Write for us

We publish guest essays when they are original, specific, and useful to an Australian reader who is trying to understand an emotional problem — their own, or someone they love. We do not publish advertorial dressed as advice.

What we want

• 1,200 to 2,000 words of reported or closely observed writing.
• Australian English, Australian systems, Australian examples.
• A clear topic hub: anxiety, children, adolescents, adult life, later life, therapy, or everyday wellbeing.
• Evidence that can be checked — a guideline, a public report, a named study — rather than “research shows.”
• A first-person stake is welcome; a sales pitch is not.

What we will not run

• Diagnosis of a reader, or instructions that replace a GP.
• Miracle claims, supplement stacks, or guaranteed recovery.
• Work that has already appeared elsewhere, including your own blog, unless you say so.
• Attacks on named patients, children, or clinicians.
• Content written only to place a backlink.

How to pitch

Send a short pitch — not the finished essay — through the contact form. Choose “Guest essay” as the topic. Include:

1. A working title and two-sentence argument.
2. Why you are the person to write it.
3. The hub it belongs in, and three sources you would cite.
4. Any conflicts: a clinic you own, a book you are selling, a course you run.

Links, disclosure and sponsored mentions

Editorial links to public services such as Beyond Blue or Healthdirect are ordinary journalism. Paid placements, affiliate links, and guest posts that exist to promote a business are labelled in the copy and marked rel="sponsored" on the link. If you want a commercial mention, say so in the pitch. We would rather decline than disguise it.

Authors keep their copyright and grant us a non-exclusive licence to publish and archive the essay. We edit for accuracy, house style and length. We will not publish under a false professional title — do not claim AHPRA registration you do not hold.

House style, in brief

Use organise, colour, ageing, paediatric. Prefer “GP” and “Mental Health Treatment Plan” to American insurance language. Name the limitation: we are not your clinician. Link internally to a relevant topic hub or essay when it helps the reader. Read the editorial standards before you send.