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 […]
As a behaviour change tool, punishment has its limitations. Before I tell you why I need to bore you with some technical definitions. The word punishment usually means a penalty or a negative experience imposed on someone when they are guilty of wrong doing. Within behavioural science, punishment is a technical term meaning any event […]
Parents may use behavioural parenting strategies such as logical consequences or praise, but use them from a standpoint of dispensing justice. They may even take a punitive approach, believing that if a child has done the wrong thing then they deserve to be punished, to suffer for their wrong doing. Or they may simply believe […]
Has this ever happened to you? You realise that you need to take a new approach as a parent. Perhaps you realise that you’ve been accidentally rewarding a particular behaviour with your attention or just that the come has come to be firm about something. You think through your new approach and you are confident […]
Reinforcement, the strengthening of behaviour through the consequences of that behaviour (reinforcers or reinforcing stimuli), is a key psychological concept, one that has been applied widely in homes, schools and workplaces. Reinforcement has entered into our popular culture. It is common to hear non-psychologists talk about the importance of reinforcing particular behaviours and the strategies […]
In our culture we fetishize willpower. We get hooked on the idea that individuals change themselves through the internal flexing of their own will, somehow pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. We fall into the trap of thinking that we can force others to change through sheer will. Complex and poignant interactions between people […]
It is commonly argued that a baby comforted to sleep will, when waking later in their cot (crib), experience a shock when they notice that they are no longer in their parent’s arms. This shock, it is reasoned, will cause the baby to call out to the parent for comfort. This reasoning is frequently used […]
Humans have a superpower. We use our superpower every day and it is part of why we have achieved all that we have as a species. You can use your superpower right now. Are you ready? Imagine your favourite food. Pause and really picture it in your mind’s eye – see exactly what it looks […]
Motherhood can be challenging, stressful, and painful. But it is also, for many women, one of their greatest sources of joy and achievement. This Mother’s Day Weekend, become the mum you want to be: Follow your own heart. Let go of advice, judgment and criticism and, instead, follow your own heart. Get in touch with […]
With much excitement and joy, I’d like to announce the ‘birth’ of my new book: Becoming Mum. Becoming Mum is a truly unique self-help book. It is the first book written to support women, all women, through the psychological passage to motherhood, empowering them to become the kind of mother they wish to be. Becoming […]