What to do when your child’s pain consumes you
If your child’s struggles feel like your own, this is for you. Learn how to stay steady and stop over-carrying what was never yours to hold alone.
How to Stop Sibling Fights Without Shouting
Learn how to stop sibling fights without shouting. Discover practical steps for calm, connected parenting from Energy Psychology Therapist Inger Madsen.
Emotions vs Feelings Parenting: What You Need to Know
Discover the difference between emotions and feelings in parenting and why it’s key to raising emotionally resilient teens.
The Paradox of Teenage Meltdowns
Accept what is - and it changes Last week I gave a keynote at Saffron Walden County High School - talking all things teen chaos, and why it’s not the moment for logic. You might’ve been there. Your child’s yelling, spiralling, totally unreachable. You try to reason....
How to Ease Exam Stress in Teenagers This Spring
How to Ease Exam Stress in Teenagers This Spring Hot cross buns, chocolate eggs, lighter evenings… the sap is rising and everything outside is bursting with the energy of spring. But inside homes and schools across the country, it's a different story. For thousands of...
What Netflix’s Adolescence Really Teaches Us About Parenting
What Netflix's adolescence really teaches us about parenting The new Netflix docuseries Adolescence is more than just entertainment. It’s a mirror. And if you’re raising a teenager right now, it might just hold up a painful truth about how our children are struggling...
Toxic Influencers and Teenagers – What Parents Need to Know
The Danger Lurking Behind the Screen Unless you’ve been living under a rock you will know about the new Netflix drama, Adolescence, starring Stephen Graham that every parent needs to see. It’s raw, it’s real, and it highlights something we can’t afford to ignore, the...
Why your child won’t tell you if they’re being groomed online
Did you know that more than half of primary school children have been sent inappropriate images or witnessed inappropriate behaviour online but not a single one of them has told, or will tell, their parents? In this blog I will share with you why that is and what we...
My child is SO emotional all the time and no matter what I say I seem to make it worse
I hear you and I know how tricky it is when your child’s emotional responses seem totally disproportionate to what just happened. When your child explodes and implodes all over the shop and it feels impossible to relate to or keep up with. In this blog you will...
I scream, you scream, we all scream … about SCREENS
How much is too much and who decides? I am talking about screen-time here but maybe it really should be called scream-time? It certainly is an issue that can raise the temperature even in the most peaceful household. For a lot of families it is a hotly contested issue...
WHY IT ISN’T THE BULLYING ITSELF THAT DOES THE DAMAGE
It is not at all uncommon for parents to be unaware that their child is being bullied. Children keep quiet about it because they don’t want to upset us, or perhaps they are worried that we will make the problem worse. If your normally placid child becomes aggressive...
WHAT HAVE BUTTONS GOT TO DO WITH THE TANGO?
I hear you! My blogs are one-sided and unfair. The answer always seems to be that you have to change when really it is your child who is the one with the problem. I get it, I truly do, and it’s hard but I also know that all families become happier when parents find a...
THE ONE THING NOT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD IS ANXIOUS
While it was flattering for a while to be so loved and needed, the truth is it is beginning to wear you down.
The constant asking about what you are doing, where you are going and when you will be back is by now feeling more like a prison than a popularity contest.
Here’s the thing: Maybe they are genuinely fearful of being apart from you, incredibly afraid of germs and downright petrified of robbers coming into the house at night. And perhaps they feel genuine terror about making mistakes in their homework.
But there is something else going on as well.
WHEN THEIR FIRE AND FURY CAUSES YOU TO CRUMPLE AND RETREAT
Last month I wrote about ‘Fire and Fury’ and how to avoid escalating the situation when your child or teen declares war by shouting ‘I hate you’ to your face, and you find yourself morphing into Kim Jong-un or Donald Trump. I promised that I’d return with advice...
YOU DON’T NEED TO WEAR A WIG TO LOOK LIKE DONALD TRUMP
You understand intellectually that your child is obviously deeply distressed and in emotional turmoil to behave like they do, but it still feels like a punch in the gut when they shout 'I hate you' in your face. Some days you crumple inside and retreat but other days...
Is perfectionism stalking your family?
Living with a perfectionist isn’t much fun: their endless self-reproach and criticism can be tiring and boring. However, being the perfectionist is a thousand times worse! At least you get to go out for a break; they can’t escape it!
The perfectionist has to live with the joy-zapping thief of all the jolly, fun, relaxing, silly things in life. All that makes life blissful gets stolen by the belief that ‘perfect exists and I must always attain it.’
One small person, such big needs!
I hear so often from parents that family life would be perfect and harmonious if only [that one child] didn’t always provoke arguments, pick fights and disrupt the peace with petty wind-ups. It feels like sabotage, it feels predictable and it is exhausting and...
The Minefield of Teenage Friendships
You feel so helpless and powerless when your child is struggling with friendships and belonging. Your upset at their upset can be really overwhelming. It is seriously stressful and all too easy to lose perspective as well as sleep and patience. When your child feels...