This is an episode originally published in November 2024. It is one of my most popular.

Are you tired of living with your adult kids? The phenomenon of adult children living at home with their parents has become increasingly common, leaving many to wonder: is this the new normal?

Kate looks at the realities of adults living with their parents, whether due to economic challenges or shifting cultural norms.

Joined by life coach Jeanine Mouchawar, they discuss how to navigate this complex dynamic with grace and mutual respect.

From reshaping communication styles to setting boundaries and fostering independence, this episode is packed with practical advice for parents and adult children.

Listen For:

7:06 Parental expectations vs. economic realities

13:56 Resetting boundaries

17:51 Avoiding conflicts: Top communication strategies

22:32 Sitting in the hole: How to truly support your child

Guest: Jeanine Mouchawar

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Is Christmas your calm or your chaos?

Kate Mason welcomes returning couple therapists Helen and Shahn to unpack why the festive season so often becomes a pressure cooker and how couples can reclaim it with clarity and compassion.

They share their own blended-family reset, choosing Christmas morning at home to create sleep, sanity, and new traditions.

From end-of-year exhaustion to old family roles that snap back under one roof, they explain how reactivity takes over and how to stay “untangled” by planning ahead, agreeing on boundaries, and responding by values.

You will hear practical scripts like saying “ouch, that is sharp,” advice for united communication with parents and in laws, and survival tips that include pre warning, lightening the alcohol, and offering grace when family of origin ghosts appear.

The result is a toolkit for couples who want a kinder, more intentional holiday season.

Listen For

3:00 How do you create new Christmas traditions when old ones no longer work?

7:28 Why does Christmas bring back old family roles and tension?

11:00 What should you do if you're stuck with a toxic relative during dinner?

23:42 How can couples set boundaries with their families around Christmas?

30:13 What are the best survival strategies for a smoother festive season?

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Connect with guests:

Shahn Baker Sorekli, Director | Author | App Founder | Clinical Psychologist | Couples Therapist | Board Approved Supervisor

Shahn's LinkedIn

Helen Robertson, Director | Clinical Psychologist | Author | Advanced Certified Schema Therapist | Schema Certified Supervisor | Board Approved Supervisor

Helen's LinkedIn

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Contact Kate:

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Is your partner your teammate… or just your roommate?

Kate Mason dives deep into why so many loving couples start to feel emotionally disconnected—not because of conflict, but because of neglect.

With warmth and insight, Kate introduces the "Five-Minute Personality Check-In," a powerful weekly ritual that helps couples realign, reconnect, and stay curious about each other, even when life gets chaotic.

She explores how our unique personality types shape how we connect (or clash), revealing practical tools to bridge the gap between introverts and extroverts, thinkers and feelers, planners and free spirits.

If your relationship feels more functional than emotional lately, this episode offers a refreshingly simple yet powerful way to find your way back.

Listen For

6:57 How do introverts and extroverts experience connection differently?

9:26 How do thinkers and feelers misread each other’s intentions?

11:52 Why does planning the week create conflict for some couples?

14:15 What are the three questions in the Five-Minute Check-In?

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Contact Kate:

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What if your health isn’t something you do, but something you are?

Kate Mason sits down with wellness journalist and author Casey Beros to trace her path from a Perth uni student obsessed with health reporting to on-air roles with ABC’s evidence-based program Tonic and a dream daily TV gig that was axed 35 episodes in—followed by a grief-soaked reset that clarified her true mission.

Casey shares how building Paper Tiger health retreats gave her real-world empathy, why she trusts slow science over fast headlines, and how her “Headlines to Live By” cut through fads: move, eat mostly whole foods, sleep, tend your mental and social health, and see your doctor.

She rejects quick fixes (and “expensive urine”), champions agency over obedience in a more horizontal model of care, and offers micro-actions—water, breath, a text to a friend, ten squats—that compound into real change.

Listen For

:32 What sparked Casey’s lifelong obsession with health journalism?
3:25 How did a bold pitch to Dr Norman Swan open the first big door?
7:12 What did Casey learn creating ABC’s evidence-based show Tonic?
14:51 How did she rebuild after a dream TV job was suddenly axed?
38:07 What “minimum viable interventions” can you start using today?

