Let's Talk FND

Let's Talk FND We are a multidiciplinary team using evidence-based therapy for Australian people with functional neurological disorder to equip them to recover

Empowering lives affected by Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).

🌟 At Let’s Talk FND, we provide the tools, knowledge, and compassionate support needed to help individuals and their supporters thrive with confidence and resilience.

💪 Together, we’re building a community where understanding, education, and empowerment go hand in hand.

💬 Join us on this journey to make FND management accessible and impactful.

What the research gap is telling usWe don't yet have a single, agreed set of tools that every FND service in Australia u...
24/08/2026

What the research gap is telling us

We don't yet have a single, agreed set of tools that every FND service in Australia uses to measure how people are doing.

What does that mean for people living with FND?

It means that two people receiving care in different parts of Australia might have their progress measured in very different ways, or sometimes not measured at all.

And this matters.

Because measuring outcomes isn't just paperwork.

It helps us understand whether treatment is helping, what is helping, and where more support is needed.

It also helps build the evidence we need to advocate for better FND services, more funding and greater access to care, particularly for people living in regional and rural areas who may already have to travel significant distances to access specialist services.

Good FND care deserves good evidence.

And behind every outcome we measure is a person, a family and a recovery journey.

People living with FND deserve to have their progress seen, measured and counted. 💙



https://lnkd.in/gT23KcRp

The daily life nobody sees What does a Thursday look like for you?Not the symptoms. Not the diagnosis. The actual Thursd...
19/08/2026

The daily life nobody sees

What does a Thursday look like for you?

Not the symptoms. Not the diagnosis. The actual Thursday.

Can you make breakfast? Get dressed without needing to rest? Get through a school run, a workday, an afternoon with your kids?

FND takes so much more than movement or sensation. It takes the shape of your day. Your independence. The things you used to do without thinking.

Occupational therapy is built around exactly this, helping people reclaim the daily life that illness has disrupted.

Pacing strategies. Sensory tools. Graded activity. Getting back to work, to hobbies, to the small things that make life feel like yours again.

You deserve support that sees all of that. Not just the diagnosis, but the life it's disrupted.

That is what good FND care looks like. 💙



https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/91/10/1037.long

Recovery is possible — and it starts with safetyRecovery from FND is real.Not easy. Not linear. Not guaranteed. But real...
16/08/2026

Recovery is possible — and it starts with safety

Recovery from FND is real.

Not easy. Not linear. Not guaranteed. But real and possible for many people who access the right support.

What does that support look like? The research is actually quite clear.

It looks like a team who understands FND -
A neurologist who explains it properly.
A physio who knows how to retrain movement without reinforcing fear.
A psychologist who understands the nervous system, not just the mind.
An OT who helps you rebuild the daily life that FND has disrupted.

But running through all of it is safety.

Physical safety. Relational safety. The safety of being believed.

Your nervous system knows the difference. And so does the science. 💙



Recovery is real. And it starts with safety.

FND prognosis and treatment outcomes —
https://neurologyopen.bmj.com/content/bmjno/7/2/e001150.full.pdf
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12625163/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10272915/

Stress does not just live in your thoughts.It lives in the body too.In the breath.In the muscles.In the heart rate.In th...
24/06/2026

Stress does not just live in your thoughts.

It lives in the body too.

In the breath.
In the muscles.
In the heart rate.
In the gut.
In fatigue.
In the way the body prepares for threat before the mind has found the words.

For people with FND, the relationship between stress and symptoms is not simple.

Not everyone with FND has trauma.
Not every flare is caused by stress.
Not every symptom has an obvious trigger.

But the nervous system does respond to load.

Physical load.
Emotional load.
Sensory load.
Social load.
Medical uncertainty.
Years of not being understood.

That load is real.

And it deserves care that understands the whole person.

If you are newly diagnosed or still trying to understand FND, our free First-Steps Guide may help you prepare for clearer conversations with your treating team.

https://www.letstalkfnd.com.au/fnd-first-steps-guide

When your nervous system is running too fast, shutting down, or swinging between both, everything can feel harder.Thinki...
22/06/2026

When your nervous system is running too fast, shutting down, or swinging between both, everything can feel harder.

Thinking.
Moving.
Resting.
Sleeping.
Coping.
Explaining what is happening.

This is why nervous system regulation matters in FND-informed care.

Regulation is not about being calm all the time.

It is about helping the body feel safe enough to respond, learn and participate.

For some people, this may include pacing, grounding, breath awareness, sensory strategies, movement retraining, psychological support or occupational therapy.

The right approach depends on the person.

But the principle is important:

An overwhelmed system often needs support before it can take on more.

