When my son threw a train at another child in a toy store, I felt like a failure as a parent. I explain why our brains read behaviour that society disapproves of as a threat to belonging, and how auditing and lowering our expectations of our highly sensitive child can help us feel like we're winning...

When my autistic, PDA son tried to control when I could go to the bathroom, the mindset shifts I'd been practising just weren't available to me. This post explains why thoughts can't override the body in heated moments, why story follows state, and how bringing your body back to safety lets compassi...

Let’s face it…Parenting can be a real challenge in the face of a child who keeps doing or saying things you don’t like.

The path I see most parents take is the following:

Try to stay calm and convince the child to do what you want them to do.

Child doesn’t listen and/or is defiant.

P...

The holidays can feel less like a holiday and more like a "stress-oliday." This post names three hidden stressors that trigger explosions for parents and kids over the holidays: losing schedules and routines, less self-care and downtime, and too much sugar, and shares simple ways to give everyone's ...

The most common pattern I see in parents who are reactive towards their kids is they are hard on themselves.

Many of us believe that in order to do better in life we must be hard on ourselves.

You might be thinking…nah…that’s not me…but let’s just entertain this for a moment to see if this really ...

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by the challenges of life?

You’ve got deadlines at work, you’re feeling exhausted, your kids are having meltdowns, and you feel like you’ve got a handle on things, but then something big happens or you get some bad news, and you feel like you’re spiralling out of c...

Have you tried positive affirmations that just don't stick? This post explains why positive thinking alone is not enough: story follows state, and our thoughts follow the nervous system state we are in. It's about helping your body feel safe enough first, with cues of safety like nature, so the posi...

Sitting on the couch pushing, threatening and bribing my son to do his homework, I realized I was pushing him further from the happiness I wanted for him. This post explains why warm, attuned relationships are the foundation for a child's motivation, learning and growth, and three ways to build that...

Thoughts like "I wish he were different" are quite normal, even though most of us dare not speak of them. Resentment is stuck anger, often protecting us from sadness, grief and not feeling good enough. I explain why we get stuck there, and four ways to release it so you can reconnect with your child...

"NO!" is the word you often hear from your strong-willed child. As a parent of one, I explain why these children, at the core, have nervous systems that do not feel as safe, why our own fight response reacts back, and three ways to bring everyone back to safety: breath, a soft voice and a soft face....