Family and Parenting

As attached as we might be to the idea of the "perfect family", one can't help wondering if such a family exists. After all, being in a family means having to deal with what feels like layer upon layer of imperfection ... disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loss. Experience is clearly trying to teach us that no person is perfect, no situation is ... Read more..

It may seem a little strange in a discussion about family relationships to talk about taking care of number one, but believe me it’s a really important and healthy thing to talk about and do, especially in a stepfamily. Why is self-care so important in a stepfamily? Great question! I’m glad you asked. Do you remember the safety announcement that al ... Read more..

One important piece of advice I would offer as both therapist and stepmother to another therapist working with stepfamilies, is try not to push too hard and too soon for change. Whilst sometimes our role as therapist is to bring things to a head or shake things up a bit in order to bring about change, if you push too hard and at the wrong time you will defin ... Read more..

We know from family research that gender is a crucial factor in stepfamily life. It really helps to have regular discussions with your partner about how you both are noticing gender issues and the effect gender issues is having on family harmony. Family research confirms that women in all types of families are more likely to notice when things aren’t going ... Read more..

With the Christmas decorations neatly packed away for another year, we are left to nurse our emotional hangovers, pondering the complexities of our extended family and the unfinished business that often re-surfaces over the holiday period. Have you ever wondered why our emotional age drops when in the presence of the people we grew up with? Family gathe ... Read more..

Families, whether biological or chosen, are what give most people’s lives their shape. Most of our happiest and most tragic experiences are somehow connected with family. Families are flawed, complex, intense organic units whose members often fail each other in important ways. But family affection is the glue that holds lives together... and gives life ... Read more..

By Monique Latch It seems that people in today’s world are more preoccupied with ‘time’ and more concerned that they are not using their time efficiently. In a society where financial and material gains are so highly sought after, time spent with family and loved ones is increasingly undervalued. I believe that a "lack" of time can create ... Read more..

Whether you like it or not one thing becoming a mum forces you to do is to reflect on the mothering you received. If you had a close, nurturing relationship with your own mum you might just take for granted that your relationship with your own children will be the same. But what happens if you don't have a good relationship with your mum or your dad. Or if y ... Read more..

I just want to share a few snippets of my morning yesterday. 5.15am awoke to the blood curdling screams of daughter # 2, I jump out of bed still clutching the doona and do a full paced sprint down the hall to her room. When I open the door she is standing up in the cot smiling, "Hello Mama". It seems she needed room service and the bell was broken, poor dea ... Read more..

If you were stranded on a desert island as a new mum (unlikely I know but stay with me), what's the one thing you would take besides food and water? Well, I think the answer should be a support network. Not a bad analogy really likening the early months of motherhood to being on a desert island. That's how it feels sometimes. I see a lot of new mums in my p ... Read more..

I see a number of women in my private practice who have moved from full-time work into full-time motherhood. Let's face it, it's a big transition and we aren't always well prepared for it. Motherhood is joyous and it's also hard work. I have noticed that many mums have set expectations of what motherhood will be like. Sometimes these expectations are so st ... Read more..

Many articles have been written to assist women determine whether or not they have postnatal depression. This article serves as a resource for mothers who, having already identified it, want to know more about how to live through postnatal depression. At the outset it is important to note that a variety of strategies will help different individual women. W ... Read more..

I'm sure you've heard the words, "History is only a matter of interpretation." As they emerged out of an unconscious place the words in my poem above spoke my interpretation of life, my personal myth as an adopted person. When they came through me some 14 years ago I had no real understanding of the intensity of my feelings in relation to my adoption and wha ... Read more..

At least 10% of Australian children are conceived in an affair. Some DNA studies put it as high as 15%. In 2003 more than 3,000 DNA paternity tests were commissioned by Australian men, and in almost a quarter of those cases, the test revealed that 'their' child had been fathered by someone else. Children conceived in an extramarital affair are vulnerable t ... Read more..

Puberty Girl is the result of over a decade of working with girls in their teens (9-12 year olds) and wanting to offer these girls something they could use as a resource. I deeply hope that Puberty Girl is a book that girls would want to pick up and read out of their own interest and curiosity, and not because their parents said they should. It is filled wi ... Read more..