Motherhood Unmasked & Unfiltered

About Motherhood Unmasked & Unfiltered

Motherhood: Unmasked & Unfiltered is the podcast for neurodivergent Australian mums who are tired of pretending they've got it all figured out. Each week, Melbourne mum Alisha Burns (ADHD, diagnosed later in life) and Sydney mum Rhiannon Henderson (AuDHD, diagnosed in adulthood) get honest about parenting, identity, hormones, overwhelm and the messy reality of raising kids while understanding their own neurodivergent brains for the first time. This isn't clinical ADHD content. It's two friends laughing, disagreeing and figuring it out in real time — masking, late diagnosis, rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD), executive dysfunction, sensory overwhelm, the ADHD tax, PDA, PMDD and perimenopause, school-mum politics, and the mental load no one warns you about. If you've ever wondered why you're "too much," too sensitive, too chaotic or too inconsistent — or if you're raising a sparkly kid of your own — come for the "wait, I do that too" moments and stay because you'll laugh, learn why your brain does what it does, and feel a little less alone. New episodes every Thursday. And just remember — you were born sparkly.

Publisher

Alisha Burns & Rhiannon Henderson

Category

health & fitness · kids & family · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

16 Mar 2026

Latest episode

7 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

26 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Oct 2026

   Episode 26: I'm going to fight until I get bored

   Both hosts have picked up a new hobby in the last week, and neither is remotely surprised. They are three weeks out from a Hong Kong Disney trip with friends and four small kids, which Alisha has turned into a full creative project: matching t-shirts made on her Cricut with iron-on vinyl, "Disney bounding" outfit plans, and bedazzled sneakers for the kids (and herself) so nobody is clip-clopping around the park in dress-up heels. Rhiannon has fallen into cross stitch and embroidery after buying kits for her daughter, then buying many more for herself, then discovering she'd accidentally bought embroidery instead. The episode opens with a very good week: school holidays that finally have some rhythm, a bush-school day outdoors, and a first-ever two-wheeler bike ride — plus the saga of a six-centimetre plastic spider named Spidey, who now has a handbag, a ribbon harness and a Halloween costume to match. From there the hosts dig into the "hobby graveyard" every ADHD and AuDHD household knows: the knitting, the sewing, the Lego, the crates of half-finished kits, and the habit of offloading a lapsed hobby onto another neurodivergent friend. It's a warm, funny episode about hyperfocus, perfectionism (especially when your child "does it wrong"), and trying to find hobbies that give your brain something to do that isn't your phone. What We Talk About in This Episode Why a week outdoors in the sunshine has made such a difference to mood in the school holidays A six-centimetre plastic spider called Spidey, and the handbag, ribbon harness and Halloween costume that followed A first ride on a two-wheeler bike, and the "I'm going to do this now" determination of a neurodivergent kid Preparing for a Hong Kong Disney trip: Disney bounding, matching outfits, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and iron-on vinyl t-shirts Bedazzled sneakers as a compromise to avoid high-heel arguments at the park Falling down a cross stitch and embroidery rabbit hole — and discovering you've bought embroidery instead Buying multiples of something you love "in case it breaks" (four identical dresses and three matching kits) The hobby that is also a stain-removal obsession, and why "just buy new ones" isn't the point Being "not crafty by nature" but determined enough to sew, cut down tablecloths into curtains or hack a foam spider into a costume Hobbies that don't continue, and offloading them onto other neurodivergent people Keeping a "butterfly board" of ideas for later instead of acting on every new interest Choosing a hobby that isn't your phone, and that your child can see and join in Teaching your own child a skill versus someone else doing it — and perfectionism when they "do it wrong" Lego, second-hand sets and the tension between building to the instructions and letting a child play freely Different "flavours" of neurodivergence, and a friend who measures every picture before hanging it Disney merchandise guilt, "YOLO" shopping and why a spending plan can be derailed by PDA Setting project deadlines to give hyperfocus a finish line A Facebook Marketplace seller whose hobby-graveyard listings are comedy gold Key Takeaways A new hobby is often a new hyperfocus: intense, fast and not always sustainable. Naming that, rather than judging it, makes it easier to enjoy the burst and let it go when it fades. A project with a deadline (shoes to bedazzle before a trip, a costume before Halloween) can give hyperfocus a finish line — as long as it doesn't take over sleep and other priorities. A hobby that keeps your hands busy and produces something your child can see can feel better than another hour on a phone — even if your brain keeps running while you stitch. Perfectionism shows up in hobbies too: it can be hard to watch your child "do it wrong," and sometimes someone else teaching the skill works better for everyone. Outdoors, sunshine, movement and connection — a bike ride and a chat in the sun — can lift the mood of the whole household, even when you don'

2. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Episode 25: Mine's not regulated

   School holidays have just started for Rhiannon and are halfway done for Alisha, and both houses are full of big feelings. Alisha shares a car-park standoff over a seatbelt and a tearful rescue of a dead moth; Rhiannon talks about a daughter who can't decide on shoes, a mum who can't decide on dinner, and a lift being drilled in the building at the exact wrong moment. It's the perfect setup for this week's topic: dysregulation. The hosts go back to basics with proper definitions. Dysregulation isn't a mood, a choice or "bad behaviour" — it's a nervous system that has lost its ability to get back to baseline after stress. They walk through the "window of tolerance," the difference between hyper-arousal (big, loud, fast, even giddy) and hypo-arousal (quiet, foggy, boneless, shut down), and the body and pattern signs that are easy to mistake for plain behaviour, like regression, increased stimming, appetite changes, sleep disruption and all-or-nothing thinking. Then they flip it around to what dysregulation looks like in adults — snapping, racing thoughts, jaw clenching, numbing out with a screen, being unable to decide what's for dinner — and how RSD, masking and sensory overload stack on top for neurodivergent parents. The second half is the practical part: what co-regulation actually is ("lending your regulated nervous system"), a step-by-step sequence for doing it, and what to do when you're the one who's dysregulated and there's no one to co-regulate you. What We Talk About in This Episode Why school holidays can bring more big feelings, not fewer, when a child who masks all day at school is no longer using up that energy Parenting without the authoritarian style you grew up with, and why that style can still creep back in when your tank is empty What dysregulation actually is: a physiological state, not a choice, and not "being bad" The window of tolerance, and why it can be smaller for neurodivergent brains Hyper-arousal in kids: meltdowns, lashing out, bolting, talking faster or non-stop, and giddiness or silliness that won't settle Hypo-arousal in kids: going quiet, zoning out, clumsiness, going limp, monosyllabic answers Body and pattern signs that get mistaken for behaviour: regression (baby talk, clinginess, forgetting how to dress), increased stimming, appetite changes, sleep disruption, and all-or-nothing thinking What dysregulation looks like in adults: snapping, racing thoughts, catastrophising, jaw clenching, shallow breathing, and the quieter version of checking out, scrolling and struggling to make simple decisions How RSD (rejection sensitivity dysphoria), masking and sensory overload layer on top for neurodivergent parents Why generic advice like "just take a breath" doesn't always work, and what can help instead (pressure, movement, removing sensory input first) What co-regulation actually means, and why self-regulation is the end goal rather than the starting point A step-by-step sequence: regulate yourself first, reduce your own output, connection before correction, and repair after rather than during What to do when you're the dysregulated one: self-soothing anchors and pre-planned "when I'm dysregulated, I will…" scripts Making a calm-moment craft project with your child: a box of cards with regulation ideas for both of you Why self-care that doesn't switch your brain off (like tidying) can quietly leave you running on empty Dysregulation as a skills gap or a capacity gap — "too much input, not enough resource left" — rather than defiance or manipulation Key Takeaways Dysregulation is a nervous system state, not a behaviour problem. You can't reason someone out of it — you have to help them feel safe first. Hyper-arousal isn't always a meltdown. Giddiness, non-stop talking and silliness that won't settle can be early signs that a child is heading toward overload, which gives you a chance to de-escalate earlier. Regression, clinginess, increased stimming, sleep changes and food refusal can a

3. 

