A friend rang me "Eileen - is it true that you were in a bar once at Christmas with Noddy Holder and the Slade Christmas song started playing?". "Nooooo" I assured her, "I was not in bar with Noddy Holder, I was in a bar that Noddy Holder was in". She rushed me on "Yeh, yep - same thing. I was … [Read more...]
The oldest therapeutic intervention known to man….
This morning I received the usual notifications of new books, resources and online help for goal setting. I read the details and they were indeed impressive: two "how to....", several "put yourself in a go-get mindset" and of course "what is it you really want?" I filed them in my "Motivational … [Read more...]
When we prepare for Change – we have to rehearse for setbacks…
When I run training courses on Achieving Change, I introduce the importance of the Rehearsal for Change - I can see that delegates are comfortable about this, and comfortable too when I talk about the importance of identifying what needs to change; what difference it will make emotionally, … [Read more...]
Do you think you know your child best?
I was dismayed this week to read a pyschologist assessment that was full of assumptions, labels and in some parts, clearly absent of simple child behaviour knowledge. The Foster Carers of the four year old child, showed me the report as if they were showing me the gospel: "this is what the experts … [Read more...]
Parenting – the Irish way
Having a conversation with colleagues about parenting and cultural differences in parenting - I found myself referring back to my experiences in Ireland, both recently and in my own upbringing there. As one of a dozen children brought up in a small cottage in rural Southern Ireland, before joining … [Read more...]