This is a space for open, thoughtful, and evidence-based conversations about mental health, sexual wellbeing, relationships, and the human experience. Here, I share insights drawn from over 20 years as a qualified doctor, therapist, and coach — helping individuals navigate everything from anxiety and communication struggles to intimacy and identity.
Whether you’re here to learn, reflect, or feel a little more understood, I hope these posts offer practical support and spark curiosity. No taboo topics, no judgment — just honest information and compassionate guidance to help you live more fully and connect more deeply.
Speaking & Writing
Dr Haines is an active public speaker and author on sexual health, relationships, and women’s health. She has featured on ABC Radio with Andrew Daddo, appeared as an expert on Channel 10’s Good Sex, and spoken at Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea.
In 2023, Amelia co-launched the podcast She Wasn’t Born Yesterday for women over 40, now streaming on Hope FM and all major platforms.
For all media enquiries, please email drameliahaines@gmail.com .
See more →The Importance of Humour: A Tool for Resilience and Wellbeing
In recent decades, the psychiatric and psychological communities have increasingly emphasised the importance of humour and laughter as powerful tools for emotional resilience, mental health, and social connection. Far from being frivolous, humour can serve as a meaningful coping strategy that helps people tolerate life’s challenges with greater flexibility and strength.
What Is Addiction? Understanding the Condition & Recovery
Addiction is not a weakness or moral failing. It is a complex interaction between biology, psychology, and environment. It changes how the brain responds to stress, pleasure, reward, and control. Most importantly, addiction is treatable, and recovery is genuinely possible for everyone.
Hypnosis Therapy: Understanding How It Works and How It Can Help
For many people, the words “hypnosis therapy” still evoke images of swinging pocket watches or mysterious mind control. But in reality, hypnosis is a gentle, scientifically recognised form of therapy that helps people make positive changes in their thoughts, emotions, and habits. In Sydney and beyond, more people are discovering how clinical hypnosis therapy can support better mental health, stress management, and overall wellbeing.
Understanding the Mental Health Spectrum: From Wellbeing to Illness
Mental health exists on a spectrum. At different times in our lives we may sit at different points along it — from feeling well and resilient to experiencing distress, depression, or even a loss of contact with reality. Understanding this spectrum helps us respond with the right mix of self-care, therapy, and medical treatment when needed.
The Many Shades of Kindness: Playing to Our Strengths
Kindness is often seen as a simple virtue—but in real life it looks different for each of us. This article explores authentic kindness, why empathy varies, and how to cultivate a style of kindness that fits your personality.
What’s Really Involved in Therapy (From A Therapist In Sydney)
Therapy can look deceptively simple from the outside: two people sitting in a room talking. Yet beneath that apparent simplicity lies a fascinatingly complex and varied landscape — one that Dr Amelia Haines, a therapist in Sydney, explores with clients every day.
ADHD Coaching for Adults in Australia: Support, Structure & Strengths
We explore what ADHD coaching is, how it differs from therapy and medical care, and why it can be a powerful option for adults in Sydney and across Australia, including via online telehealth.
Strength from Suffering: How Hardship Builds Empathy & Resilience
Who would willingly sign up for pain, heartbreak, or loss? When life throws at us something like a cancer diagnosis, the death of a parent, or the shattering of a relationship just before a wedding, our first instinct isn’t to think about personal growth. These are the kinds of experiences we wouldn’t wish on anyone.
ADHD Coaching in Australia | Beyond Medication Support
While medication can be an incredibly useful tool—sometimes even life-changing—it’s only part of the picture. ADHD is complex, and no two people experience it in the same way. That’s why relying solely on a prescription rarely provides the full support someone needs.
This is where working with an ADHD coach comes in.
Funeral Planning: Why Is It So Important?
I am not expecting death any time soon, yet I know how quickly life can change. Taking charge now felt kind to me and kind to my people. What surprised me most was how much funeral planning as a form of therapy eased my nerves and settled my mind.
Have We Learnt Nothing Post-Bill Clinton?
Many people—even today—separate oral sex from what they consider “real sex.” But would most partners shrug it off if their significant other was sexually involved with someone else in this way?
