I’d like to start with a quick hello and to briefly mention that I’ve been rather busy with a new charity recently. It’s called Hope and Homes and it’s particularly close to my heart. I mention this merely to explain the dearth of reading matter in recent months for anyone who might enjoy this blog. … Continued
We often use the word inspiration when talking about people we admire, a fitting accolade we think when we look upon their lives, their work and their deeds. In truth I think we use it a little too often or at least in a way that robs it of any real power. An important aspect … 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
It seems incredible to think that in one part of the United Kingdom the life of its citizens can be so different from the rest. I refer of course to Northern Ireland. It may come as surprise to you that our legal systems are not entirely uniform. One striking point of divergence is the law … Continued
I was chatting to a friend the other day about an article they had read in some broadsheet. It concerned the idea of ‘affluent neglect’. She seemed to find the notion rather provocative and controversial. My only response was to ask, ‘why?’ The proposition that wealthy parents are often physically and emotionally unavailable for their … Continued
Professor Richard Layard and his colleagues at the Wellbeing research programme at the London’s School of Economics’ centre for Economic performance, have reached a perhaps obvious but nonetheless important conclusion that…. having an emotionally healthy childhood is the key to happiness in later life. And furthermore, that being a happy child begets a happy satisfied … Continued
We hear an awful lot about the problems with young people today. The headlines tend to favour the negative stories such as the ASBOs, underage pregnancies, the increasing frequency of teenage on adult violence and so on, but I have some real sympathy for what children face today. Consider what we now know about the … Continued
As knowledge of science and the human animal move forward it becomes ever more apparent of the interrelational nature of things. Our species has a propensity to compartmentalise the world and to some degree this makes sense. To deal with everything in its entirety is overwhelming, impractical and impossible. However, there are circumstances in which … Continued
Borderline Personality Disorder: What a parent can learn from a therapist’s experience. I was lucky enough to attend a really fascinating workshop on this personality disorder recently and I realised that as a therapist the insights gained were incredibly useful in themselves but I also realised that there was a lot of learning for mothers … Continued
You don’t have to be a Rockefeller to help a fella I was digging around in a drawer the other day, when I came across an old article from the Sunday Times. It had the emotive title, ‘Stars’ backing ‘cannot save’ kids’ charity’. It was a small piece about Kids Company, the worthy initiative founded … Continued