Change the world.
The Australian government is currently conducting a postal survey on marriage equality. I will be voting YES. Same sex attraction is not rare. Although it is experienced by a minority of the population it is a significant minority. People who have experienced same sex attraction are at higher risk of psychosocial distress, with people who […]
If there’s one thing that’s guaranteed to make my blood boil it is hearing baby boomers make vague and sweeping claims about the use of technology by the current generation of parents. I’ve heard many horror stories over the years. I’ve even heard these horror stories from experienced health professionals at professional conferences. Horror stories […]
Check out my new article on the Conversation, written with the lovely Dr Amy Mitchell, on the shaming of new mothers and why it needs to end: The Shame Game And don’t forget to also check out the MotherCare project. We are currently recruiting mothers of children aged under two.
We know that aspects of our environment, of the context in which we live, can cause direct psychological damage. We also know that other aspects of our environment can cause behavioural harm, promoting and supporting behavioural patterns that have negative health or societal effects in the long term. In a sense, you could say that […]
It infuriates me the number of times I’ve heard people express in public discourse that parenting is ‘a lifestyle choice’. The implication is, of course, that parents have no right to expect consideration, adjustments or support from society as a whole and that non-parents have no obligation to make financial contributions, through taxes, to support […]
No Gender December, an Australian campaign to end the gender-marketing of toys to children was launched this week and it has already received a lot of media attention (for example here, here, and here). I am a passionate supporter of No Gender December and Play Unlimited. Why? Because I believe that children have the right to […]
When to confirm a pregnancy and when to share the news that you are pregnant are, of course, personal decisions. What might be right for an individual woman varies according to her unique situation and personality. But there are social norms, unspoken (or spoken) rules that many women follow, that many women feel they have […]
I find discourse on the ‘needs’ of children troubling at times. By which I don’t mean that children don’t have needs. Unquestionably they do. Water, for example, is something that all human children undeniably and clearly need. What I mean is that talking about children’s ‘needs’ seems to enable the speaker to slip a whole […]
What is it about parenting that makes us so judgemental? I hate the judgement that we parent’s suffer, I have years of professional experience in being non-judgemental, and I genuinely believe that there isn’t one ‘right’ way to parent and yet…if I am honest, I must confess that I am tempted to judge other parents […]
The horrible reality of childhood sexual abuse seems to pervade the Australian news of late: The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, set up in January 2013, continues to investigate instances where institutions failed to protect children from sexual abuse and failed to properly respond to allegations. Robert Hughes, former star of […]