If this helps you understand your nervous system differently, the Building Your FND Recovery Roadmap education series goes deeper into Why Me, Why Now and What Works.

https://www.letstalkfnd.com.au/Building_Your_FND_Recovery_Roadmap

General education only. Please seek individual advice from your own health professionals.

The mind-body connection.It is a phrase many people with FND have heard before.And sometimes, it has been used in ways t...
12/06/2026

The mind-body connection.
It is a phrase many people with FND have heard before.

And sometimes, it has been used in ways that feel dismissive — as if symptoms are “just stress” or “all in your head.”

That is not what it means.

The mind-body connection is not a way of doubting your symptoms.

It is a way of explaining how deeply connected the brain, body, nervous system, emotions, movement, sensation and threat responses actually are.

Your symptoms are real.

Your body is not pretending.

Your nervous system is part of a living, biological system that is constantly interpreting signals from inside and outside the body.

In FND, that system can become disrupted. Signals can be misread. Movement can feel unfamiliar. Sensations can become amplified. The body can feel unpredictable.

This does not make your experience less real.

It gives us a clearer way to understand it.

If you are trying to make sense of FND, our 3-part patient education series explores:

Why Me?
Why Now?
What Works?

Explore Building Your FND Recovery Roadmap here:

https://www.letstalkfnd.com.au/Building_Your_FND_Recovery_Roadmap?cid=f7e71c55-53d7-47c2-bd40-218b8cb28ecf

General education only. Please speak with your own treating health professionals about your individual care.

For many people with FND, the hardest part is not only the symptoms. It is trying to explain symptoms that other people ...
07/06/2026

For many people with FND, the hardest part is not only the symptoms. It is trying to explain symptoms that other people cannot easily see or understand.

Weakness.
Tremor.
Fatigue.
Speech changes.
Sensory changes.
Walking difficulties.
Seizure-like episodes.

When scans are normal, people can be left feeling even more alone.

But a normal scan does not mean nothing is happening.

FND is about function — how the nervous system is working — not simply structure.

This is why good education matters so much.

When the explanation makes sense, people often feel less confused and better prepared to talk with their clinicians about next steps.

If someone in your life is trying to understand FND, you are welcome to share this post with them.

You can also download our free First-Steps Guide here:
https://www.letstalkfnd.com.au/fnd-first-steps-guide

(Please note: this is general education only. This resource does not replace medical assessment, diagnosis or individual treatment advice.)

Something every person with FND should know:The way a clinician treats you in that room is not just about kindness.It is...
15/05/2026

Something every person with FND should know:

The way a clinician treats you in that room is not just about kindness.

It is part of your treatment.

A nervous system that has been dismissed, doubted, or passed around the health system learns — at a biological level — that medical environments are not safe. That learning becomes part of the pattern.

A clinician who knows FND, who explains it clearly, who doesn't flinch — that person is offering your nervous system something it may not have had in a long time.

Safety.

A knowing clinician. A calm space. Someone who believes you.

You deserve all three. 💙



Research:
FND lived experience research — Disability and Rehabilitation (2025); diagnostic communication in FND — Lehn et al. (2025)

If you've ever been told you're 'too sensitive' because of your FND symptoms — this one's for you.You're not too sensiti...
13/05/2026

If you've ever been told you're 'too sensitive' because of your FND symptoms — this one's for you.

You're not too sensitive. You're sensitised. And that is a very different thing.

Sensitivity is a personality trait. Sensitisation is a neurological process.

When the nervous system is exposed to prolonged stress, pain, or overwhelming input, it adapts — by lowering its threshold and amplifying signals. It becomes overprotective. It starts treating ordinary signals as threats.

This isn't weakness. This isn't drama. This is your nervous system doing its best with what it's been given.

The goal of good FND care is to help the nervous system recalibrate — to find safety again.

You deserve that care. 💙

Research:
Neural sensitisation in FND — Hallett et al., Lancet Neurology (2022)

Have you ever noticed how your body responds before your brain has caught up?A tightening chest before a difficult conve...
04/05/2026

Have you ever noticed how your body responds before your brain has caught up?

A tightening chest before a difficult conversation.
Fatigue that arrives alongside stress.
Symptoms that flare during uncertainty.

This isn't imagination. This is your nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do — reading, predicting, and responding.

In FND, that system becomes sensitised. Not sensitive but sensitised. It loses its ability to reliably tell safe from unsafe, and the signals get amplified.

This month we're unpacking the mind-body connection - not as a buzzword, but as a real, biological, and deeply human story.

Because when we understand it, everything about how we support people with FND changes. 💙

Your body is always listening. Let's make sure it hears something safe.

The Research:
Nervous system sensitisation — FND pathophysiology (Hallett et al., Lancet Neurology 2022)

Address

Newcastle, NSW
2300

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Let's Talk FND posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Let's Talk FND:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category