Being human together. Showing up for what matters.

Showing: 1 - 10 of 18 Articles

Sitting in the Mire – The slow, steady path back from parenting mistakes

Whether you have trained in Emotion Coaching, Circle of Security, or Triple P, almost all parenting approaches include the importance of soothing and validating emotions before moving into problem solving – and indeed, children are excellent at solving their own problems if we just give them enough support to do so. But in the thick …

Tasting Freedom – and why this is my last Blog Post ever.

There’s this moment when I’m flying down the hill, wind in my face, blue sky above me, and I notice this thought passing by – that this is it, THIS is tasting freedom.  It’s exhilarating, and not just because I’ve got all that lovely exercise endorphin flowing through me.  In fact, this freedom has nothing …

Stuff that Definitely Doesn’t Suck – a review of Ben Sedley’s “Stuff that Sucks”

I don’t know what your reading list is like – maybe it’s a little like mine. Last year, I was super excited to hear a colleague of mine had his book published.  What a magnificent achievement.  Then I looked at the pile of books beside my bed I was slowly making my way through, and …

I Want to Change the World. What about you? Can we do it together?

I’m reflecting on the amazing five weeks I’ve just had traveling abroad with my family, an opportunity which was made possible by a generous scholarship I was awarded by the Perth Convention Bureau and Giving West.  I had an incredible trip of planning research, attending workshops, networking, and a brilliant conference interspersed with gelato, volcanoes, …

An Answer to the “War on [Pretty Much Everything]” – reviewing Anthony Biglan’s “The Nurture Effect”

There’s this mother sitting before me and she tries to stem the tears. It’s been weeks since her son has been to school. We’ve been tracking this for a while, her and I – and today her exhaustion is palpable. This mother who would move the heavens and the earth for her children; whose resources …

5 Steps to Increase Kids’ Veggie Eating (evidence from an exciting new study)

It must be just about every parent’s struggle – the constant attempts to increase the vegetable intake of our little bundles o’ joy, through their toddler years and beyond.  Often it starts out fine – many the smug mother of an infant has boasted that her little one eats ALL his veggies… only to discover …

Kids starting school? How to Survive School Mum Anxiety

* This one’s for the ladies – School Dads are a different kettle of fish all together *  “So I was watching this show, and there’s this psychologist – no psychiatrist -,” “Or clairvoyant, whatever,” I interject. We all laugh.  It’s an in-joke reference, now several years old.  I pause in this moment to look around …

Why TV could be making you – and your children – unhappy

At the recent Australia/New Zealand Association of Contextual Behaviour Science conference, I was enthralled by guest speaker  Dr Tim Kasser (Professor of Psychology at Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois), who spoke on the contradiction of what society tells us will improve well-being, and what actually does.  I’m cut from the same cloth as Dr Kasser when it …