In my last blog I spoke about the lack of resources in our care system which are committed to recognising and treating the long term effects of early life events on children in care. A related issue, but unaddressed in the last blog, concerns the events that precipitate intervention and action by a social worker. … Continued
I would like to start this blog on a slight tangent… Take a look at the picture below. I’m sure many of you are already familiar with this wretched story. To those of you who are not it revolves around a 12-year-old girl and her father, a gun toting, NRA loving, … Continued
I had a friend of mine came over for coffee and a chat last Saturday (I do occasionally get an hour or so off) and she spent most of it bemoaning a fine she had received though the post. That horrid word usually denotes the unwanted attention of some dreary traffic warden or some finger … Continued
The internet was set alight last July with angry mums from all over the globe furiously tweeting, blogging, instagraming, emailing, shouting and generally airing their views in any medium that would have them. What was the source of this ire, you ask? The answer is a Dr Charlotte Renzick, an American clinical psychologist and author … Continued
A number of the blogs I’ve written have touched on the idea that the parent-child dynamic has been changing over time. Terms likes ‘helicopter’ and ‘snow plough’ parents’ have emerged to describe behaviour which is ostensibly driven by the urge to see our children do well but can unwittingly have an adverse effect on them. … Continued
Watching my kids this Easter weekend made me think about the bonds siblings share (thankfully they play well). Such connections are among the most profound we can have with another human being. These bonds should be nurtured,but they should also be respected for they may be driven by the desire to tear down as much … Continued
You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive. Maya Angelou In the field of philosophy much was made historically of the mind/body dichotomy. As … Continued
Why is it that authority in one area so often confers authority in another? It’s a well-studied phenomenon. One of the most famous examples of this can be seen in the social psychology experiment conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Miligram in the 1960s in which he measured the willingness of study participants to obey … Continued
I’ve written a number of times about discipline, parental supervision and technology. There is some pretty good advice out there on the net and a plethora of online communities that exist to provide support to newly minted parents. One theme that has run through many of my posts is the risk and challenges presented by … Continued
I came across an interesting book this week, The Danish way of Parenting. It is co-authored by an American author and a Danish narrative therapist. They also have a blog for it, thedanishway.com. Now, the reason I stopped to have a read was largely due to the word Danish in the title. I held this … Continued