There’s been such a lot in the media over the last few months about mental health, whether in adults or children. It’s something that we’re very conscious of at BraveHeart as our children and young people struggle with their own mental
This seems to be the phrase going around at the moment and I’m not sure how I feel about it. There are so many things that it conjures up for me. The expectation that as it’s a new year everything that
Yes, it’s that time of year again when we look forward to the peace of Christmas!! Maybe not. Ok then – the joyfulness of Christmas? Err the eating and drinking of Christmas? Just the fact that you’re not at work and
I’m continually surprised at how narrow our educational system is. It seems, especially in Secondary education, that we have little room to change our approaches with children and young people. Why on earth do we think we can treat everyone the
I was listening to a friend talking last week about vulnerable young people in our community. She was talking about how many there are presently, why they might be classed as vulnerable (which we can all be at times) and how
I’ve just come off the radio with BBC WM talking about the fact that nearly half of the children waiting to be adopted in Birmingham are considered ‘difficult to place’ for a number of reasons. It may be ethnicity, disabilities, part
This week is National Adoption Week and as ever it has brought with it very many mixed emotions. I’ve been reading other people’s stories and comments online and my own experiences tell me just how complex this whole world of adoption
Nearly five weeks into the academic year and I’m exhausted! Kids are exhausted too and I’ve heard many teachers and parents counting down the weeks if not days to half term. Surely this way of always looking forward to what’s to
The first week of school is over for most of us. Whether relief or dread it’s gone now and we can reflect on how it might have been. For educators I know it’s a shock to the system to go back
There’s been a lot of photos and quotes on social media these past few weeks talking about the feelings associated with going back to school. For children it may be apprehension or excitement. For parents relief and anticipation. For teachers mixed
There’s a phenomenon with young people with insecure attachment that has baffled me for years now. It all centres around the ability to learn new things. Mine are all teenagers and there are certain things I expect them to already know
Only those of a certain age will remember the adverts about kit kats….the concept of taking a break, with a cup of tea or coffee, feet up and a nice kit kat. As we approach the summer holidays I have to
It’s been 8 years since we adopted and 18 years since we got married. To say that we have always been a volatile couple is an understatement. I thought after those 10 years together there couldn’t be anything else that could
Children who’ve experienced a difficult start in life have so many different ways of hiding from their pain. They may be the clown of the class, the angry child, the quiet and well-behaved girl in the back, the life and soul
Probably one of the hardest behaviours to face in vulnerable children is lying. Of course that depends on your own values and feelings around this subject, but I’ve not met a person and particularly an adoptive parent yet who doesn’t get
I’ve decided to do a short series for my blogs over the next few weeks on shame. This is something that seems to permeate everything that children with Attachment difficulties do. It’s also a very misunderstood emotion I find. It’s not
This weeks’ blog is a bit of a follow on from last week. I don’t usually do this, but I feel this topic is so important in helping us all change the way we view children who’ve experienced early trauma to
It’s Mental Health awareness week at the moment with the theme of relationships. It’s remarkable to me when I hear professionals say that Insecure Attachment in itself is not a mental health issue but behavourial. The Child and Adolescent Mental Health
