anxiety 
 The difference between supporting a child and rescuing them from discomfort 
 Why confidence grows through small acts of courage 
 Practical ways parents, teachers, and clinicians can help children face fears safely and gradually 
Dr Einstein also discusses her research on uncertainty and anxiety, and shares insights from her work helping families navigate school stress, social anxiety, gaming, emotional overwhelm, and everyday avoidance patterns.
This is not a conversation about blame or “perfect parenting.” It is a conversation about understanding the brain, rebuilding resilience, and helping young people learn they can do hard things.
A practical and compassionate episode for parents, educators, clinicians, and anyone supporting growing brains in an increasingly uncertain world.
You can learn more about Dr Danielle Einstein and her work here:
https://www.danielleeinstein.com/
Support the show
Subscribe and support the podcast at 
https://www.buzzsprout.com/367319/supporters/new
Learn more at www.profselenabartlett.com

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 about attention, emotional regulation, sleep, learning, and how constant digital stimulation is shaping the way children think, feel, and connect.
This is not about removing technology. It is about understanding it.
Together, we explore:
 What screens are doing to the brain during critical periods of development 
 Why children struggle to switch off and what that means for behaviour 
 The link between screen use, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation 
 How schools and families can respond in a practical, balanced way 
 What “screen smart” actually looks like in real life 
Dr Mark Williams brings deep expertise in cognitive neuroscience, helping us understand attention and memory in a distracted world. He collaborated with Gavin McCormack, bringing decades of experience in education, working directly with children, teachers, and families across the globe.
What emerges is a clear and hopeful message: we are not powerless. With the right knowledge and small, consistent changes, we can reshape children’s environments and support healthier brain development.
This episode is for parents, educators, and anyone who cares about the next generation.
Because this is not just about screens.
 It is about the kind of minds we are shaping for the future.

📘 Resources & Links
Thriving Minds Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/article/edit/7457652593234919424/
Thriving Minds in the Age of AI
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/0999099779?ref=yb_qv_ov_prnt_dp_rw

Book: Screen Smart Children
https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Screen-Smart-Children/Mark-A-Williams/9781761639715

https://www.amazon.com.au/Screen-Smart-Children-helping-switches/dp/1761639714

Dr Mark Williams
https://www.drmarkwilliams.com/
Gavin McCormack
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinmccormack/
#ScreenSmartChildren
 #ThrivingMinds
 #Neuroscience
 #DigitalWellbeing
 #ChildDevelopment
Support the show
Subscribe and support the podcast at 
https://www.buzzsprout.com/367319/supporters/new
Learn more at www.profselenabartlett.com

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, and lived experience, this conversation unpacks how behaviour is shaped not just by character but by conditions, pressure, context, and whether someone was there to help us pause and choose differently.
We explore:
 The thin line between opportunity and consequence 
 How systems can shape identity, for better or worse 
 Why connection, structure, and consistency change outcomes 
 What neuroscience tells us about stress, safety, and behaviour 
This is not about excusing behaviour. It is about understanding it. Because when we understand what shapes people, we can start to build environments that support better choices.
This episode will leave you reflecting on your own moments at the edge and asking a bigger question:
What would we build if we truly understood how much conditions matter?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-knight-53854061/
Support the show
Subscribe and support the podcast at 
https://www.buzzsprout.com/367319/supporters/new
Learn more at www.profselenabartlett.com

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 people with mental health support, successful by every boardroom measure, but from the inside, she could see what the metrics weren't capturing. People were receiving care and returning to lives where the loneliness that had made them unwell in the first place remained completely untouched.
So she walked away from the platform and built something you can walk into. Nineteen indoor pickleball courts, a food hall, a co-working space, not a wellness program or an app, but a place where people have a reason to show up regularly and, over time, begin to genuinely know each other.
After thirty years of studying the brain, this makes complete sense to me. Authentic social connection isn't a nice addition to a healthy life; it sits at the very centre of brain health. Our nervous systems are built for it; we regulate each other, we find safety in each other, and when that is missing as a chronic condition of daily life, the consequences are neurological, not just emotional. We have understood this for a long time, and we keep building systems that ignore it.
This is why the work of Andy Hamilton and the team at Human Nature matters so deeply to me. They haven't tried to build a better version of youth detention; they have created environments where young people can experience connection, responsibility and being genuinely seen, often for the first time. The outcomes are simply what happens when you finally give people what was missing.
We have always known what works. The question has never really been about knowledge; it has been about whether we are willing to accept that we are all responsible for the answer.
 I take you inside Andy Hamilton's work with Human Nature, and what three decades of neuroscience tell us about why environments like his produce the results they do. I also explore what the woman in that Uber Pool understood about community that most policy and technology still don't, and what weeding a park together might have to teach us about where we go from here.
If you work in community, leadership, health, or simply care about what kind of world we are building, this one is for you.
https://humannature.org.au/people/andy-hamilton/
Support the show
Subscribe and support the podcast at 
https://www.buzzsprout.com/367319/supporters/new
Learn more at www.profselenabartlett.com