   23 Sept 2026

   Episode 24: It's a fun place inside my head

   Alisha plays support person for a friend's IVF egg retrieval, Rhiannon unpacks what happened when she lapsed on her GLP-1 microdose, and both reflect on parenting without repeating how they were raised. This week starts with a genuinely lovely story: Alisha spent her morning as an emergency support person for a woman she didn't know, picked up from an IVF clinic after her eighth egg retrieval, because clinics require someone to sign patients out. It's a small window into the fertility world most listeners won't have seen, and a nice reminder that community call-outs work. From there it's a proper September check-in. Alisha's been slowly excavating a hallway full of unsold "fertility hamper" stock — a classic ADHD business idea she followed through on buying for but never marketing — and has finally regrouped it into a bookcase instead of a guilt-inducing pile of pink boxes. Her Father's Day also went sideways in a very relatable way: a surprise gift ambush from her daughter, a full meltdown over finding a friend to see the new Harry Potter movie, and a last-minute dash that somehow still went smoothly because she'd booked tickets in advance. The heart of the episode, though, is Rhiannon's health update. She's been on a low-dose GLP-1 medication for chronic pain and inflammation (she lives with fibromyalgia and lipedema) and has genuinely noticed her patience, executive function and pain levels shift for the better on it — but she's lapsed on taking it for a few weeks, and the return of tailbone pain, neck pain and headaches has her wondering how much of it was doing. It's a candid, detailed conversation about what microdosing GLP-1s for pain and inflammation (rather than weight loss) can actually look like, including a rough reaction to the originally prescribed dose that had her back on the couch. The episode closes on something both hosts keep coming back to: how understanding their own neurodivergent brains has completely changed how they parent, especially around not squashing their daughters' joy and excitement in public the way they were taught to as kids. What We Talk About in This Episode Alisha's morning as a support person for a friend's IVF egg retrieval, and what that process actually involves Finally dealing with a hallway full of unsold "fertility hamper" business stock — an ADHD hyperfocus idea with zero follow-through on the marketing Clearing out under the bed (and the immediate chaos of kids, pets and soft toys moving straight back in) A Father's Day gift ambush, a Harry Potter meltdown over not having a friend to go with, and a last-minute dash to the cinema that still went smoothly Dysregulation at the movies and in Ikea afterward, and choosing seats deliberately to give room for it Parenting differently to avoid repeating an authoritarian upbringing, even when it's exhausting in the moment Rhiannon's September reset: finishing a storage room clean-out, a big pile of folding, and embracing "a win is a win" instead of chasing perfection Swapping to a new doona and navigating a Father's Day scrapbook project with a daughter who wants creative input Washing machine, dishwasher and dryer maintenance updates Listener feedback on the Kat Richardson "Handfish" episode, and discovering there's a real one at the Melbourne Aquarium Coming off a low-dose GLP-1 medication and noticing pain, inflammation, patience and impulse control decline within a few weeks The return of tailbone pain, neck pain and headaches, and physio visits What actually happened on a smart scale while microdosing: stable muscle mass and bone density, only inflammation-related weight shifting Appetite and eating changes on a low-dose GLP-1, including craving more protein and less "girl dinner" skipping A rough reaction to the originally prescribed full dose (severe night sweats, near-fainting) and staying on a half dose instead Using GLP-1 microdosing for pain and inflammation conditions like fibromyalgia and lipedema, rather than

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Shows with a similar audience

• 

  No need for Prince Charming

• 

  Beyond the Bump

• 

  Beyond The Chaos

• 

  This Glorious Mess

• 

  The Imperfects