Blog

What is it like for a parent when a child starts attending therapy? How can we better support guardians through this experience, and thus also improve the therapeutic process for our young clients? Suzanne Alderson, mother, author and founder of the charity Parenting Mental Health, offers a window into the thoughts, fears and un-voiced needs that may be racing through parents’ minds as they sit nervously in our waiting rooms.

Supporting women during the perinatal period is the focus of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, which begins today. But what about the later stages of motherhood? What psychological and emotional challenges may be faced by women with adult children? From loss and jealousy to insidious societal stereotypes, psychotherapist, author and mother Annette Byford suggests some common themes and experiences for us to listen out for in therapy with not-new mums.

Patient listening may not get its due in current parenting advice. But giving children a daily opportunity to talk about anger and anxiety can help them improve emotion regulation, and transform family life. Following National Children’s Day yesterday, child therapist and Clinical Professor of Psychology Kenneth Barish explains why setting aside just 10 minutes a day may be the most important change parents who are clients can make.