Dr Andrés Fonseca is a consultant psychiatrist with 16 years of clinical experience. He holds an MSc in psychiatric research methodology from UCL and is honorary lecturer at UCL (division …
What’s your hierarchy of needs?
Abraham Maslow’s theory know as the Hierarchy of needs has been around since 1943, and published in his paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’. If you work with children and …
Naomi’s story of her Mental Health
We’ve been focusing on Mental Health for this month and I wanted to end this series with a story from a friend of mine called Naomi. Below you will see …
Worry Worrits
Worrying is not just an adult thing. Many children and young people are showing more signs of anxiety, statistics tell us. In a recent article in the Telegraph it was …
New Year, New You?
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 …
The mixed emotions of adoption
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 …
Too young to learn yet too old to not know
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 …
The impact of shame – Part 1 Blame
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 …
Survive or thrive?
This week’s theme is surviving strategies – what a great theme? One that we ALL need to hear and have probably struggled to find over many years. We’ve been in …
No room at the Inn?
Our house is pretty full. With three young teenagers, my husband and I, a fish and a bearded dragon. So any more room left? Well after years of saying no …
When is it our fault?
I’ve been thinking recently about what our responsibility is as parents and/or someone working with vulnerable children, in terms of when our children dysregulate. It’s so easy to focus on …
Changing seasons
I absolutely love the Autumn – the colours, the brisk air, the beautiful sunshine (when it’s not raining and foggy) and the peace that it brings. All the seasons have …
A BraveHeart in a brave new world
Recently I’ve been overwhelmed by some of the expectations there are around my life. Admittedly mostly from myself, but they are there. As an adoptive parent there are expectations – …
I Am That Child
I am that child. The child BraveHeart Education help, who we talk about, who we help teachers and parents understand. My story isn’t really that bad, I’m not adopted, …
Feeling displaced
I’ve been attending a Church in our town for the last 28 years. I was 17 years old when we first arrived there and it has been my spiritual home …
Tips for transition from Primary to Secondary
My youngest moves from Year 6 in Primary to Year 7 in September which is causing much anxiety for him presently. As his two older siblings have gone through this …
End of another school year!
Well the sun was shining for about 5 minutes here in the UK – now back to dull and rain! We’re about to approach the end of the school year …
Opportunity or Overwhelm?
I’m often surprised at how quickly opportunities can switch over to overwhelm and vice versa. If you’re thinking of those summer months ahead and wondering if it will bring great …