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Connect with guest: Casey Beros | Medical Facilitator | Educator | Communicator

LinkedIn | Website | Next of Kin Book | Instagram | X | Facebook | Newsletter

Contact Kate:

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Are we expressing more than we’re actually coping?

Kate Mason poses three big, bold questions to five insightful guests—Cat, Cassie, Jack, Maryann, and Tracy.

Together, they explore what today’s kids are most missing: is it freedom, discipline, or connection?

They unpack whether our personality or our experiences shape us more deeply, and whether the current culture of emotional openness is fostering resilience or just performance.

With perspectives from teachers, parents, and leaders, this episode invites listeners to rethink the way they parent, teach, connect, and even scroll.

It’s honest, nuanced, and might just shift the way you see the emotional lives of both kids and adults.

Listen For

2:33 What are kids missing most—freedom, discipline, or connection?

8:51 Are we shaped more by personality or experience?

14:27 Have we become better at expressing or just posting emotions?

19:47 How can we help kids build real resilience offline?

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Ever wondered if siblings raised by the same parents actually grow up in completely different families?

Kate Mason sits down with author, veteran, and filmmaker Pamela Vines to explore how sibling dynamics, birth order, and evolving parenting styles shape who we become.

Through heartfelt storytelling and humorous reflection, Pam shares how she and her two sisters (each born in a different decade) experienced three radically different versions of the same parents.

From being a self-sufficient middle child to caring for her aging father, Pam reflects on generational shifts in parenting, perception, and purpose.

Together, Kate and Pam dig into how personality, timing, and life circumstances affect our family roles, childhood memories, and ultimately, how we parent.

Listen For

1:

Connect with guest: Pam Vines CEO of Vines Film and Media, Author

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What if love, loss, and legacy could all live between the pages of a book?

Kate Mason sits down with journalist and author Casey Beros to explore the raw, real, and deeply human story behind her book The Next of Kin.

Casey shares how she left a thriving life and career in Sydney to return home to Perth and care for her terminally ill father during the height of COVID-19.

Together, they discuss the power of advocacy, the complexities of caregiving within families, and the emotional and practical challenges of walking a loved one to the end of life.

This episode is not just a conversation about dying—it’s about how to live, love, and prepare better. It's for anyone who’s ever cared for someone or ever will.

Listen For

1:05 What happens when life hands you a role you never signed up for?

5:26 How did Casey's father react to his terminal diagnosis?

13:54 Why did Casey write The Next of Kin and who is it really for?

30:50 How do carers avoid isolation and family resentment?

43:40 What are the hidden emotional costs of caregiving for young children?

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Connect with guest: Casey Beros | Medical Facilitator | Educator | Communicator

LinkedIn | Website | Next of Kin Book | Instagram | X| Facebook| Newsletter

Contact Kate:

Email | Website | Kate’s Book on Amazon | LinkedIn | Facebook | X

Ever tried renovating a house with someone whose decision-making style feels like it’s from another planet?

In this hilariously honest episode of Parenting and Personalities, Kate Mason dives into the chaos, comedy, and clashing temperaments that come with navigating a home renovation and retirement… at the same time.

With her husband Paul newly retired and suddenly hyper-involved in what was supposed to be her renovation project, Kate unpacks their dynamic through the lens of personality types: her ESFP, sanguine, coffee-loving, chat-first approach versus Paul's ISTP, choleric, fix-it-now energy.

This deeply relatable episode blends humour with insight as Kate shows how understanding personality can turn potential conflict into connection, even if it means negotiating cupboard handles one deep breath at a time.

Listen For

6:25 What does an ESFP look like during a home renovation?

10:01 How does retirement change a partner’s role in a project?

11:58 Can you add underfloor heating at the last minute?

16:17 What happens when you double-book trades on the same day?

19:51 How do opposites survive renovations and still like each other?

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Contact Kate:

Email | Website | Kate’s Book on Amazon | LinkedIn | Facebook | X